Hey all...

For those with carseats, you know that proper installation using the latch system requires that your really crank down hard on the latches in order to safely secure the seat. My concern is that I'll permanently indent the bottom and back of the seat with the impression of the car seat.

Anybody have any unique solutions? How about some type of foam or something between the seat and the carseat?

Thanks!

-s

 

I was concerned about that as well and bought two "seat savers" from Babies R Us. They are a 2 piece system that goes under and behind the car seat to protect the seats. I've had them in my car for over a year and when I take the car seats out to clean my car I can't see any indentions in the seats, just in the seat savers where they should be.

They run about $20 a set.

 

I'm using a standard size towel under the seat.

 

Dave, I'm a bit neurotic when it comes to the car seat. When I install it, it WILL NOT move under any circumstances. Putting my knee in the seat and cranking down on the straps with a towel underneath won't prevent indentations on the seat. I suppose I'll try the mentioned by Havok. (Thanks by the way... I didn't know they even made those!)
-s

 

If you install the carseat correctly they will indent your car's seat. Towels etc are great if you have cloth seats as it will allow them to bounce back nicely even after 4 years of nearly constant use. Leather, I have no experience (with carseats) but I suspect they will not bounce back like cloth.

 

The seat savers help, they're failry rigid and will help to distribute the weight. There will, however, always be some noticable indentation, whether on the seat belt, the bottom of the seat where the latch strap pulls tight, or footprints on the back of the seat

Just submit yourself to not having complete control of the back of your car any more it will make the next 4 years easier to swallow

 

My vote is for the seat saver also. You could use the seat saver and a towel folded over once or twice but the seat saver is pretty could by itself. Honestly, though when it comes to my kids or the car? The kids always win out! Maybe that is just me though? Next 4 years what state do you live in? I think North Carolina requires them to be in a car seat for 7 years or 70 Lbs. Heck they change it so often it might be 8 years 80 lbs soon. Before you know it they will go straight from the car seat to their learners permit! I think it is stupid to require all 7 year olds to be in a car seat. My son is extremely skinny and extremely tall just like me(6’4” 150 Lbs). A booster seat will do him no good at all when he is seven. He will probably be taller than his mom by then. If he is required to sit in a car seat shouldn’t she be required to sit in one also? I mean if that is supposed to be the safest thing for him isn’t it the safest thing for her?

 

My point was that kids are pretty icky and gooey until they're about 4. Then they're a little more reasonable when it comes to back seat behavior, and they can actually HELP you to clean the car

Until then, expect all sorts of funk to show up in the back of the car.

 

I'm with everybody on all accounts and if I owned the car, I wouldn't be worried about back seat appearances. However, I don't want to get dinged on a lease return because of permanent marks in the back seat. I'll give the seat savers a try... if they are too rigid to keep the carseat firmly and safely in place, they'll go in the trash.

-s

 

Just a bit of info that I have learned over the last few years...Here in San Diego, there are organizations that will install your car seat for you properly. Some local police stations and the CA highway patrol will also install/inspect the installation of a car seat. All of these organizations DO NOT recommend any of these aftermarket products to go under or behind the car seat. These items may cause the car seat to slip or slide in a high impact collision. The only things that were allowed under the seats were those swimming pool foam floating tubes (to get the car seat at the right angle) and possible a non skid shelf liner. I know that everyone is concerned about the indentations, but the first responsibility should be for your children. There are plenty of car seat forums out there. Just do a search and ask them for an opinion. Here is one site http://www.car-seat.org/

Hope this info helps.

 

That is good information to know but are there any tests that actually show that the seat savers can cause the seat to slip? My car seat is a secure as it could possibly get with the seat saver and the latch system. I would agree that without the latch system it is harder to get the seat as secure but with it there is no way that seat is moving.

 

I don't know of any tests with the latch system, but I think the latch system does make installations a lot better and easier. The teathers at the top also help. If you can move your seat back and forth more than 1 inch, then I think the seat is not tight enough, although I am not an expert by any means. Maybe a question for the car seat forum??

 

A towel is good because it can hang out and cover the front lip of the seat - a notoriously messy spot.

 

What I did on both my G35's is to use (2) layers of anti-skid shelf liners, the thick ones. Then I follow up with the gray foam packing blocks under the protrusions of the car seat legs. This leaves very small indentations. After I removed the seat in my first G35 for a while, I just had my wife sit in the back seat for a 2 hr car trip to some relatives and the indentations where gone. She is only 5'5" and 115lbs. I also cut a small strip of the gray foam to go between the top latch belt and the seat back to prevent indentation there also. Yes, I cinch down the seat hard. My knee and all 210 lbs of me on it. It has worked on fine on the both seats in both cars. First seat was a Brittax and the latest is a Greco (seat to booster) for 30-100 lbs.

 

I'd be single if I tried that trick.