Well its official, I'm a dad now. My son was born in December ( preemie ) so he has been in the hospital growing and getting ready to come home. Well finally the time has come and he is ready come home next week.

I started putting the car seat into the pathy, in the second row, in the center with the seat belt holding it in place. The concern I have is that it doesn't seem tightly secured with just the shoulder belt holding it in place. the side seats have the LATCH system which work great, but I don't like the idea of putting the seat on any of the sides becuase of I want to protect in case of side impact.

Anyone else have a seat in the middle ? does your seat fit nice and securely in there?

kev1n wrote:Well its official, I'm a dad now. My son was born in December ( preemie ) so he has been in the hospital growing and getting ready to come home. Well finally the time has come and he is ready come home next week.

I started putting the car seat into the pathy, in the second row, in the center with the seat belt holding it in place. The concern I have is that it doesn't seem tightly secured with just the shoulder belt holding it in place. the side seats have the LATCH system which work great, but I don't like the idea of putting the seat on any of the sides becuase of I want to protect in case of side impact.

Anyone else have a seat in the middle ? does your seat fit nice and securely in there?

Congratulations! I've installed a rear facing baby seat in the middle with on problems or concerns.

All newer cars, AFAIK, have shoulder belts for the middle passenger so I don't think there is an issue with baby seat safety.

The baby seat should have instructions on how and where to best install the seat. Owners manual, I believe, may have some instructions/recommendations on how to install the baby seat.

Have you tried useing the belt and the two inside latches?

The only opinion I have on this one is absolutely do *NOT* put the seat in the middle using the inner LATCH connection from the two outer seats! When our son was 6 months old, we bought a Toyota Tacoma Doublecab from a lady who happened to work for the Office of Traffic Safety and was the car-seat liason to the California Highway Patrol. We learned alot during that purchase! LATCH is the safest way to attach the car seat since the latch system will secure the seat tightly and minimize movement. However, the 2 latch connections are designed to move together with it's partner... not so with the other side of the car. In the right (wrong) type of impact, it is possible for each side of the car to move independently which could literally rip the car seat in half. I won't dwell on that since it isnt a cheerful thought. Since we have 2 kids now, we've been forced to put each one on the side of the car to make the seats fit. I have no choice but to trust in the strength of the doors to protect them. But if our 2001 Tribute was anything to go by, the newer cars don't have much to worry about when that is concerned., I was T-boned at 50mph by a lady who ran a red light, and although there was $15,000 in damage to the car, there was no more than about 2 inches of intrusion into the passenger compartment.

Not sure I've helped much on where to put your son, but I hope I've helped you decide where not to put him.

i put my son on the side seats. not the center, if you are in a collision(God forbid) and the seat latch fails your child is going through the windshield. the left or right seats are the safer option compared to the center. do some research on all the things you buy for your child. there is alot of recalls out these days.

just use the latch connections on either side from the side seats.

We have the infant carrier in the middle, and my daughter's car seat on the driver side, so they actually share a latch hookup on one side. Haven't had any problems.

The reason we do it that way is if the little guy is fussing, my wife can sit in the back and tend to him while we go wherever it is we are going. That and big sister (3) can help cuz she's close to him. She loves her baby brother!

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What kind of seat are you using? I don't go cheap when it comes to carseats and Britax seems to be the standard. You should be able to get it in there using the seatbelt and have it be very secure. The Britax seats have ratcheting lockdowns for the seatbelt and I've not met a vehicle I couldn't get a good fit.

I've seen other rumblings about NOT using the LATCH connectors from the outboard seats on a middle install. Agree that middle is the safest and best spot particularly if you need to sit in back with them. I wouldn't put a baby in an outboard seat in a car, but it should be reasonably safe in an SUV/Truck. The carseat itself provides a lot of protection from a side impact.

I used the middle seat as well.I used the latch connections on either side of the left and right seat plus you have the rear seat latch as well. Best thing to do is go to your local fire station and they will set it up for you.

Plngeek wrote:However, the 2 latch connections are designed to move together with it's partner... not so with the other side of the car. In the right (wrong) type of impact, it is possible for each side of the car to move independently which could literally rip the car seat in half.

That's interesting to know. I did notice the manual says not to use the LATCH in the middle seat and I wondered why. Knowing this, I wish they would put the LATCH in the middle as well.

Kevin, we use the middle seat with the lapbelt and are able to make it tight. It's has a bit more side-to-side movement versus using the LATCH, but I'd prefer to be in the middle. I'll take slightly more side-to-side movement for the increased side impact protection. I guess it just depends on how tight you are able to get your particular seat.

Congrats on the baby! Being a Dad is lots of hard work and is one of the greatest investments you can make in your life. Try to enjoy the hard work along the way, he won't stay little for long.

AZ_Path wrote:

Plngeek wrote:However, the 2 latch connections are designed to move together with it's partner... not so with the other side of the car. In the right (wrong) type of impact, it is possible for each side of the car to move independently which could literally rip the car seat in half.

Congrats on the baby! Being a Dad is lots of hard work and is one of the greatest investments you can make in your life. Try to enjoy the hard work along the way, he won't stay little for long.

Thank you! This has been a long overdue for us. Our daughter passed away last year shortly after birth and having my son now has really been one of the greatest feelings of my life in a year where things were really bad. I am truly blessed and I am so grateful. I always keep my daughter in my heart and I believe she is an angel watching over her brother now, who despite some complications came to this world ready and feisty as ever.

Regarding the middle, I think I will go with the shoulder belt and try to secure it tight. I read in the manual that you have to extend the belt all the way out to get it into child seat mode where it locks the belt into place will have to try it out now.

skinny2 wrote:What kind of seat are you using? I don't go cheap when it comes to carseats and Britax seems to be the standard. You should be able to get it in there using the seatbelt and have it be very secure. The Britax seats have ratcheting lockdowns for the seatbelt and I've not met a vehicle I couldn't get a good fit.

I've seen other rumblings about NOT using the LATCH connectors from the outboard seats on a middle install. Agree that middle is the safest and best spot particularly if you need to sit in back with them. I wouldn't put a baby in an outboard seat in a car, but it should be reasonably safe in an SUV/Truck. The carseat itself provides a lot of protection from a side impact.

we bought a graco snug and ride seat. the reviews seemed to be good and other friends reccemended it as well.

Regardless of seat choice, it sounds like you're on the right track with the belt. If the seat doesn't have built-in lock downs you've got to get the seatbelt into ratchet mode or it will never fit securely.

If using the seat belt to strap the car seat in then try using a Mighty-Tite. It gets it real secure.
http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Kids-100 ... B000056JHP

your car seat should be rear facing not forward and the safest place is in the middle. I can't tell from the pic if you have it setup correctly but I do suggest going to your local police department and they will install it the right way,

My $.02:

My daughter is now 2, and we have another on the way...We still are wondering what exactly to do...

According to the CHP (California Highway Patrol) the vehicle has to be SPECIFICALLY designed with the latch system on the center seats for them to be used...In California, this is also a LEGAL issue.

We were told that the outboard seats are therefore the safest.

I have a Recaro Seat in my car, my wife has the Britax. They are very similar. I figured Recaro has a little bit of experience making car seats...

Anyhow, our biggest problem was that a rear facing car seat wont fit very well in the back seat, as the Pathfinder's back seat is too small. We put the seat behind the passenger's and my wife nearly has her knees in the dashboard. Now that my daughter is older, the seat faces forward, and things are okay again.

Now, with another kid on the way, I am actually considering another vehicle besides the Pathy (sad to say). I am 6' and I drive with my seat all the way back, so there is very little room.


Anybody else have space issues with the back seat?