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Car Seat Question

stepgirlfriendfurmom's picture

This does not exactly pertain to step parenting at all other than the fact it is in relation to my bf's daughter. She is 3 and 30 pounds. My bf drives a truck (toyota tacoma) so not a large or full cab truck. The car seat is forward facing, but as she is growing, we feel like she does not have enough leg room, she meets the weight for the seat which is up to 65 pounds. The seat is one that you can change the recline of the seat, which if we did that, we could give her ultimately more leg room, anyone know if there is any size/weight we should wait to or anything against doing this? We have tried googling online, etc. and have not found any direct answers so I figured I would ask here and see what people think or know. Thanks!

ESMOD's picture

some of these rules are state specific.  I believe that many rescue squads/fire departments have people that may be able to help set the seat up properly.  If she is in the front seat of a vehicle.. I hope your BF has the airbags turned off because that can be dangerous to her.

Have you tried to call the manufacturer?  They may have model specific suggestions as well given his vehicle.

stepgirlfriendfurmom's picture

seat. He has a cab, what I meant by full cab is it is not like the Dodge Ram or the Ford F-150 that adults can sit comfortably in the back because it is super spacious.

Okay, we will look into doing that, thanks!

ESMOD's picture

Oh.. I understand.. I read an article that said to check with your local AAA to get a car seat fit expert in your area listing.  Then you can have the seat better fit into his vehicle... It might even mean it has to go up front if the back bench seat is too narrow for the base I read.

stepgirlfriendfurmom's picture

We definitely want her to be comfortable, but most importantly safe! I feel like the easy solution is the change the angle of the seat so her legs dangle more down than up, but we didn't want to do that without knowing that it would be safe for her. I have never heard of that before, but definitely a good resource.

Thanks!

momjeans's picture

I agree. Have you googled your states car seat regulations yet, because that should be your first step and it varies by state.

A lot of people rave about the Graco Transitions car seat, but I don’t have firsthand experience with it.

Our DD, who’s 5 and uber petite, still comfortably uses her car seat. It’s a higher end one, but worth every penny considering how long she has used it. It’s also very minimal and slim, so it allows her a lot of leg and foot room in the tight backseat. It’s the Clek Fllo,

stepgirlfriendfurmom's picture

was about the weight and such to be rear facing vs forward facing, but nothing about the angle of the car seat. We have a Safety First Go and Grow whatever it is called so that is why the seat's recline adjusts. 

lieutenant_dad's picture

Agree with ESMOD. Call the local hospital, fire department, foster care agency, or even DCS. They likely know who can do a car seat check and properly install it in the truck.

What you see as no leg room might actually not be a problem for SD. Kids are spongey at that age, so she may very well be secured properly and be fine even if she looks uncomfortable.

stepgirlfriendfurmom's picture

thank you!

Yeah her legs are like in an inclined position so now she's like pushing against the back of the passenger seat almost and if we move either that seat up, the passengers knees will be touching the dash and same for if we switched so it is behind the driver's seat.

Sparkl3s's picture

There is a car seat group on fb, they are very helpful. They might ask for pictures of the seat installation. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CarSeatsForTheLittles/?ref=share

"Car Seats for the Littles, Inc is a community-driven, education oriented organization, staffed by American Child Passenger Safety Technicians, Canadian Child Restraint System Technicians and global child passenger safety advocates, created with the goal of sharing injury-prevention information in a manner easily accessible to the widest range of individuals. We envision a world where the incident of a child being injured in a car accident is rare and shocking, rather than the commonplace event it is today."

Booboobear's picture

we have a toyota tacoma king cab, and there is sort of plenty of leg room for a forward carseat, when we have the grandkids in the back in two carseats, as they grow, they have more room because their legs bend and can go down, but when they are young, their legs go strait out and touch the front seats.  You must have the ex cab that you access from the front door with the fold down seats?  I would think that 3 would be long enough legs to put carseat forward so legs dont break on a quick stop, but you would have to go to a car seat check at the police station.  You could call and ask when is the next one.  

simifan's picture

 

My DS was always tall and skinny. He outgrew the infant seat at 8 mo. The fire dept here was quite helpful in finding a safe solution. They recommended a type of car seat that would work & helped place it in properly once purchased. The height was more important then weight, just FYI.

 

Rags's picture

If the kid meets the weight limit if the seat you can cook figure it any way you wish they meets the seat instructions m.