I need help using a car's front seat...

[RMG&EMG]

I need some help picking out a child car seat for my 2-seat auto. FWIW, my child is over 1-yr old & over 20 lb. I am having trouble determining which child car seat for which is best suited for that position. None are recommended by this website, and yes I know why. I guess I could just find a seat that is designed for use with a passenger-side lap belt, but what child car seat is best for that?

Alternately, is there a child car seat with tethers that will wrap around the bottom and back of a car seat? I think that would be the best solution. If not, I have also thought about getting some bolt-in LATCH clips that I could attach to the base of my car seat pedestal bolts. (I work on my own car, am mechanically inclined, and feel I could do that work safely.) Has anyone ever seen or modified an older car like that?

I have a feeling this is going to raise a 'red flag' my many of you, but my circumstances are such that this is the only practical solution right now. If you insist on knowing my circumstances, read on:
- The auto is not paid off.
- I cannot sell this auto because it would net less than -0- on the sale or trade-in due to some parking-lot bumper paint damage.
- I cannot take on any more debt because I am still paying off student-loans from college.
- I fear my spouse or I may lose our job with this economy.
- I would use the car to transport my child ONLY TO AND FROM day-care.
- Day care is only 1.5 miles away on a road which thankfully has very little traffic, is very safe, and has 35mph speed limits.
- Believe it or not, my taking our child to day care saves my wife 30 minutes of extra driving per day (because after the drop-off she'd have to turn back around and get into the normal flow of heavy traffic).
- I would be able to get our child home at least an HOUR earlier.
- We cannot trade cars (my wife's commute is through some of the worst traffic in the US that would damage my car's standard tranny within a month).
- The precautions I take while driving with my child are second to NONE.
- The passenger-side airbag will be disabled while my child is in the car.
If you still see this as only black-and-white issue, unless you have $5K to donate to me, please spare me the lecture. I am only looking for the best advice to make this as safe as possible with what I am working paying off today. Please remember not everyone is so gainfully employed such that changing cars is an easy thing to do. Thanks...

	LATCH LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. It is a system mandated by the Federal government in an effort to standardize and simplify the installation of child restraints without using the vehicle's seat belt system. New vehicles and child safety seats manufactured on and after September 1, 2002 will be equipped with the LATCH system. Cars, minivans, and light trucks will be required to have anchor points between the vehicle's seat cushion and the seat back in at least two rear seating positions, and a top tether anchor (with the exception of convertibles). Child safety seats will have a lower set of attachments that fasten to the vehicle anchors. Most forward-facing child safety seats will also have a top strap (tether) that attaches to the top anchor in the vehicle.

[SusanMae]

I understand you are in what sounds like quite a pickle.

Can you and your wife switch cars? Since you can't purchase a new one, switching would be the first thing I would suggest.

Ok after that---Your child may still be able to be RF. 1 and 20 are the MINIMUM to be turned FF. Children are over 5x safer when RF than FF in the second yr of life...and we don't have data to say how much safer they are beyond that. But children in Sweden RF to age 4 and they have lost 1 child to a crash in a 10 yr period, and physics are the same the world over as far as I know.

Are your seatbelts attached to the door? Or do you have a shoulder belt that is on a slider, with a separate lap belt? Or do you have a belt that it's 2 peices of webbing sewn onto the latchplate? Take a pic and post if you're unsure.

As for installing LATCH anchors---that is not approved, and you will be making your child a crash test dummy. If it were to fail in a crash, you would be liable--not the car maker, not the carseat maker, you---and would you be able to live with that? Especially if the worst happened? The only part of the lower anchors that you see are what you clip on to...those metal loops are linked together in the seat bight by a metal rod. I don't care how good you are---my brother is an ASE cert Master Mechanic...and I wouldn't have him do it. If it's approved in your car, you MAY be able to get a top tether anchor kit to install...but top tethers are different than lower anchors.

Also you canNOT attach the latch strap to itself around the back of the seat. The strap is not designed to take that kind of force. This would be another case of making your child, a crash test dummy.
Since you'll need to transport your child in the front seat, with the airbag off----I really think you should keep her RF. A rear seat is 40% safer just from the get go---so since you have to put her in a non-optimal place, you should put her in the safest position--RF.

Are your seats very bucketed---major slope? A pic of the seat may help us as well. If we can see the shape of the seat, we may know that some seats fit best in those kinds of seats--make sense?

Susan

	Forward Facing Car Seats A forward-facing car seat is one in which the child sits facing the front of the car. The seat should be installed in the back seat of your vehicle. Most forward-facing only seats are for children above 20 pounds.

	Rear Facing Car Seats A rear-facing seat is one in which the infant faces the back of the car. Always install a rear-facing seat in the back seat of your car. This is the safest position for an infant. NEVER place a rear-facing seat in the front seat of a vehicle with passenger airbags.

	LATCH LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. It is a system mandated by the Federal government in an effort to standardize and simplify the installation of child restraints without using the vehicle's seat belt system. New vehicles and child safety seats manufactured on and after September 1, 2002 will be equipped with the LATCH system. Cars, minivans, and light trucks will be required to have anchor points between the vehicle's seat cushion and the seat back in at least two rear seating positions, and a top tether anchor (with the exception of convertibles). Child safety seats will have a lower set of attachments that fasten to the vehicle anchors. Most forward-facing child safety seats will also have a top strap (tether) that attaches to the top anchor in the vehicle.

