I bought a new car seat for the newborn (photo HERE ) and I don't seem to have enough room for my front passenger now. With the car seat facing the rear for a newborn, and the car seat reclined to where it needs to be, the front passenger seat has to be so far up you can't really use it. Anyone else experience this? Maybe I could put it in the middle instead of on the passenger side, but the goal is to leave the larger seat empty so it can be lifted up to allow my golden retriever to ride in the back...or to make room for other stuff.

 

In my 2000 Scab, I put the rear facing seat in the center and didn't have any problems. However, I wasn't toting the dog with me. I Got an animal carrier and secured it in the bed. That's where my Rottweiller rides.

 

LIttle one safer in middle anyway. Think about a side impact. My 3 year old sitts in the middle in a forward facing seat. It would give him more room on pass side with pass seat folded up but i feel he's safer in the middle.

Just My .02

 

I dont mean to butt into your business,... but do you want a 40-50-60 or so...pound dog impacting and injuring your child during a crash?? It could happen. The dog should be secured in the back, the safest place for a child seat is rear center. vist http:\\www.safetyseat.org for proper guidelines when securing a carseat. Good Luck

 

My apologies for the bad link above. That is http:\\www.carseat.org

 

The dog will only be in the truck when the baby is not. He only rides in the truck occasionally...and it won't ever be when the baby is in there.

The center position does make sense when thinking about side impacts.

 

With a family i would have considered the Crew. But i got the wife a Escape to place the grand babies in the back with the four door's. She had a ZX2 before that now thats a tight vehicle in the back seat. When they would kick i felt every one on the back of the seat. I'm glad and i love my grand babies they were seated in her car. no car seat's in mine except for occasional trips . I have three children one of each LOL j/k. Boy 27 , Boy 23, Baby girl 17.

 

God does this post scare me. Jesus man, dont do that! Keep the wife and kids away. lol

 

I have a '98 SuperCab with Captain's Chairs and two little girls. When they were in a rear-facing car seat I put them in the middle of the back seat because they were safer and that was the only way that I could use the passenger seat. When the 2nd one was born I had a front facing seat behind my seat and a rear facing one in the middle.

Now I have front facing car seats on the left and the right and it is still a litlle tight with their legroom versus the front seat passenger's legroom. I will be purchasing a 2005 SuperCrew next year to get more room. I wish the Crew was available in '98.

 

I'll have PLENTY of room once he's big enough to sit in the seat facing forward. It's just the rear facing position that takes up all the room.

Now that I think about it, the issue with the dog is - I don't want to keep moving the car seat over (if I put it in the middle). The dog will be in the truck probably twice a week, when I pick him up from his doggy daycare...lol Yes, I said doggy daycare. It was my wife's idea, but I think it's a good idea now. It wears him out and he doesn't act so wild when he's home after going there all day. He's still sort of a puppy - 2.5 years old. I hear goldens stay puppies longer than most dogs. I believe it. Anyway, that car seat is a pain in the rear to fasten in there. Hoping to avoid moving it often. For the first 4 or 5 months, I doubt he'll be leaving home except for doctor's visits. He's 8 weeks premature and won't be home from the hospital for a few weeks anyway. Well, maybe sooner rather than later...because this coming Sat. will be the 1 week mark and the nurses are hinting that he might only be there a total of about 2 weeks...maybe slightly longer. I'm still waiting on the furniture I ordered for him to arrive!

 

why is the seat so far forward?

My wife and I fit in the front of our 98 regular cab with our child seat, no problems at all.

Now that we have a Crew there are no issues, but even so, I dont see how the new truck has less front seat area for a car seat than the previous model.

That, and until the child seat is forward facing, maybe your passenger can ride in the back.


Now as far as the "middel of the vehicle" argument, c'mon... maybe if you had a Cavalier, but this is an F150. If a car hits you it will be the lower panel and there are side intrusion beams now.

Ford themselves say outboard position in the front seat as this is the airbag that gets deactivated and the tether anchor is also on the outboard seat.

 

It's because I have to lean the car seat back pretty far so the baby isn't sitting too far upright. That's what takes up so much room. If it's positioned upright, it's ok facing the rear - plenty of room.