Need car seat help ASAP!

[JRS]

Wife and I are leaving tomorrow for a long trip out of state. was moving the baby's car seat (Britax- Decathlon) to the back seat of the truck ('97 extended cab) and cripe it doesn't fit! it's not even close. she just switched to foward facing on Wednesday, but it doesn't even work rearward facing. I need an idea of what other brand to use that will work safely. Would take the wife's van, but I'm hauling a 10,000 lb. gooseneck and the Mazda MPV won't cut it ;-)

 

[DF5152]

i put my kid in the middle with something to hold the front of the seat up a little, most of it will fit on the seat. once the seat belt is pulled tight it stays. then he can kick his feet up on the center console so they are not hanging all the time

 

[AMink]

I always had to kneel in the seat to get it tight. The nice thing about the middle is that you can tighten it down; the side seats need one of those pieces to hold the shoulder and lap belts together. Will the belt not even fit around the seat?

 

[JRS]

truck belts are not a problem, the car seat is too tall. (and it's not a booster) the back of the seat rests against the back window. I gave up and ran down to Babies-R-Us. while their prices are just OK, they did let me take any of the floor models out to the truck and check the fit. they even sent a sales associate out to help. I ended up with one that rests against the seat and not the back window. For added safety, I ran the tether strap down the back of the seat and bolted it to the existing seat belt strap bolt. Do the new model Dodge trucks come with that LATCH feature on the back seats? my wife's van is a snap with this feature.

 

[JRMora]

Yep. I still have one baby in a car seat and we use the Latch fitting in the back with NO problems. Both cars have it and they are a snap to use. I don't care much for the top anchor, though.



Juan

 

[AMink]

Yeah, it looks like "back in the day", the folks who designed the trucks and cars didn't talk to the folks who designed the seats. The new ones are definately easier.