Help! Boulevard installation questions!!

I really need help! I just re-installed my mother's Boulevard in her car for her and have some installation questions. I am going to try to post pictures of the issues I am having, so please bear with me.

1) I installed the RF Boulevard using LATCH because I am able to get a much better installation with LATCH than with the seatbelt. The seat is installed driver's side outboard and is tethered to the driver's seat track. The driver's seat is never moved, so there is little risk of the D-ring strap being cut. However, my mother's car (a 2003 Accord) is funny- the LATCH anchors are slightly off center, which means that the carseat, when centered over the anchors, looks off-center in the car. It looks like it is slightly more to the center than a true outboard position. Is that okay?
(I will try to post a picture here)


2) Because of the positions of the LATCH anchors, the seatbelt buckles are poking out from the edge of the base, which means that the base is not contacting the vehicle seat completely on that one side. It is contacting it fully on the other side. If it is NOT okay, I will uninstall the carseat, try to push the seatbelt buckles into the seat crease, and re-install the carseat.
(I will try to post pictures here).

3) I put the seat in a reclined position and then used the RF tether to recline it a little bit more, but I am not sure if it is appropriately reclined. Again, the baby who uses this seat is 10 months old. Can you all tell from the picture if the seat is appropriately reclined?


Thank you SO much for any help you can give me! I REALLY REALLY appreciate it!!!

I don't know about the first couple things, but the recline looks okay to me. It could probably be a little more upright if needed...but I'm not a tech, so I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you for sure! It's definitely not reclined more than it should be anyway!

Here are the pictures...

I hope this works! I am having great difficulty. There is a reason I teach English and NOT technology!

The first photo SOMEWHAT shows the base being lifted off the seat by the seatbelt buckles.

The second photo shows the seat's recline and how it is slightly "off center."

The third photo shows the base on the other side of the seat-- it is completely touching.

Thanks again!

Thanks, Sam!!

I am a freak about this stuff. My mom's car is great, but it is a little bit "weird," so I just want to make sure I did this correctly.

Thanks!

It looks good to me! Hopefully a tech can come along and confirm that it's okay, but I'd say the recline is great and the off-center thing is fine.

Thanks, Jenny!

I appreciate any feedback I can get. Thanks!

Are there any techs who may be able to help me?

It all looks good to me! The recline looks good, I wouldn't worry about the seat on the buckles, and no need to worry about it being a little off center. In my MDX the LATCH anchors are not even in the center seat or the driver outboard but really it is nothing to worry about as long as you have a good fit!

Thanks SO much Danielle!


I am able to shake the car when I shake the carseat, so I am not worried about the tightness of the fit, but I was worried about those buckles.

Thanks!

IMO, don't worry about the buckles. The latch anchors in a Honda accord do not line up with the passenger and driver's seats and they look way off center. Honda moved the latch anchors inward like this so there is more space between the vehicle door (in case of a crash) and the carseat. It is fine, it just looks weird.

you should be able to shove the vehicle buckles into the hole in the vehicle seat where they come out of, kwim? This will get them out of the way.
My sister's taurus has offcentered latch like this and I believe they did it so you could use the 2 middle anchors as a center position. They allow this per the manual, which is why I think they did it in the taurus, instead of adding a 3rd set.(not sure if honda did it for this reason or not, check the manual).
I actually like them being off centered because then they are outboard but arent so close to the door, it probably offers a little more protection.

The Boulevard has specific places in which to store the latch attachments. Read the instructions. Do not "shove the buckles into the hole where they come out of the seat." Storing the latch attachments incorrectly can cause serious injury. Please read the manual.

Honda and Acura do not allow the center seating position to be used with the passenger and driver's side latch anchors. That is NOT why they are put farther into the interior of the car than many other latch anchors. Again, read the owner's manual or check the Latch manual.

The best behavior we can model is reading the owner's manual for the seat and for the vehicle. Child Passenger Safety is definitely not an area in which we can use our "best guess."

Read the manual.

griffinmom said:

The Boulevard has specific places in which to store the latch attachments. Read the instructions. Do not "shove the buckles into the hole where they come out of the seat." Storing the latch attachments incorrectly can cause serious injury. Please read the manual.

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oh no I was referring to the vehicle buckle stalk, how she was saying it was sitting on top of those and making it raise up. Ive never run across a soft stalk I couldnt push down into the vehicle seat to get it out of the way.

The best behavior we can model is reading the owner's manual for the seat and for the vehicle. Child Passenger Safety is definitely not an area in which we can use our "best guess."

Read the manual.

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Ditto to that! I was telling my mom the other day if people would just read every word of their manuals, then they would know how to use a seat correctly.

Thanks, everyone.

For today, I will leave it the way it is. The seat will need to be used today, but I have no way of fixing it right now and I am not sure my mom could get it in as tightly if she tried to fix it.

I WILL, however, fix it when I am next able to do so. I will uninstall the seat, shove the vehicle buckles into the seat crease, and re-install the seat.

Thank you for the reassurance that the LATCH anchors are fine, even if they are a little bit off-center. I appreciate it!


Thanks again!!