Car Seat Question

"zeontestpilot" (zeontestpilot) 01/26/2016 at 09:14 • Filed to: Question

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Dear Oppo-parents, can you help me out here?Since I’m a parent, I put my child in a car seat. Thing is, it always seems to have some wiggle room in the front. Is this normal?

Some internet places and people say there should be no wiggle room at all. But, to me, this doesn’t make sense. Car seats (forward facing ones) are connected to the car by the anchor and seat belt, which are towards the back of the car seat. To me, it seems like there will always be some wiggle room in it, because nothing is anchoring the front down. (See my un-awesome drawing)

So oppo, do you guys ever have any wiggle in your car seats?

Jcarr > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:21

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We’re not to forward-facing yet because my son isn’t quite old enough, but I know with rearward-facing the rule I’ve seen is that there should be no more than an inch of lateral movement where the carseat meets the car. The other side of the carseat does wiggle a good amount, but as far as I know, that’s normal and acceptable.

450X_FTW > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:21

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I think if you go to a fire station, they’ll inspect it for free and let you know if it is installed properly.

BJ > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:23

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The whole seat should not move side-to-side or front-to-back, but it’s normal if the front wiggles a bit since the anchors are on the rear. This is especially true with a seatbelt. It’s just rotating around the attachment point, but should not do so easily, and should not more than maybe 1/2".

Make sure that when installing the seat, you put a knee on it and gently push it into the seat while tightening the seat belt.

Alfalfa > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:23

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A little wiggle is normal, about an inch either way. Also, of all the crazy opinionated people on the Internet, the car seat people are the absolute WORST. You will never make them happy. There will always be something wrong, and they’ll usually act like your child will surely die because of it.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:23

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My son is still in a rear facing seat as well, does your front facing seat have the option to use latch (provided the car has the mounting points in the appropriate places?) I’ve only ever used latch to put in a car seat so unfortunately I don’t have any advice that would be too helpful.

zeontestpilot > 450X_FTW 01/26/2016 at 09:40

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Really? Should I call ahead then?

zeontestpilot > Alfalfa 01/26/2016 at 09:41

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My wife says I'm not allowed to take pics of the kid in the car seat for this very reason.

450X_FTW > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:42

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You might just to make sure someone will be there. I’m sure they have normal office hours you could check it out.

I know my brother in law did the same thing, and he said a big guy got in their van and pulled HARD on the car seat, making sure it was not going to move in the event of a crash

zeontestpilot > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 01/26/2016 at 09:42

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I don't think so, I just use the top anchor and the seatbelt.

Jcarr > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:56

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What year/make/model do you drive? Most anything produced in the last 15 years has LATCH.

functionoverfashion > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 09:57

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My kids are 3 and 1, and the 3 year old is forward-facing now. My two cents: You’re fine. I am always surprised at how much the seats are able to move even after I tighten them down as much as I can. The majority of the restriction is in the forward direction, i.e. they are assuming you are most likely to hit a stationary object while moving forward. A little side-to-side and/or up-down movement in the front of the seat is absolutely inevitable, until they come up with a front anchor like the rear one, and/or if the seat isn’t resting on the soft cushion of the back seat itself.

I’ll probably be burned at the stake by the pitchfork-wielding Perfect Parents of the Internet for saying this, but I also put a single layer of cardboard wrapped in a towel under the seat to avoid putting a permanent indentation in the seat. Sometimes I even take my child - gasp - in my 1972 Ford pickup! The car seat works fine with the lap belt but it does have some.... play... in the super-soft bench seat. I’ll be going into witness protection now...

functionoverfashion > Alfalfa 01/26/2016 at 09:59

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I saw some thing about lining up the chest buckle on the interwebz and sure enough, a few days later my wife was checking the placement on our kids. How about, I’m not getting into a violent rollover crash in the 8 miles to daycare where the highest speed limit is 35?

functionoverfashion > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:00

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God help me, I took my infant children in a boat!

zeontestpilot > Jcarr 01/26/2016 at 10:13

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‘08 Grand Prix. It's probably there, I just haven't gone looking for it.

