Car Seat Placement

Ours did this too, out of all seriousness, if you can sit on the base somehow and pull the seatbelt tight, it will be a lot better. Good luck.

I also wanted to add the safest place in the back seat for a carseat is the center, not one of the sides as has been suggested earlier. Here are some links:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_installing-a-car-seat_9458.bc

http://children.webmd.com/news/20080507/safest-spot-for-b...

http://www.usa.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=...

...and one quote from Safe kids USA:

Q. Is my child safer in the seat behind the driver or behind the front-seat passenger?

As long as a child can be correctly restrained in the rear center position, we generally recommend it. That position is insulated from all crash angles, so it is usually thought of as safest.

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First, what does your car manuel say about car seat placement. My trailblazer stated that you should never place a carseat in the middle seat. And in my new car the latch system is only on the end seats.
Second, it is totally normal for a car seat to move an inch to the left or right and still be safe.
Third, if you feel uncomfortable about this, call your local Police Dept. There is a nationwide program that installs carseats for free. They should have a list of local people who are certified to install a carseat correctly. 80% of carseats are installed wrong. Use this website to find a local place near you that is willing to do it for you.

http://www.seatcheck.org/

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Hi, B.!

I'm a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, now lets see if we can clear some things up...

The center is the safest.
Obviously the center is the safest position. The child will be furthest from the impact. BUT, the safest place for your seat is where you can get it installed correctly. My children are outboard because I have three of them and I'm confident that they are safe because the install is perfect.

Passenger side outboard vs. Driver side outboard
Choose whichever side is convenient. The stats change from year to year as to which side is safest. There is barely a difference and it's pretty much 50-50.

The carseat moves.
Your seat should not move more than 1" from side to side when you tug with your non-dominant hand AT THE BELTPATH. Pull the sides where the belt passes through. It will move at the top unless it is a Britax or SunshineKids Radian which can be tethered rear-facing (the ONLY seats that can).

Use a Mighty Tite.
DO NOT use the Mighty Tite!!! If you have one, throw it away or use it as a paperweight. They have been known to damage seatbelts, cut right through them. The manufacturer of the mighty tite (Sunshine Kids) doesn't allow the Mighty Tite to be used with their seats. That speaks volumes. http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/SeatBeltTite.aspx

LATCH can be used in the center.
On SOME vehicles. I have a LATCH manual and would be happy to look it up for anyone. I just need the make, model and year.

Go to the fire/police station and have them install it for you.
Bad idea. YOU need to install the carseat. A good tech educates the parent and has them do the entire install. Techs don't offer roadside assistance so, it's best to learn to do it yourself.

And just a plug for RFing. Rear-facing is FIVE times safer than forward facing. The 1yo and 20lbs recommendation comes from an outdated time when seats only had the ability to RF until 20lbs. It is now recommended by CPS experts and the AAP that you RF your child to the limits of the seat, usually 33-35lbs. Why, you ask?
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8&feature=user

I hope this helps! If you need more help, c'mon over to the forums at car-seat.org. It's a great site filled with knowledgeable techs and CPS advocates. You can also post pictures and we can try to give you some pointers for getting the seat in tighter.

1 mom found this helpful

Go to this site and learn. I need to do the same!!! www.seatcheck.org.

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My rear facing always worked better on the side...I put it on the passenger side so I could still sort of reach back and pop in a binky, etc...

I think you can call the fire department, or the pocie department. They have "car seat checks" here in NY...that always helps peace of mind.

Best wishes...
J.

You could try your local police office- our said they though our car seat was safer on the passenger seat side.

I was clueless as to how to install a car seat so I took it to our local police station and had it installed by a police officer. He trie din teh middle and noticed teh same thinga nd said with certain kinds of cars it is actually safer to have on teh side.

Hi,

Go to Wal-Mart or Babies r Us and buy a Mighty Tight. It is a device that tightens the seat belt better than anything else.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267437

Best thing I ever bought for my kids. There seats never moved and inch and it made installing and re-installing their seats a breeze. I recomend this more than any other baby gear product I ever used.

GO BUY IT TODAY!!

D.

Go to the police station and they will install it. This is a community service. The car seat should not move at all!

You can try sitting on the carseat base and trying to tighten the strap a bit more. If you are using the latch attachments, these are anchored in the car for use in either the right or left seat, not the middle, although I have gotten the middle position to work by sitting on the seat as I suggested above. This is what I do with all of my other front facing seats as well to make sure that they are secure.

Good luck!

I knwo its been said, but call your local police department and see who they have or where to go to have a car seat installed. If your department doesn't do it, one near by might.

does it have a buckle underneath latch

The safest place for a child is in a properly installed carseat.
Meaning - yes, the middle is the furthest spot from a crash, but if you are not getting a tight enough install, then it is much safer for the seat to be on a side with a tight, proper install.

Also, I would caution just going to any police station. Often they are not actually certified, or they have let their certification lapse. We just had a safety technician at my office and I was telling her how my collegaue's seat was installed in the middle using the LATCH from either side seat and she said that was absolutely not a correct install. However, my colleague had gone to a police dept. and they did it, so she assumed it was right. It wasn't.

Check some of the local children's hospitals, too. They usually have technicians on staff or can direct you to them.

Call your local police, ambulance or fire department and ask when they are having a car seat safety day. They will have a professional install the seat for you (usually for FREE) and show you what is safe or not. I live in Kerhonkson NY and my local ambulance does it several times a year. They will probably be having one soon since we are almost to summer. A.

the safest spot is behind the passenger seat, next behind the driver seat and lastly in the middle.