Hi,
I've always had our 11month old son's car seat in the rear, middle seat of our sedan, but I was wondering if that is the safest? I've seen a lot of people put their car seats near the window seats. Now that he's getting so big, it would be easier to place him in the seat if I didn't have to crawl in to strap him in. What's the recommended thing to do? Thanks!
The middle is the safest. I was in a car accident when my daughter was 17 months old and the officer at the scene commended me on putting the seat in the middle because a lot of people don't. He said it is the safest place for the child to be.
I went and had our carseats checked last week at the police station. The police officer told me that the back middle is the safest, followed by behind the drivers seat, and then behind the passengers seat. That being said, we always had our daughter behind the passenger seat. Now we have one behind each seat.
Middle is the safest. I had a pretty big issue with this when I was expecting my second child. I felt so terrible putting son #1 by the window! But, since son #2 was an infant - the middle is the safest place for him to be. Once you turn the seat around to face forward, your son will love the new scenery. I know ours did.
T.
Safest is the middle rear seat, second best is on right side corner, not behind the driver.
We had got our car installed thru a safety inspector and he is the one who said is these two are acceptable.
The middle is the safest.
I think the middle is considered the safest if your car doesn't have LATCH in it, because the seat belt is easier to get really tight. Aside from that reason, I dont' think it really matters.
Car-safety.org is a great site for car seat info and safety. The middle is the safest and also rear facing. Keep him rear facing for as long as possible. If you have a second one, I was told that the forward facing child should still be in the middle because they are the most vulnerable being forward facing, therefore should be in the safest seat possible. But some cars don't allow two carseats next to each other due to latch systems. Our one car doesn't have three sets of latches and you can't "share" one for two car seats so we had to put both car seats on either side. Our other car doesn't have a latch system so we just use the seat belts and were able to put our FF daughter in the middle. THere is so much information out there that most people don't know about. Check out the website.
Both of my kids were placed in the seat behind the passenger seat. Whenever they cried for a bottle or just wanted a pacifier, I can reach them, even when they were rear facing. I didn't know until reading the other posts that the middle was the first safest place.
~M
I also had a certified car seat installer/police officer tell me that the middle was the safest.
As the others have said middle...and I see your little one is almost one....if you are not aware, the lastest recommendations from both the American Academy of Pediatrics and car seat safety experts to is to keep your little one rear facing until the limits of the seat- most convertible seats allow for rear facing until 30 -35 pounds, it's on the seat label....the provides significant protection to their neck and spine..my daughter was RF until age 3 1/2 and my son will stay Rf until he reaches the seat limits...no problems with legs hitting seat backs or complaints...and I know they are as safe as possible.
If you want anymore info on this email me and I can send you the links.
How fun that your baby is almost one!
B.
