New Child Seat Mod
06-02-2011, 06:00 PM
#16
Rennlist Member
Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics now (since March) recommends keeping children in rear-facing car seats until they're 2 years old? There is no rear facing seat that fits in a 993.
I had a very short discussion about this with my son's pediatrician yesterday. I asked her about rear facing in the front seat with an airbag cutoff. She looked at me like I was nuts. "Why would you do that?" she asked. She said the risk of serious injury is five times greater in the front seat than the rear. I think she was confusing the statistics of front facing verses rear facing but it's not something I wanted to argue about.
I was hoping for something encouraging. I am very disappointed but there is no way I am putting my son in the front seat or in a front facing seat in the rear before he is two years old. It's not a risk I'm willing to take.
I had a very short discussion about this with my son's pediatrician yesterday. I asked her about rear facing in the front seat with an airbag cutoff. She looked at me like I was nuts. "Why would you do that?" she asked. She said the risk of serious injury is five times greater in the front seat than the rear. I think she was confusing the statistics of front facing verses rear facing but it's not something I wanted to argue about.
I was hoping for something encouraging. I am very disappointed but there is no way I am putting my son in the front seat or in a front facing seat in the rear before he is two years old. It's not a risk I'm willing to take.
06-02-2011, 07:09 PM
#17
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Yeah. My son is 4 1/2 years old and I've probably been researching this on and off for 5 years.
We did the infant carrier rear facing in the rear seat exactly once. It rendered the front seat unusable. It was clear we couldn't do rear facing convertible/toddler seat, so he never went in the 911 again until he was forward facing.
I was aware of the inadequacies of the 1 year 20lb rule, and actually preached that on a few posts here. We kept him rear facing until just before 2, when motion sickness and an inability to see well out the back/sides forced us to switch to forward facing. At that time, we allowed him to ride in the 911.
I used the BK harness / LATCH workaround discussed in many places here, plus the 3 point harness. I've subsequently found out that doing both isn't recommended, though I'm not 100% sure why as it seems it would be very difficult to induce any sort of torsion in the seat given the lapbelt / LATCH / BK base mount.
I've also been looking into the Canadian version of the cab that has a rear seat tether point. There is that as a possibility, and there is also a loop behind the seats and just under the rear deck of the cab. It appears to be welded and bolted to metal, but some here have suggested it is only to hold down the cab top tonneau cover via elastic straps.
I've also been discussing the install with a local car seat tech. So far she hasn't seen it but is concerned about the distance between the top of the child seat and the rear of the passenger seat, stating that there should be 28" of room if tethered and 32" of room if not. However, after scanning the American Academy of Pediatrics' and the NHTSA's guidelines, I don't see mention of that, nor at sites such as carseatdata.org, etc. She is a pediatrician, so I'm trying to get her to see the install and discuss with her directly.
I'll report back what I find on Canadian, tether, and 28/32 inches.
We did the infant carrier rear facing in the rear seat exactly once. It rendered the front seat unusable. It was clear we couldn't do rear facing convertible/toddler seat, so he never went in the 911 again until he was forward facing.
I was aware of the inadequacies of the 1 year 20lb rule, and actually preached that on a few posts here. We kept him rear facing until just before 2, when motion sickness and an inability to see well out the back/sides forced us to switch to forward facing. At that time, we allowed him to ride in the 911.
I used the BK harness / LATCH workaround discussed in many places here, plus the 3 point harness. I've subsequently found out that doing both isn't recommended, though I'm not 100% sure why as it seems it would be very difficult to induce any sort of torsion in the seat given the lapbelt / LATCH / BK base mount.
I've also been looking into the Canadian version of the cab that has a rear seat tether point. There is that as a possibility, and there is also a loop behind the seats and just under the rear deck of the cab. It appears to be welded and bolted to metal, but some here have suggested it is only to hold down the cab top tonneau cover via elastic straps.
I've also been discussing the install with a local car seat tech. So far she hasn't seen it but is concerned about the distance between the top of the child seat and the rear of the passenger seat, stating that there should be 28" of room if tethered and 32" of room if not. However, after scanning the American Academy of Pediatrics' and the NHTSA's guidelines, I don't see mention of that, nor at sites such as carseatdata.org, etc. She is a pediatrician, so I'm trying to get her to see the install and discuss with her directly.
I'll report back what I find on Canadian, tether, and 28/32 inches.
06-07-2011, 06:41 PM
#18
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Just to close the loop on the potential mounting point raised above...
I dug around back there and even shoved my iPhone down there for some pics. Finally figured that the little hook is in fact welded, but only spot welded to the seat frame, not the car frame. So I don't think it would be suitable for a rear tether point.
I dug around back there and even shoved my iPhone down there for some pics. Finally figured that the little hook is in fact welded, but only spot welded to the seat frame, not the car frame. So I don't think it would be suitable for a rear tether point.
