My husband and I just got our daughter a front facing car seat. I am wondering if the safest place for the seat is in the middle of the back seat, or if it goes on the outside. I don't know if there are any specific laws in Arkansas. Thanks for the help!!
there are no specific laws as too whether it should be in the middle or on one side or the other. But it is safer to have the seat in the middle to keep distance from the outside of the car and her.
In the back seat it doesn't matter, but you put the child in the seatbelt you feel is the strongest and safest. do you have a newer car with the side air bags in the back? if you do, put the child in the middle, if you do not, it might be best to put the child behind the driver if there is another in the vehicle with you, if not put the child behind the passenger.
but you are not supposed to put the child in the front seat mostly due to the same reason i say put in the middle if you have a newer car with rear side airbags.
what everyone else has said is great advice. Definately keep her facing backwards for as long as possible. I rarely put my children in the middle due to the fact that the car just wasn't big enough, they barely fit in the car to begin with, then i got a van and well, there's no middle there really. I also relied heavily on the safty piece that came with each seat to secure the seat to the car as the seat belt would only hold onto the bottom of the seat, the top of it could still move and a child could still be injured from that.
I don't know if there are specific laws in Arkansas about this, since I live in Louisiana, but you might want to call your city police department or county sheriff's office and ask them if there are specific state or local laws about it.
I put my son in the middle of the seat in all vehicles because I feel that is the safest for me. When he was in a carrier we also but him in the middle.
Well, it is really up to you if you still want to put her in the middle i did ont b/c it made it easyer form e to put then on the edge. I have 2 kids of mine own so it is really up to you of how you like to put them. But i like them on the edge b/c i put them on the passager side so i cna see them. rach
The best place for a car seat is where ever you can get it fitted best. That normally means that you would want to put it in the middle where the seatbelt has a locking mechanism that keeps the seatbelt tight. In my car we have those child seat hooks, but only on the outside seats. Using those hooks we can really get his car seat secure so thats where I have my son's at. Again, the deal is your seatbelt that buckles in the car seat needs to be able to hold the seat down really securely, so you want to use the seat belt that locks in place or buy one of those locking clips that you can use on the seat belts that can be pulled at and stretched.
well B. i have a 4 yr old and we have him behind the passenger seat i think that is a good place that way when you are driving down the road you can look back at her and make sure everthing is ok
1st and foremost you keep her rear facing for as long as possible and then the center is reccommended because side impacts are so much more prevalent than head-on. use the latch system if possible and go to the side seat if you don't have a shoulder belt or the latch system to secure the seat in the center. have fun!
B.,
I am a registered Secondary Car Seat Checker for the state of Lousiana. The safest place for the car seat is in the MIDDLE of the back seat because it is the furthest place from any possible impact point. If you put it by the door, than may increase the chances for injury if, for example, you were T-Boned by another car.
Car seats can be tricky to put in. Contact your local polce, sheriff, or fire department and they will put the seats in for free and put them in properly to minimize any possiblilty for injury to your child.
Keep in mind, your child MUST be 1 year-old AND a minimum of 20 pounds before traveling foward facing. There are no specific laws for where in the back seat to place the carseat, but there are laws about ANY child traveling in the front seat under the age of 12 years-old when the passenger side air bag cannot be turned off manually.
As far as being able to keep an eye on your child, there are clip-on mirrors that you can purchase at places like Burlington Coat Factory (Baby Depot), Toys R Us, ect. These mirrors are VERY inexpensive and clip onto the passenger visor so you can watch your child without having to re-position your rear view mirror.
S.
There aren't specific laws; you have to put the seat wherever it fits best in the car. If it fits well in the middle, then that is the safest place. For what it's worth, it's safer to keep them rear facing as long as possible. Good luck!
When we went to one of those thing where the cops check your car seat and see if it's safe...and give you one if you need it...they said the safest place is in the middle of the back seat. And if you have two children...the younger one needs to be in the middle. They also said if you don't feel comfortable, you are more than welcome to come up and every Station is supposed to have a child safety expert that will check and make sure you have the car seat in the safest place, latched in right, and if you don't he will show you how to get it right. All for free...and the Officer we talked to was very nice, and really cared about children.
