Car seats for buses

[shinaynay17]

I am planning on bringing my 13 month old daughter onto a school bus with me once school starts again. My seat in my car is way to big and won't fit whatsoever behind a bus seat rfing.

When my daughter was younger I just took her infant seat and seat belted it in. My boss just gave me a new bus with no seat belts, although the new buses have spots like latch on them that are part of the seat. They put these in for if they ever need to put seat belts in so they can just latch them on. Are these safe to put a car seat on??
Also should I ff her or does anyone know of a very small budget friendly rfing seat??
I know buses are one of the safest vehicles out there but I can't see her at every moment and my mom only will take the twins as they can't really move yet.

She weighs 19.5 pounds and is 32 inches.

Thanks in advance

 

[raelynn]

I've had my kids on my bus since they were each a year old.

The latch connectors are safe for car seats, they are just a pain because they are vertical, and hard to clip some connectors to.

I had my kids FF on the bus as soon as I could turn them because finding seats that fit RF is almost impossible. My current bus has more front to back room between seats than any bus I've ever seen, but any other bus was nearly impossible. I did get a RF marathon installed on one of my buses.

You're going to have to leave your daughter RF because shes too small to turn. The Guide65 is one seat that may fit. If you are able to bring your bus to Toys R Us, try the convertible seats and see which fits best.

 

[shinaynay17]

Ok thanks. I will have to try it. I was going to leave her in her infant seat but she has outgrown in the hight wise. Is the car seat fairly small as well??
I have had no problems getting her Carseat in most buses but I find that the newer the bus the narrower the seats are.
Is the guide 65 a fairly wide seat?? I had tons of kinders last year which means lots of grade 1s this year and I like them as close to me as possible and would love to fit at least 1 kid next to it.
With her being so light I would never have wanted her ffing.

 

[PeachyPie]

Just a question, would you use a car seat on a city bus? Because I'm quite certain those would not have any sort of latch connectors, nor would the driver stop long enough for you to install the seat.

 

[raelynn]

Just a question, would you use a car seat on a city bus? Because I'm quite certain those would not have any sort of latch connectors, nor would the driver stop long enough for you to install the seat.

No, there is no way to install a seat on a city bus. School buses do come with LATCH/UAS and/or seatbelts specifically for car seats (or can be retrofitted)

 

[raelynn]

Ok thanks. I will have to try it. I was going to leave her in her infant seat but she has outgrown in the hight wise. Is the car seat fairly small as well??
I have had no problems getting her Carseat in most buses but I find that the newer the bus the narrower the seats are.
Is the guide 65 a fairly wide seat?? I had tons of kinders last year which means lots of grade 1s this year and I like them as close to me as possible and would love to fit at least 1 kid next to it.
With her being so light I would never have wanted her ffing.

The guide65 is average in width, you should have no problem getting one child beside her.

 

[Nimommyof2]

You could look into something like the evenflo titan as well I would think, it only RF to 30lbs but that would be doable for your situation. The scenera may work as well, both of these seats would be narrow than the Guide 65 I believe.

Hopefully a tech can answer this but can the seats be touching the one in front on the bus?

 

[safeinthecar]

I'm not actually sure that vertical instead of horizontal LATCH connectors would be safe. In passenger cars we teach that the LATCH hooks on the car seat have a top and a bottom side and to make sure to orient them properly or the force may be on the opening mechanism in a crash and the car seat can detach. I'm not sure how you would account for this with vertical anchors. Also, I'm not sure that seat belt anchors would be within the specs for LATCH spacing. Some manufactures allow for abnormal spacing, but many do not, again because it can distribute the force on the car seat part of the LATCH system in a way as to cause failure.

I think that you will probably have to contact the bus manufacture AND the car seat manufacture before you have enough info to be certain that you have a safe set-up for your kiddo. Good luck!