	Top-Tether A top tether (or top strap) is the supplemental attachment now standard on almost every new carseat in the USA. Top tethers can be used with either the seat belt or with the lower anchors (as part of the LATCH system). In other countries, their use may be required by law. A top-tether is simply a strap that connects the top of the carseat to an anchor mounted in the vehicle at a location behind the carseat, usually the parcel shelf or a point on the floor of the cargo area. It is designed to prevent the forward movement of the top of a forward-facing carseat in a frontal crash. This reduces the head excursion of the child, and can reduce the chances of injury. Almost all current carseats can only meet the tougher new federal safety standards when the tether is used, even though they must still meet the minimum safety standards without a tether.

[RMG&EMG]

Thanks so much for the response SusanMae.

Good point about self-installed LATCH, I'll scratch that as an option. I just wondered if there was a kit out there to do that, probably not.

I talked to my wife some more last night about this, and she said since she enjoys the extra time with our child it is not a big deal to add the half-hour to her commute. But we do need to have this as an option in case she needs to work late. I suspect I will not have to pick up our child on the way home but once, rarely twice per week. So that helps reduce risk substaintially.

I hadn't considered RF, but can I install a child car seat like that using the seat belt? The seat belt is not door mounted, not seat mounted, and does not retract over the shoulder automatically (like some 90's model cars did when you close the door). It is a traditional single loop belt that has one end bolted to the frame by the passenger hip (right-side) and clips in on the other side (by the hip on the left). The belt retracts over the right shoulder through a slotted belt guide on the seat then into the car's interior paneling itself. This picture is not from my car, but it is similar:



(Please don't let this pic I found on the internet make you think I foolishly spent a ton of money on my car... I bought my 2-seater over 3 years ago, used, less than a new Accord. Also the crash safety rating for my 2-seater is the best I know of for such a car, 4-star all the way around.)

I did some more looking around and really like the Britax Boulevard. Can that be installed RF with the seat belt?

	Britax - Click for more info Britax International has been producing reliable child safety products for over 30 years. Not only does Britax have decades of experience creating car seats and other children's safety equipment, Britax has a long standing reputation as an industry leader and innovator. Britax International is headquartered in the United Kingdom, but Britax car seats are designed and manufactured at facilities in Germany, Austria, and the United States. In the summer of 2002, Britax strengthened their commitment to creating the safest car seats with the opening of a brand new, state-of-the-art crash testing facility in North Carolina. Britax car seats have a reputation around the world for being some of the safest, most reliable, and best designed child safety seats ever made.

	Rear Facing Car Seats A rear-facing seat is one in which the infant faces the back of the car. Always install a rear-facing seat in the back seat of your car. This is the safest position for an infant. NEVER place a rear-facing seat in the front seat of a vehicle with passenger airbags.

	Britax Boulevard - Click for more info It is all about the wings with the Britax Boulevard convertible car seat - head and torso safety wings help keep your child from harm in a side-impact crash. And this matters - side-impact crashes are the leading cause of death for 6 - 14 year-old children. Of course, the safety wings are only one of the many safety features that the Britax Boulevard offers: built-in lock-offs, 5-point harness with front adjuster, tangle-free webbing, a push button release LATCH system with Versa-Tether®, and a sculpted base, ensuring an easy installation with a secure fit.

	LATCH LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. It is a system mandated by the Federal government in an effort to standardize and simplify the installation of child restraints without using the vehicle's seat belt system. New vehicles and child safety seats manufactured on and after September 1, 2002 will be equipped with the LATCH system. Cars, minivans, and light trucks will be required to have anchor points between the vehicle's seat cushion and the seat back in at least two rear seating positions, and a top tether anchor (with the exception of convertibles). Child safety seats will have a lower set of attachments that fasten to the vehicle anchors. Most forward-facing child safety seats will also have a top strap (tether) that attaches to the top anchor in the vehicle.

[SusanMae]

A RF Boulevard is an excellent choice! If you're seatbelt is similar to that then I don't see a problem. You car seat manual will have the kinds of belts that are NOT allowed to be used to install the seat.

Since you're only going to use the seat occassionaly, you might want to look for the Cosco Senera ($43 and change) or the Safety 1st Uptown($99). Both of these seats allow RF for a good length of time before being outgrown. The BLVD is an expensive seat that most people wouldn't spend for a 1x week use.

Make sure you have that airbag turned off when she is in the car....it will decapitate her when RF.

Susan

	Rear Facing Car Seats A rear-facing seat is one in which the infant faces the back of the car. Always install a rear-facing seat in the back seat of your car. This is the safest position for an infant. NEVER place a rear-facing seat in the front seat of a vehicle with passenger airbags.

	Britax Boulevard - Click for more info It is all about the wings with the Britax Boulevard convertible car seat - head and torso safety wings help keep your child from harm in a side-impact crash. And this matters - side-impact crashes are the leading cause of death for 6 - 14 year-old children. Of course, the safety wings are only one of the many safety features that the Britax Boulevard offers: built-in lock-offs, 5-point harness with front adjuster, tangle-free webbing, a push button release LATCH system with Versa-Tether®, and a sculpted base, ensuring an easy installation with a secure fit.