car seat question

sunrosejenn wrote: not sure why I haven't asked but I've always wondered. they say to put the car seat in the back seat in the middle as it is safer. in my van (2000 dodge caravan), it has 2 back seats. so of course Eliana is in the first back seat. but there are only 2 seat belts one for each side. so there is no belt to strap her seat down in the middle. which side is better to place her on driver's or passanger's side since I can't place her in the middle?

amynicole21 replied: I don't think one side is safer than another, but when Sophia was an only child I liked to have her behind the passenger side so that I could see her better when I was driving.

lesliesmom replied: I have a Dodge Grand Caravan and when I had just one baby (or an infant carrier) I put that seat behind the passenger as well. That way, I didn't have to contort my arm if I had to do a quick search or something and I could easily see in the rearview mirror what was going on back there. Also, in my van, it is more in the middle of the vehicle as opposed to right next to a window.

coasterqueen replied: Actually the passenger side is safer than the driver's side. I saw an illustration on a car seat board recently that gave %'s of car crashes on each side of a vehicle. I'll see if I can dig it up here in a bit.

sunrosejenn replied: thanks ... in all honesty I can't reach back from drivers or passangers side to the back seat well at all ... just curious which is better and where everyone has there kiddos

coasterqueen replied: Jeanette,

Here is some information for you. The below link gives you the percentages of where car crashes actually happen on a car. So the passenger side is a couple % points safer than the drivers side. So it's your call.

http://www.crashtest.com/imgserver/angle468.gif

Also here's another link that explains why the passenger side is safer:
http://www.car-safety.org/faq.html#Q40


HTH!

sunrosejenn replied: thanks for the links ... i'll check them out

Eliana is STILL REAR facing and she hates riding in the car, currently she is behind the pass. side

thanks again

MamaJAM replied: I always used the side behind the passengers seat first (or with the younger child) so I can see and reach them easier if needed.

3_call_me_mama replied: Kathleen rides behind the Driver side. I have hear dboth side sof the coin on it and that's where she fits best. (mostly cause cameorn kicks my seat ! LOL) But what i found insteresting is that when I had Cameron the peopel at teh carseat check told me to put him in teh center OR behind teh Driver, as it is a drivers instinct to avoid crash on their side (like swerving to the outside of the road rather than the center) and to protect themself. So if the child was behind them the child woudl be on that side of protection also. Not sure how much I believe that but that's what we were told.

sunrosejenn replied: thanks

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Logan faced rear until he was nearly 16 months. Then he started pushing with his feet and was loosening the latch buckle, so forward he went. He is still on the passenger side. It was more of a convenience for me, I could see him better.

sunrosejenn replied: thanks

Eliana will be 16 months on Tuesday and weighs 16lbs 11oz

Brias3 replied: I drive a Sequoia and have Mason behind the passenger seat. No particular reason, just the fact that Aliyah is still in a five point seat due to height and weight and Ryan has a booster for the car so it just worked best for placement with three child seats in the vehicle.