Putting a baby in my baby! Car Seat Placement

[BootyDo]

Hi All,

My wife and I just welcomed our latest addition a couple of months ago and with maternity leave running out, I'm going to need to put a seat in my 06 Explorer for any emergencies. We have the rear facing infant car seats for now and I've always heard middle seat was the safest for babies. But I don't think the LATCH system looks like it supports that.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where I should mount the base in this? I suspect he wants to drive up front with his Daddy and whoop at girls, but silly laws and all...

 

[07EddyB]

The second row latch system has the anchor points for the outboard seats only. Once you get to boosters though you can put them in the middle.

 

[BootyDo]

Thanks! i've read mixed reviews on which outboard is safer, (we have a garage so curbside loading, etc isn't an issue), but is there anything definitive about our trucks? Some things I've read mentioned some vehicles might have a preference on placement.

 

[07EddyB]

Who's legs are shorter? Yours or your wifes? Who will be driving the most? In other words, put the car seat behind the front seat that you can stand to have forward a bit. A rear facing seat takes up a lot of room.

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Hey BootyDo, I was in the same boat as you around this time last year. My wife and I ended up determining that the rear passenger side was consider the safest if the middle wasn't an option. I don't remember how we ended up with that conclusion (I can't even remember some things from yesterday ), but I know we did a good bit of research. I believe most modern car seats are able to be installed even without latch points. Either a lap belt or lap/shoulder belt should be able to be received through the base of the car seat, but definitely double-check your car seat manual/instructions or with the manufacturer. We could have placed our seat in the middle but ended up going with the rear passenger for several reasons. Also, at least in my state of PA, many State Police stations (and I believe local, too) and EMS stations are more than happy to look over your car seat arrangement. My wife took our Explorer to the local State Police station and they said everything looked great except for the front passenger seat was a little too close to the car seat so we had to move it forward just a smidge.