Baby seat location

[lovemachine]

My son is now 10 months old. So he has gotten bigger, and heavier. Right now, his baby seat sits in the center of the rear seat of my TJ.

I will admit, it can be a pain at times to load him in. I have to maneuver his seat, with him in it, between the roll bar and folded down passenger seat. And put his seat into the base. And with the TJ having a 4” lift.....oy. It’s a good thing I work out!

Anyway, I am wondering if it would be easier if I moved the location to the side now. Either the driver or pssenger side, instead of the center.

What have you all done? Have you always kept the rear facing seat in the center?

Just trying to make loading a bit easier!

I will say that since he’s bigger, I have been taking him out of the seat, and leaving it in the vehicle when we go places.

So I’m wondering if it would be easier if his seat was driver or passenger side, I could just climb in and get him out that way.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[StG58]

My son is now 10 months old. So he has gotten bigger, and heavier. Right now, his baby seat sits in the center of the rear seat of my TJ.

I will admit, it can be a pain at times to load him in. I have to maneuver his seat, with him in it, between the roll bar and folded down passenger seat. And put his seat into the base. And with the TJ having a 4” lift.....oy. It’s a good thing I work out!

Anyway, I am wondering if it would be easier if I moved the location to the side now. Either the driver or pssenger side, instead of the center.

What have you all done? Have you always kept the rear facing seat in the center?

Just trying to make loading a bit easier!

I will say that since he’s bigger, I have been taking him out of the seat, and leaving it in the vehicle when we go places.

So I’m wondering if it would be easier if his seat was driver or passenger side, I could just climb in and get him out that way.

Hope that makes sense!

Can't speak about kids, but the grandkids went in the back on the passenger side. That seemed to limit the amount of hassle involved. Super happy when they could actually use a front facing seat, and then booster seats. It help if you have the tilt and tumble passenger seat. You can find the tilt and tumble mechanism for pretty cheap sometimes. It puts the passenger seat right up against the dash. DON'T sell the TJ just because it's a small pain in the ass to get them in and out of the back seat! They grow out of that very rapidly, and soon enough your son will be sitting in the front seat or crawling over the side (grandkids favorite thing) to get in the back. They think it's just too cool to ride around with the top down when we go places, and crawl over the sides to get in and out.

 

[lovemachine]

Can't speak about kids, but the grandkids went in the back on the passenger side. That seemed to limit the amount of hassle involved. Super happy when they could actually use a front facing seat, and then booster seats. It help if you have the tilt and tumble passenger seat. You can find the tilt and tumble mechanism for pretty cheap sometimes. It puts the passenger seat right up against the dash. DON'T sell the TJ just because it's a small pain in the ass to get them in and out of the back seat! They grow out of that very rapidly, and soon enough your son will be sitting in the front seat or crawling over the side (grandkids favorite thing) to get in the back. They think it's just too cool to ride around with the top down when we go places, and crawl over the sides to get in and out.

Yep, my passenger seat has the tilt and tumble feature. That makes it a lot easier to load the baby seat.

 

[StG58]

Yep, my passenger seat has the tilt and tumble feature. That makes it a lot easier to load the baby seat.

How soon before you can flip the seat around to face the front? It gets a lot easier then, for sure.

 

[Rob5589]

I am overly cautious (wife says paranoid) to say the least so I say keep him in the middle, rear facing, until at least 1 year depending on his size. The newer recommendation is 2-3 years old before facing them forward..

 

[EJD]

I was just wondering, is there a way to install the car seat with the rear seat removed completely? Attach to the footman loops on the floor in the center via "latch system" and load through the rear door?

Is this possible or is it not safe to affix to the footman loops on the floor?

 

[Rob5589]

I was just wondering, is there a way to install the car seat with the rear seat removed completely? Attach to the footman loops on the floor in the center via "latch system" and load through the rear door?

Is this possible or is it not safe to affix to the footman loops on the floor?

I can't see how you would have enough forward/rearward support just latching it to the floor with straps/belts. I don't see the footman loops handling enough load in the case of impact/crash either.