Child seat postioning

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Tue 27 Jun 2006 12:04
Child seat postioning - UncleR
I ran a search but could not find any posts on this.

Is there any wisdom which says whether a rear-facing child seat in the back seat should be put on the off-side or near-side?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 12:08
Child seat postioning - daveyjp
Arguments for both. Nearside because then you are loading/unloading on to the pavement. Offside because in the event of an accident the natural reaction from a driver is to try and steer away from trouble. Ours is on the nearside for two reasons:

That's the easiest way to get the seat out when I get home, unless I reverse up the drive.
It won't fit behind the driver's seat when the seat is positioned so I am comfortable.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 12:39
Child seat postioning - boxsterboy
Best place is in the middle, assuming you have a centre 3-point belt.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 12:45
Child seat postioning - UncleR
No. Just have a lap belt in the middle so it's one side or the other.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 14:20
Child seat postioning - Red Baron
There is no perceived wisdom on this AFAIK. After all, if you have two such seats the question does not arise.

Don't put the baby (group 0) seat in the middle as the firmness and contour of the seat and backrest will stand the baby seat (and child seat) too proud to be firmly pushed into the seat to provide the firmest affixment. You will also put more stress on you back in getting the little one to there.

We put our first baby seat behind the driver.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 14:30
Child seat postioning - Chad.R
I'm sure I read sometime ago in the BR that the "statistically" safest place for a passenger was the nearside rear. If that is the case, then I assume it would be the safest for a child too.

However as Red Baron points outs, if you've got more than 1 kid .......

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 14:31
Child seat postioning - Big Bad Dave
When we just had the one kid, we put her "diagonally to mummy" or in car speak "offside". Just made it easier for her to attend the baby from the front passenger seat.

Now that we have two though I put my favourite kid diagonally to me so I can see her in the mirror and the boy sits somewhere behind me.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 19:55
Child seat postioning - Vincent de Marco
Some day I'll be puttin' mine in da boot ;)

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.


just joking...












- - - - - - -
Free enterprise is the basis of western economy.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 27 Jun 2006 22:41
Child seat postioning - PhilDS
Ours used to go behind me so my other half could tend to her. I also had an additional mirror for when it was just the two of us. Now she's behind my other half as my current car is smaller and I'm 6 foot 2.
If your child is now forward facing and it's just the 2 of you then they can go in the front. My daughter loves it and it's less distracting if she's being a bit of a whinge.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 28 Jun 2006 09:25
Child seat postioning - jc2
Back in the days before good heaters and people wore thick coats in the car,my younger daughter,now in her 40's, nearly strangled me by pulling on the hood of my parka;her child seat was directly behind the driver.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link