Car Seat Inventory

[rockthebeef]

Originally Posted by moomoo

Also, congrats on your new addition! Almost over the 2 month hump...

Thank you. So, what happens at two months?
I know that the first 3 months is considered the "4th trimester" and the baby is still getting used to the world.

At 7 weeks, our baby is only waking once at night which is nice. She eats like mad and sleeps less than before in the day. She's really starting to become interested in her mobiles and visual toys. We made is about 3.5 miles around the lake today in a BOB jogger (briskly walking since newborns shouldn't be jogged) before we had to call it quits! That was monumental.

Oops. sorry to take this off-topic.

[moomoo]

Originally Posted by rockthebeef

Thank you. So, what happens at two months?
I know that the first 3 months is considered the "4th trimester" and the baby is still getting used to the world.

At 7 weeks, our baby is only waking once at night which is nice. She eats like mad and sleeps less than before in the day. She's really starting to become interested in her mobiles and visual toys. We made is about 3.5 miles around the lake today in a BOB jogger (briskly walking since newborns shouldn't be jogged) before we had to call it quits! That was monumental.

Oops. sorry to take this off-topic.

Sounds like things get somewhat easier -- and I say somewhat because everyone tells me that once you think you have things figured out, baby changes it up and throws you for a (new) loop -- after the first 6-8 weeks. I guess it depends on the child though. I'm about 3 weeks out from my due date, so I think if I were even walking half that by then, I would be pretty proud of myself! Congrats!

[lashlee]

Originally Posted by moomoo

Hi, soon-to-be first-time mom here and I was wondering what car seats folks had installed in their 4th generation outbacks and specifically:

1) which car seats are installed and are they forward-facing (FF) or rear-facing (RF)?
2) where in the back row are they installed?
3) if installed in the outboard seats, how tall is the driver and/or front passenger?
4) is there any bracing against the seat back for RF seats?
5) are you using LATCH/super LATCH/seat belt?
6) how easy was it to install? did you have to get any special equipment, like extender straps, locking straps, or angle adjusters, to install it properly?

thanks, everyone! (i'll be sure to contribute once i get my car, which won't happen until mid-march... )

We have a 16 month old daughter that started in a Keyfit 30 in the passenger outboard seat. We have now moved up to a Recaro Pro Ride (I think!) rear facing behind the driver. No problems with room for me, but it is hard to install. We used latch but had to roll up a towel to get the angle right. We hope to keep her RF for as long as possible until we swap her over to FF.

[The Shaggin' Wagon]

I'm seeing some people are using the rear facing car seats in the rear center? I thought the preferred location were either behind the driver or passenger side seats? We have a 6-month old, rear-facing on the rear passenger size in a Graco, Snug-Ride 30 using the latch system. I will also note that I have the base so tight that it actually is lifted up slightly at the end of the seat, but it's leveled correctly. I'm now wondering if I have gone about this all wrong?

[ckhbuy]

There has been great information here about the types of car seats, so I will not add anything. Instead, I’ll make a tip about keeping your car clean. My kid’s car seat is in the rear passenger side seat and installed with the latch system. Before installing it, I took a large beach towel and covered the top AND sides of the rear seat and tucked the towel in place. Hence none of the Subaru fabric is showing; every month I take the towel out and launder it. My little prince scampers up it with his dirty shoes everyday. I also purchased a canvas seatback (note BACK) protector and installed that on the passenger seat in FRONT of his car seat: kids LOVE kicking the seat in front of them with wet, muddy, filthy shoes. I recommend a seatback protector that wraps around to the front...those shoes seem to get everywhere. Those two actions have saved my Outback.

Christopher

[moomoo]

Originally Posted by ckhbuy

There has been great information here about the types of car seats, so I will not add anything. Instead, I’ll make a tip about keeping your car clean. My kid’s car seat is in the rear passenger side seat and installed with the latch system. Before installing it, I took a large beach towel and covered the top AND sides of the rear seat and tucked the towel in place. Hence none of the Subaru fabric is showing; every month I take the towel out and launder it. My little prince scampers up it with his dirty shoes everyday. I also purchased a canvas seatback (note BACK) protector and installed that on the passenger seat in FRONT of his car seat: kids LOVE kicking the seat in front of them with wet, muddy, filthy shoes. I recommend a seatback protector that wraps around to the front...those shoes seem to get everywhere. Those two actions have saved my Outback.

