Carseat in backseat of Jeep YJ?!?!

Hello all...
Thanks to those that answer this thread in advance. I have a couple of questions on regulations with infant carseats and installation.

Our son Riley is 4 months old and weighs 15lbs 4oz, length of 67cm (Born May 11th 2009). We own 2 vehicles. One is a 2006 Mazda Tribute and the other is a 1989 Jeep YJ. I currently driver the Mazda which is the only vehicle we currently use when we go out as a family. However, husband would like to take the Jeep soon, before the nice weather turns cold, and include Riley in the ride but of course we are concerned because the backseat of a Jeep does not have a high back and Riley is still falls under the RF rules.

What is the rules of installing a carseat in a jeep? Would it still be RF or FF?
In the jeep we have a Safety 1st carseat that we have not used yet.

Also, in the Mazda, it is 3 seater backseat. Is it better to have him behind the passenger, driver or in the middle? In the Mazda we have the Evenflo carseat.

Thanks a million again...
Riley's Mom

I am not a tech, but I will answer to the best of my knowledge and help to bump you back to the top of the board too.

Because of your son's age and weight he MUST be rear facing in every vehicle that he goes in. It doesn't matter if there is a head rest on the seat or not. His muscle tone is not developed enough to sit forward facing and he would most likely be seriously injured if he was FF in an accident. So, yes keep him rear facing as you have him now.

As far as I know, the only time that the lack of headrest becomes an issue is when you are using a high back booster seat. We have the same problem in our jeep cherokee. My older son can not use a backless booster because of the lack of head support.

The middle seat in a vehicle is generally the safest. But that being said, you can't always get a great install in the middle seat. I don't know how the mazda is designed, but some car middle seats tend to hump up a bit and it makes a tight install tough. In that case if you can get a better install on the outboard seats, that is the safest. We personally install my son's rear facing seat behind the passenger seat. My reasoning for that is when we go somewhere as a family, my husband is the one to drive. He is 6' and I am 5'2". Putting the seat behind me allows for more space. If the seat was behind my husband, the driver seat would touch the child safety seat and I know that is not good.

Hopefully a tech will chime in and give you the official word.

i was looking for carseat info a while back....i had a 1997 jeep tj

you can not get an anchor bolt installed....period!

we used a scenera rf until 18mos and then bought a new used vehicle...a 2004 crv

selinajean said:

Because of your son's age and weight he MUST be rear facing in every vehicle that he goes in. It doesn't matter if there is a head rest on the seat or not. His muscle tone is not developed enough to sit forward facing and he would most likely be seriously injured if he was FF in an accident. So, yes keep him rear facing as you have him now.

Click to expand...

While this is true, that he must remain rear facing, it is not because his muscle tone is not developed enough. It's 500% safer to remain rear facing due to bone strength. A young child's bones do not fully ossify until much later in life, along with the fact that certain bones in the pelvic area do not even mold together until a few years later into life. They remain seperated. So while they stay rear facing, this allows time for the bones to ossify and mold together. Therefore, if he were to forward face too early, his bones would not be able to handle the crash forces. The benefit of rear facing has nothing to do with muscle tone.

A center installation is roughly 4-7% safer that an outer installation. However, the previous poster is correct in saying that if you cannot get a good, tight install, you would be safer installing outboard. The bad would outweight the good here.

As for your original question, I do not see how it would be completely unsafe to have your son ride in the back seat of your jeep. It may not be ideal and I probably wouldn't do it, but it still is allowed unless your vehicle manual specifically states otherwise. Of course though, there are safer cars to ride in (and I understand how you said you'd like to include your son in the last ride of the year ).

Hopefully a tech will chime in and give you their word from the wise.

megnjay said:

While this is true, that he must remain rear facing, it is not because his muscle tone is not developed enough. It's 500% safer to remain rear facing due to bone strength. A young child's bones do not fully ossify until much later in life, along with the fact that certain bones in the pelvic area do not even mold together until a few years later into life. They remain seperated. So while they stay rear facing, this allows time for the bones to ossify and mold together. Therefore, if he were to forward face too early, his bones would not be able to handle the crash forces. The benefit of rear facing has nothing to do with muscle tone.

A center installation is roughly 4-7% safer that an outer installation. However, the previous poster is correct in saying that if you cannot get a good, tight install, you would be safer installing outboard. The bad would outweight the good here.

As for your original question, I do not see how it would be completely unsafe to have your son ride in the back seat of your jeep. It may not be ideal and I probably wouldn't do it, but it still is allowed unless your vehicle manual specifically states otherwise. Of course though, there are safer cars to ride in (and I understand how you said you'd like to include your son in the last ride of the year ).

Hopefully a tech will chime in and give you their word from the wise.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the correction! I was under the impression that it was muscle strength for neck/back support, etc. This is very good to know!

saoirse said:

i was looking for carseat info a while back....i had a 1997 jeep tj

you can not get an anchor bolt installed....period!

we used a scenera rf until 18mos and then bought a new used vehicle...a 2004 crv

Click to expand...

That is terrible! I wonder why that is. :thumbsdown:

I have had my dd in a 2001 Jeep Wrangler on many occasions. We ERF, so she has been RF on every trip & will continue to be. As far as car seats in the Wrangler, we put her seat on the passenger side, rear with the front passenger seat all the way up. I sit driver's side, rear, & DH drives. The newer YJ models may have a slightly deeper rear seat, so you may have more room for the front passenger seat to be further back. I find the Wrangler to be very easy to install in, as it has locking latchplates, and it's really easy to get in the seat for tightening down if you have the top off. I wouldn't use it for a daily vehicle because of only having 2 doors, but I have no problem having dd ride in it. The short back seat & having the top down/off gives littles a GREAT view!