Ash78, voting early and often > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:13

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Front wiggle is fine and normal. Even cinching down the LATCH to the point where it seems like it’ll puncture the seat under it, I can get a couple inches of play off center in the front. If you install with a seatbelt instead of LATCH, several inches of play (looks like your diagram above). LATCH is much better and easier than a seatbelt, assuming your car is 2002+ and has them installed.

No worries — the 2 LATCHES down low (or seatbelt) and the third one over the top will handle all the crash forces that matter. A little play up front makes no difference at all.

Zero play is a myth unless you somehow anchored the front of the seat.

Disclaimer: Assuming you installed the seat correctly otherwise.

zeontestpilot > functionoverfashion 01/26/2016 at 10:14

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Don’t worry, I won't tattle.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:15

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I would guess outboard back seats and they are buried in the cushionsame in most cases. Your owners manual or a quick Google search should confirm that. Latch is so much easier to install with.

E92M3 > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:17

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Yes, ours always had some movement, even if you anchor the rear as tight as humanly possible. I think it’s because the car’s seat is made of foam, and gives a little. The plusher the seat, the more movement In my experience.

zeontestpilot > Ash78, voting early and often 01/26/2016 at 10:18

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Not having play does seem like a myth. I'll have to look for the latches now.

Jcarr > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:43

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I would say with 99.99999% confidence that it has it. My ‘04 Envoy has it so I would assume a newer GM vehicle should. Quite a bit easier than using the seat belt.

Cixelsyd > Jcarr 01/26/2016 at 10:46

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LATCH is only certified to a certain weight (varies by model - check your owner’s manual). LATCH is great as an infant/baby, but when the kid grows enough, you have no choice but to install with belts.

brjklein > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 10:46

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Have you locked the seatbelt retractor by pulling it out to the end and then letting it ratchet back in? Even after that, I pull the seatbelt as hard as I can to make it tight.

My son’s in a backward facing seat still though.

zeontestpilot > brjklein 01/26/2016 at 10:52

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I believe so

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 11:05

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Looks like it’s been pretty well covered. Here is where you can check to find a location to get your child seat installation checked for free. In my rural area it is the local hospitals that do seat checks. It is free, but I think you are supposed to call ahead to make sure they have someone available.

http://www.seatcheck.org/

Check your seats manual, but it is definitely normal for the front of the seat to have play even when securely fastened using the LATCH system. The back of the seat should have almost no play though. One thing to consider when installing is to make sure the bottom LATCH is tightened before you tighten the top anchor. If you tighten the top anchor first it will prevent you from being able to properly tighten the seat.

From your other comments you’ve got a 2008 Grand Prix. Here is the manual for it. The LATCH system is covered starting on page 1-39.

http://www.pontiac.com/content/dam/po…

NGN_DZNR > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 11:45

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Press your knee into the child seat (putting your weight into it) and cinch down the anchor belts as tight as you can. If you’re using the seat belt make sure you pulled it all the way so it locks on retract and when you put your weight into the seat try to retract the belt some more. There should be as little movement in the seat as possible. BTW, Recaro child seats FTW..because RACECAR.

Transit > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 12:03

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Pages 1-39 to 1-42.

http://www.pontiac.com/content/dam/po…

zeontestpilot > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 01/26/2016 at 12:22

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Hahaha, the search results for my zip code were nothing. I guess people in the country just lay their kids on the floor!

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > zeontestpilot 01/26/2016 at 13:21

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I’m pretty rural too but it works for me. There are two places within 50 miles that check seats. Try the next zip code over, or one nearby from a bigger town, or one for a local hospital.

joerbrown2021 > 450X_FTW 01/26/2016 at 14:56

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My friend heard this rumour, went to the fire station, and they had no idea what he was talking about.