 

[Nimommyof2]

Are they vertical? I went on a field trip and noticed these in the four front seats and assumed they were for carseats, these ones I saw weren't vertical

 

[Nimommyof2]

Is it a new bus? According to Transport Canada from 2007 on buses had to have some seats with UAS so thats what I saw on the bus I was on. Here is what I copied and pasted:Based on research demonstrating that small children on school buses are not protected from injury in the same manner as larger children (Legault, 2004), Transport Canada will require, effective April 2007, that UAS anchorages be installed on a proportion of seats in all school buses, allowing for the installation of CRS. The present study, therefore, was designed to assess the usability of the UAS in both cars and school buses. The main objectives of the study were to provide guidance on potential UAS design improvements and to make recommendations concerning labelling and instructions related to the UAS.

Users installed CRS in a car and a school bus using three different types of lower anchorage connectors and top tethers. Surprisingly, many participants were not familiar with the UAS, and believed that CRS should only be installed using the seat belt. Over 40 per cent of participants did not know where the lower anchorage connectors were located in the car. While installation performance using the UAS was generally satisfactory (all v were installed correctly between 70 and 92 per cent of the time), UAS design improvements for both the CRS and the vehicles were identified. A supplementary, informal usability study (Appendix C) done in the school bus identified a number of additional issues relating to the use of CRS in these vehicles. The implementation of the proposed design improvements by CRS and automotive manufacturers should increase the overall usability of the UAS and increase its effectiveness in the event of collisions.

 

[shinaynay17]

My dh just walked in the door with the Titan. With her being on a bus I think rfing to 30 will be sufficient. ( She has only gained 3 pounds in 6 months.) the Titan seems to be a bit smaller then the guide 65 and seems to be more comfy then the scenera. Let's hope it fits nicely.

The mechanic at my work used to build the buses in the warehouse. He said that the latches will hold good if not better then a seatbelt as a seatbelt will just be latched onto the latch system anyhow.

The bus is a. 2012 maybe a 2013 not quite sure of the year completely as we ordered it and are just waiting for it to come in. It's brand new so it should have the necessary latches like all the others have!!

 

[snowbird25ca]

There will definitely be UAS on a new bus then. Raelynn will be able to confirm for you, but it seems to me that when a seat was in with UAS it limited the space for a child to sit beside it? I know that some school bus companies have rules regarding students sitting beside a child in a carseat as well since it change compartmentalization for that child.

The Titan and Scenera will both take up more room front-to back when installed at the proper recline than what a Guide 65 will and the Guide 65 isn't really a wide seat at all - it's not as narrow as a radian, but is advertised to be 3 across friendly and I could certainly see it working in some 3-across situations. I'm not sure that the Titan will actually be any narrower.

Evenflo doesn't allow the seat to be installed anymore upright than the line level to ground, so hopefully it fits on the bus.

 

[shinaynay17]

I will most definitely go and try it out if another kid doesn't fit right beside it, it won't be the end of the world. I can always use the seat in someone else's car.

 

[safeinthecar]

The mechanic at my work used to build the buses in the warehouse. He said that the latches will hold good if not better then a seatbelt as a seatbelt will just be latched onto the latch system anyhow.
!

It's not the bus component of the system I'm questioning. It's whether the hooks on the car seat itself will hold if the hooks are twisted or not spaced correctly.

 

[shinaynay17]

They have just gotten the bus in today. I guess after naps and before bed I will run over with all the kiddos and check it out. From what I know the latches are horizontal but otherwise I will tell them I want to get a seatbelt in before September. Want her to be safe!!

 

[raelynn]

The UAS anchor hooks are horizontal, as in side to side. However on all of the buses I have seen them on, rather than pointing towards the front edge of the seat, they've pointed upward towards the top of the seatback. I googled for a picture but couldn't find one.

 

[Nimommyof2]

Oh okay I get what you are saying I don't know why that would matter either way they are UAS hooks apporved by transport Canada. I found a picture of them so get it. I think in the new buses they are pointing outwards the one I was on had like a little cut out with the hooks inside pointing outwards.

OP did you figure anything out wiht the seat?

 

[shinaynay17]

Sorry for the late reply 10 day old twins and a 13 month old are very tiring. I actually found that the Titan fit better in the trailblazer and saves me back when trying to get the twins into the back. I bought the guide 65 and it is perfect. She is absolutely loving the seat and hopefully she will be able to sleep in it during nap time.

Thanks for the suggestions it definitely helped