Driving with a toddler to Tennessee
I'm planning on a rv trip in October, I have a 2.5 yo that requires a car seat. The way the rv is set up we really don't have a way to place him facing forward, the only couch that has seat belts has...
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May not be quite that long, depending on where you are going. When my daughter lived in Nashville, I would make it to there from Bartlesville by 4 PM if I started at 8 AM. Memphis is about six hours, Knoxville about 12, all of this timing of course depending on what happens when you go through each major city.
Going to Nashville, if I split into two days, I would end up somewhere in the Delta country between Little Rock and Memphis. Little Rock is too soon to stop unless you get a very late start the first day, and when going to Nashville, once I get east of Memphis it is "I'm almost there, let's finish the trip today."
Seat positions. The only forward facing seat really designed to hold a forward facing toddler seat will be the right front. It may not be LATCH but will at least be belt and tether. You have to turn the air bag off, and it is still not as safe as center-rear in most cars, but at least the toddler won't be where so much of the house will collapse on top of him.
I used the dinette when my granddaughters were toddlers. We got a special small seat that worked with belt only, pulled out cushions and belted firmly against the seat framework. Not all are built that way, and I've not seen the seat we used sold anywhere here, my daughter got it in Europe where standards were different. One child facing rear, the other facing front. With enough height of seat structure and the child seat, a forward mounted toddler seat facing rear might be safer than facing front, certainly safer than facing sideways on a sofa where the seat might not mount firmly.
The girls were four when they started traveling in the RV. My grandson is turning three next month, I still don't think he is ready for long RV trips. He does much better in a car, particularly when with his cousins.
We also have him facing rearward, he is small, and my daughter wants to keep him there until absolutely too big for a rear facing seat. There is a huge downgrade in safety when the child is being restrained by straps across chest and belly, versus restraint by spine, neck and head against a full surface impact absorbing structure, with some comfort padding over it.
Putting a child in a motorhome is always a safety compromise, compared to traveling in a modern car or passenger truck with today's required safety equipment. Depending on collision forces, things will be flying around, furnishings can break loose, and the whole structure can collapse or shatter into pieces. Compromises in child safety seat position with respect to the seat manufacturer's recommendations are probably minor after the compromise you make by choosing to carry the child in a fragile box full of loose components and furnishings. You probably have to see a wrecked RV to understand this.
Going to Nashville, if I split into two days, I would end up somewhere in the Delta country between Little Rock and Memphis. Little Rock is too soon to stop unless you get a very late start the first day, and when going to Nashville, once I get east of Memphis it is "I'm almost there, let's finish the trip today."
Seat positions. The only forward facing seat really designed to hold a forward facing toddler seat will be the right front. It may not be LATCH but will at least be belt and tether. You have to turn the air bag off, and it is still not as safe as center-rear in most cars, but at least the toddler won't be where so much of the house will collapse on top of him.
I used the dinette when my granddaughters were toddlers. We got a special small seat that worked with belt only, pulled out cushions and belted firmly against the seat framework. Not all are built that way, and I've not seen the seat we used sold anywhere here, my daughter got it in Europe where standards were different. One child facing rear, the other facing front. With enough height of seat structure and the child seat, a forward mounted toddler seat facing rear might be safer than facing front, certainly safer than facing sideways on a sofa where the seat might not mount firmly.
The girls were four when they started traveling in the RV. My grandson is turning three next month, I still don't think he is ready for long RV trips. He does much better in a car, particularly when with his cousins.
We also have him facing rearward, he is small, and my daughter wants to keep him there until absolutely too big for a rear facing seat. There is a huge downgrade in safety when the child is being restrained by straps across chest and belly, versus restraint by spine, neck and head against a full surface impact absorbing structure, with some comfort padding over it.
Putting a child in a motorhome is always a safety compromise, compared to traveling in a modern car or passenger truck with today's required safety equipment. Depending on collision forces, things will be flying around, furnishings can break loose, and the whole structure can collapse or shatter into pieces. Compromises in child safety seat position with respect to the seat manufacturer's recommendations are probably minor after the compromise you make by choosing to carry the child in a fragile box full of loose components and furnishings. You probably have to see a wrecked RV to understand this.