Christopher

I'm taking this a bit OT, but has anyone had any luck using a non-custom bench seat (dog seat) cover? I'm wondering if use of such a product would compromise the safety of a car seat assuming it has all the proper access points for LATCH and seat belts. (My thought is that in an accident, the car seat could slide a little more if the cover/towel/etc. isn't tacky enough or sufficiently secured to the seats.)

[moomoo]

Originally Posted by The Shaggin' Wagon

I'm seeing some people are using the rear facing car seats in the rear center? I thought the preferred location were either behind the driver or passenger side seats? We have a 6-month old, rear-facing on the rear passenger size in a Graco, Snug-Ride 30 using the latch system. I will also note that I have the base so tight that it actually is lifted up slightly at the end of the seat, but it's leveled correctly. I'm now wondering if I have gone about this all wrong?

Have you had your install inspected? I would GUESS, and this is only a guess, that if the angle/level is correct and you're getting less than an inch of motion along the belt path (preferably less or none), that you're good to go.

I think with our Chicco, using a shoulder belt install, that it's more important to get the lap portion of the seat belt very tight instead of the lap AND the shoulder portion. We also found that the seat lifted somewhat with the shoulder portion totally tightened and ended up being more prone to loosening that way. (We used hard blows against the base to see how quickly the base loosened.) My husband, an engineer, was theorizing that tightening too much on the shoulder portion would actually introduce more movement in an accident given that it is not flat against the seat bottom and is actually forcing the seat up. Of course, I defer to any true experts on this board...

[ckhbuy]

That latch system is pretty butch, if properly installed and tightened (probably true for all good systems). Plus it has a third point that buckles down right next to your hatchtop - yes, a long belt holding the top of the car seat under tension stretching from the top of the seat to the hatch exit. Trick is to tension everything up real good before throwing the kid on there, after installing any towels or protective coatings.... It ain't going anywhere. Well, I hope, anyways...but my wife and I tug like mad to tighten up all the attachment points. Leaves an impression in the seat, I've noticed.

[OutbackFun]

1) which car seats are installed and are they forward-facing (FF) or rear-facing (RF)? Diono Radian RXT, forward facing
2) where in the back row are they installed? Passenger side
3) if installed in the outboard seats, how tall is the driver and/or front passenger? I'm 5'8, hubby is 6'
4) is there any bracing against the seat back for RF seats? n/a
5) are you using LATCH/super LATCH/seat belt? we're using SuperLATCH
6) how easy was it to install? did you have to get any special equipment, like extender straps, locking straps, or angle adjusters, to install it properly? Pretty easy, but the anchors in OB were hard to get to. No special equipment needed

ETA: I run a private community online for moms if you're interested.

[medic]

With the Marathon, one thing to note is that it's a tall seat. Once your child is a toddler, you may need to get a toddler seat so they can get in/out of the seat by themself. Our 4 year old either needs a lift from mom or dad (which usually causes one of us to bump our head) or to climb onto the backseat leather and then into the car seat.

When we have a real toddler seat in the car, the kiddo can jump into position without any help. The downside is that he hadn't figgured out the shoulder belt thing so we still have to lean back to buckle/unbuckle that.

With either seat, we always put it in the middle (preferred) or behind the passenger seat (if longer trip so kiddo doesn't turn his head watching a DVD). Passenger seat because my wife is shorter than I am so it leaves more room to prevent backset kicks.

Just remember if you put the seat next to the doors, activate the child lock. We also got the Britz Ez-cling (

Amazon.com: Britax 2 Pack EZ-Cling Sun Shades, Black: Baby

Amazon.com: Britax 2 Pack EZ-Cling Sun Shades, Black: Baby

) for the rare supper sunny days in Seattle. They work great, but I wish they were a bit bigger. When not in use they do under the rear hatch mat.