Installing a third seat is it possible?

In my opinion, you are over thinking and worrying about mostly a non-issue. I agree with your husband. :)

IF your rig has a dinette, lower the dinette table and put the car seat either rear or forward facing on the dinette benches, depending upon what's appropriate for the child's age/size.

If your floorplan has a table & chairs instead of a dinette, then strap the car seat into a position at an end of the sofa, again either forward or rear facing as appropriate.

You are safer in your motorhome than ANY car/SUV/van on the road. I feel safer with my family in the motorhome than ANY passenger vehicle/SUV/Van we've had them in. Why? Because in any collision, in the motorhome we're anywhere from 5-10 times more massive than any vehicle that is most likely to collide with you. This is simple physics. In such a collision, mass is your friend. Plus, any passenger vehicle is going to collide with your vehicle at the level of your frame rails. The passengers in the rig will be above the collision. Unless you're going to run head-on into a concrete abutment (driver's fault) or get slammed head-on by an 18 wheeler or concrete/dump truck, there's really nothing driven on the road that can cause you serious harm. And if the driver is driving in an unsafe manner or you have the very, very unlikely incident with an equally large vehicle, then quite frankly, NOTHING you do inside your rig will make you any safer anyway. If you want to read it, I outlined a possibly collision scenario on these forums on this post about why airbags are unnecessary on a Class A. There is relevant content in the post which might help allay your concerns.

We didn't buy a DP, but when we bought our gas Class A, 3 of our 4 will still in car/booster seats, though we let the 4 year old just buckle up in the motorhome. The 3 and 1 year olds were in carseats in the moho.

The important part of this equation is that whoever is driving needs to drive defensively, and not drive as if they're going to a fire. That is, obey posted speed limits. Don't exceed chassis weight limits, make sure tires are properly inflated to the weights they are carrying (I highly recommend a TPMS system) and don't exceed tire speed ratings. Don't drive when tired.

As others have said, if there are no seatbelts, you can install them yourselves. Our rig happened to come with 12 seat belts from the factory (4 dinette, 3 on each of the two sofas, passenger & driver), so we were good in the living area. I did install belts across the bed in the back so that when we left for a trip early in the morning, or were driving late into the night, the kids (all four of them) slept on the queen bed in back and the seatbelts were there to keep them from rolling off the bed if I had to brake hard. Turns out that hard-braking scenario never happened, but I felt better knowing they wouldn't just go rolling off into a pile on the floor! LOL

I think your rig probably weighs an additional 10,000 lbs. or more over our rig, so that's even more safety built into your rig over ours. And I don't worry about it in ours, so you really shouldn't in yours either.

So, relax and enjoy the trip. Make sure the driver is not distracted and has a good co-pilot, and things will be fine.

~Rick

I would think having a third seat installed, either behind driver or passenger would be the safest option. I talked to my DD about her children going with me and seating options. She reminded me that infants/toddlers up to at least two, need to be in a rear facing seat, to support their back and neck. Once they are past two they should remain in a car seat for several more years and progress to a booster seat until they are about 8. There are weight type guidelines too, but children's bodies are generally smaller and they need the extra support and boost because adult seat belts just don't fit. OP, I would seriously look at a long term solution like an installed seat, because the sofa isn't safe seating for children. If you have a dining booth, you could install car seat on front facing seat. That would be the only other safe option.

my 97 bounder has a 3rd captains chair, with fold out table behind the passenger seat

like its been said

seats are bolted thru the floor with support plate underneath

yes you can install another seat by making room for one

i think a rail system would be a nuisance get in the way and collect dirt

you could re-mount the sofa using thru the floor bolts with plates underneath (gigantic safety washer)

and the seat belts (that are probably under the sofa) to hold the car seat in place

Safari had a few models that had four captains seats up front. The two extra seats were right behind the other two seats. I don't see any problem with installing another seat but I do see a problem with using an approved child carrier. I believe that our automobile is set up for the infant carrier to be in the back seat and there are special attaching points on the rear package shelf to attach the infant carrier. I feel that anything is better than strapping the carrier to a couch seat belt so maybe a captains seat bolted to the floor of your coach with a steel plate on the underside is one way to accomplish what you want to do. Captains seats, with built in seat belts and shoulder harnesses are available from many RV salvage yards.

I often wondered that. Maybe not so much for a 1 year old, but we travel with our handicapped daughter, or sometimes our grandson and they would like to join us up front.

We took out the jack knife sofa behind the passenger seat and installed a 3rd captains chair there with a bolted down table. The front seat will swivel around so the two can face each other across the table (when not in motion). The seat is fastened to the floor, through to the sub-floor, and cross members into the frame outriggers. The seat-belt is attached to the chair, and to the wall with a plate fastened to two vertical members in the wall. I know you would prefer the child between you, but this would make a more traditional "backseat" positioning.

This set up was for 3 adults to travel for an extended time.

From what I've read MHs aren't nearly as safe as virtually all cars. Lack of air bags and house frames that won't support much weight. When was the last time you saw a crash test performed on a MH? What is any seat in a slide out anchored to?

Aren't car seats for children designed to be facing forward or backwards? What does this suggest for one facing sideways on a couch or strapped in using sideways seat belts?

While I'd guess that a safer installed third seat would be best in a crash how in the world could that be verified?

You might be safer in a heavier MH collision with a car.

You might be safer in a truck or van but I'm not sure they have the same safety requirements as a car.

Truthfully back in the day we didn't require our kids to use seat belts in our class C. We are all better informed today and I applaud your concern for your child.

“and when we purchased the RV like most people we didn't really think about where to put her car seat safely” Not like most people.

See section 37. https://www.americancoach.com/resources/media/manuals/1998_AMERICAN_EAGLE.pdf

you should have seat belts under the couch- look there. If not you can add them

I don't know about modern coaches, but the seats in my Sahara are not bolted to the frame. They are thru-bolted to the wood subfloor with a steel plate backer.