Baby Carseat to 50 plan sofabed: need latch system?

[rockbender]

[quote="LenS"]...to be placed in non-front seats unless none are available. /quote]

My 50-ish homebuild plan does not have seatbelts in the rear seat currently, so I am in this exact scenario. The travels with the kiddo in the front seat have been limited to around town, but I don't have an issue with it for the time being until I get seat belts installed in the rear. My platform is from 1984, so I don't have to worry about locking out any airbags.

Last summer we had an additional captains chair midship for the carseat. This worked well while traveling, but proved to be cumbersome while camping. I've since removed it and will get the rear dialed in and safe for next season's travels. I've always got the option to put the extra captain's chair (with seat belt mounted) back in when needed.

[edy66]

We're having a hard time planning for a 3 kid/3 car seat design.
Assuming the newer RB50 sofabed is LATCH compliant (has attachment for top tether), Does it have enough room for 3 car seats?

DYO has a full width sofabed like the one in EB81. Is it just a longer version of the RB50 sofabed?
Are they easily removable?

[TwoVans]

Originally Posted by edy66

Assuming the newer RB50 sofabed is LATCH compliant (has attachment for top tether)

That is most likely an incorrect assumption. The RB50 falls under motorhome rules, not automobile rules.

As of 2010, it was not. That being said, call SMB for the latest information.

[BogusBlake]

Zombie thread!

I've been putting the carseat (Britax Marathon) on the outboard (passnger side) of the bench seat with the receptacle end wrapped around the bar to shorten it (Like Geoff said). Anticipating a trip with a third adult, I tried to install the carseat in the inboard belts and found that it put the buckle right in the middle of the kid's back.
We'd been using the D-ring strap that came with the carseat to attach the top tether, so I figured it would work for the lower LATCH tethers too.

You can buy them here: http://www.britaxusa.com/store/details/ ... ctor-strap

Just wrap it around the seatbelt bar, 3 per carseat (two lowers and one upper). According to my qualitative judgement, that seat ain't going anywhere.

[Ocsmb]

Originally Posted by BogusBlake

Zombie thread!

I've been putting the carseat (Britax Marathon) on the outboard (passnger side) of the bench seat with the receptacle end wrapped around the bar to shorten it (Like Geoff said). Anticipating a trip with a third adult, I tried to install the carseat in the inboard belts and found that it put the buckle right in the middle of the kid's back.
We'd been using the D-ring strap that came with the carseat to attach the top tether, so I figured it would work for the lower LATCH tethers too.

You can buy them here: http://www.britaxusa.com/store/details/ ... ctor-strap

Just wrap it around the seatbelt bar, 3 per carseat (two lowers and one upper). According to my qualitative judgement, that seat ain't going anywhere.

How do you keep the straps from sliding left to right on the seat belt bar?

[BogusBlake]

Originally Posted by Ocsmb

How do you keep the straps from sliding left to right on the seat belt bar?

They're pretty much trapped on the bar by the bolted-on seatbelt fittings. The end up "wanting" to be about in the same place as the seat belt fittings so I put them on the outside of the belt fittings for that seat position. Then I tighten the crap out of the LATCH straps on the carseat.

I still have my eye out for some kind of plate that will bolt on with the same fasteners as the seatbelts and will also let the LATCH hooks snap on.

[Ocsmb]

Thanks. Gonna try it out.

[jage]

Pictures?

Also I'm sure using the 50 living room floor has been investigated, anyone come to a conclusion on alternative floor mounting for car seats?

[MikewTV]

Wow, interesting that this thread got a bump after all this time. I can say not only did we figure out how to attach a Chico permanent base for the baby car seat using the lap belt near the slide out pantry. We also were able to attach a Britax car seat rear facing by the passenger side Window use shoulder belt without much trouble. Both are being used as we now have 'two under two.' Our sons are five months and nineteen months. The older did his first camping in Vermont at age nine months. Haven't tried a trip with both yet. That may require letting the eldest grow up out of toddler age first. I can attest to the fact that SMB' s do make great road trip cars for babies. Even when not camping.
Our challenge now is that the older nineteen month old is a real moose and ready to face forward. But, the way the shoulder belt routes thru the buckle would be right against toddler's back. Haven't figured that out yet.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[BogusBlake]

Originally Posted by MikewTV

But, the way the shoulder belt routes thru the buckle would be right against toddler's back. Haven't figured that out yet.

* SCH-I605 *

This is why I went with the straps.
Even for an adult sitting in the outboard seat, the buckle is right in the middle of your chest. The fixed end (receptacle) strap is just too long. I wrapped it in a half-hitch around the bar to take up some length and now it works fine for carseats or adults.

The inboard lap belts pretty much have the same thing going and put the buckle right in the middle of the kid's back in the carseat. Even with the receptacle wrapped around the bar, the male part of the buckle is still too long to allow for sufficient tightening before it hits the seat base.

The Britax straps are also pretty long so I have to half-hitch them too before sticking the metal ring through the loop. The LATCH clasps on the seat are also pretty long so they need to reach into the cushion gap just a little.

If I remember, I'll take some pictures when I'm in the van later.