traveling with a infant

[ocean_bound]

Will be traveling with my grandchild this summer where do most of you put the car seat. my coach has seat belts on the couch and barrel chair don't know if it will fit in barrel chair baby will be 3mo. thank you

[dayakster]

Pirate wrote:
Do not use the couch. The sideways whiplash would be horrible for a small child.
DO NOT face a child toward the rear unless ALL missile hazards are removed. Everything must be stowed. Stove top covers, dinette chairs, lamps, everything on counters, you get the idea. In a sudden stop, those items that are not firmly secured will be travelling at crash speed towards your child's body. Think about a corian stove cover or toaster oven or coffee pot travelling at 60MPH toward your grandchild.
I use the front passenger seat. I put in extra seats belts anchored to the frame below to secure the child seat and I also have a rear tether to keep the child seat from flipping forward.
RV couches are not usually bolted to a frame to secure them. My sofa is held down with about 4 long wood screws and the seat belts below them are just as bad. We don't use them for travel as they provide no safety.

This post alone would be enough to keep me from taking a small baby traveling.

My mother will be 85 (God willing) when we head west (home) next year and I'm starting to consider flying her out there because I'm not so sure the coach trip won't be too much for her. She'll be staying with my 2 sibs while we do our own thing while in California.

[Pirate1]

Do not use the couch. The sideways whiplash would be horrible for a small child.
DO NOT face a child toward the rear unless ALL missile hazards are removed. Everything must be stowed. Stove top covers, dinette chairs, lamps, everything on counters, you get the idea. In a sudden stop, those items that are not firmly secured will be travelling at crash speed towards your child's body. Think about a corian stove cover or toaster oven or coffee pot travelling at 60MPH toward your grandchild.
I use the front passenger seat. I put in extra seats belts anchored to the frame below to secure the child seat and I also have a rear tether to keep the child seat from flipping forward.
RV couches are not usually bolted to a frame to secure them. My sofa is held down with about 4 long wood screws and the seat belts below them are just as bad. We don't use them for travel as they provide no safety.

[dayakster]

Effy wrote:

dayakster wrote:
I wouldn't take a 3 month old baby on vacation. It's exhausting and there is nothing in it for the infant.

wow

What is "wow" for?

I can think of a list of cons a mile long for not taking an infant on vacation. I had to move cross country with a 3 month old so I know what many of them are from first hand experience but we didn't have a choice! The main reason is that the baby gets NOTHING out of it and there are countless risks involved.

People have to have everything RIGHT NOW and are too selfish to give up a summer of their lives to do what is best for their new baby.

[Effy]

dayakster wrote:
I wouldn't take a 3 month old baby on vacation. It's exhausting and there is nothing in it for the infant.

wow

[Francesca_Knowl]

John S. wrote:
I would worry about the side to side movement strapped to the couch.

Times two!

Whatever seat you place the baby in, it's critically important that the seat be positioned so that the baby faces the rear of the rig- never sideways or toward the front.

Infants that small lack the neck strength to withstand even simple sharp braking events (let alone collision impacts) that force their heads forward or sideways.

The seat into which the car seat is strapped should be front-facing, since the seatback provides some protection against flying objects that may come loose in such events.

[Basketweaverz]

We took a 4 month old to Yellowstone from NW WA, gone 3 weeks in a pickup camper which had much less room than our present Class A. It was a lovely trip and Daughter did great. Got neat pictures and baby learned to screech in the camper which echoed very well. She would yell and then just grin all over herself.

It was a great trip for the whole family so don't let the naysayers get you down.

[dayakster]

I wouldn't take a 3 month old baby on vacation. It's exhausting and there is nothing in it for the infant.

[John_S_]

I would worry about the side to side movement strapped to the couch. Our chair in the living room can move so that would not work. What about turning the front seat to face reward and then buckling the child in facing outward but backward to the direction of travel. I know the back seat of car can get a lot of sun too but this will reduce the sun and be bolted to the floor.

[C-Leigh_Racing]

We have several friends, that are Deputy Sheriffs & NC State Patrol officers, so I asked them because of our grandson riding with us.
We knew what the NC law says for like in an auto or pickup, but in a M/H & the officers we asked knowing how the M/Hs are built, they suggested to not use the front passengers seat & use the next single solid mounted seat, which in our case was the seat right behind the passengers seat.
The NC state office, stated that most NC troopers would look at where the child is seated & quote the NC law, but normally would just say it is ok if your using the proper child seat & it is buckled in proper & looks to be as safe as you can seat them.
Our grandson has been riding with us since 2 1/2 months old, in a good solid mounted seat & buckled in proper, but I know anything can happen out on the highways, so it is a standard thing that I do a bit of praying before we pull out on a trip & ask the good Lord for safe travels. I would 1000 times rather something happen to me, than my little buddy get hurt or anyone else in the RV.
Mater of fact, that trooper & his son rode with us on one of out trips.
Neil

[loulou57]

Rear facing to me means to install the seat with the child facing the back of the chair/ couch.
I would be concerned about a young child sitting in the front being exposed to too much sun. Even with the car seat backwards the child will get sun/heat through the large windows. Our grandson took a seizure in the car and it was due to the sun on him. He was in that position for 1/2 an hour. If the car seat was further back you can at least pull the blinds.
I would also think the baby beside the driver would be a distraction. The driver may reach over to replace a pacifier and swerve. Sitting further back with an adult beside the baby might make it more safe and comfortable for everyone.
I would talk to your local police station and ask. They should have the correct answer. Laws vary.

[Effy]

3 mo old requires a rear facing seat. Not sideways like the sofa, or forward like the co pilot chair. The only feasible place I would suspect would be a dinette, lap belted in the harness of the seat and facing backward. The problem I see with this is the seat angle being 90 degrees. You may want to check local law enforecement. Often they have folks that help with proper child seat installation. Maybe you could use the co-pilot seat if it swivelled to face the rear. Or if will attach facing rear with the seat in the normal position like a car.

[wallynm]

Glad we did the baby transport in the 70's. No problem.

[J-Rooster]

We used the couch.

[BobR]

I used the front seat as the child seats are designed to be effective with seat orientated that direction. Make sure to provide protection from the sun rays which are plentiful in the front of the coach.