Here is my situation... My little boy is about to hit the 40lb. mark meaning he needs to be belted directly in his seat rather than his seat belted to the truck and him belted to his seat (hope that makes sense). Up to this point anchoring his seat in the middle rear of my F150 super cab has worked great. He has a pretty good view and he is safely in the middle of the truck... problem is there is no shoulder harness in the middle and he is growing so do I put him off to one side in the rear where his legs are going to become cramped soon or do I put him up front (with the air bag turned off of course!) ??? Or do I just pony up the cash and make the jump up to a crew cab???? <----- of course this is seceretly the advice I am hoping for!! Those new 6.0 liter diesels sure sound nice!! Why are they not putting those in the F150's anyway... I am not really all that excited about having a bigger truck then my short bed F150 but to get a crew cab and the new diesel you have to jump up to the F250 (available in a short box). I measured it out today and my truck is about 18.5 feet long and the f250 is just over 20'... crude measuring so I may be off a bit.... anyhow what is everyone else doing with their little ones in their trucks??? btw speaking of car seats I hope all of you are properly anchoring those seats in for your little ones (putting ALL your weight into the seat and really tightening the belt down to get the seat FIRMLY into the truck).... if this doens't sound familiar PLEASE ask someone to help or I would be HAPPY to give further instruction on the subject.... I am kind of a nut about my kid's safety.... thanks for any advice!!!!!

 

 

i just did the same with my son/seat a few months ago.

moved the child seat from the center rear to a booster seat in the right rear.

its kind of nice, i can now drive with the center bench/arm rest folded down again.

he has enough room in the back right rear, and most of the time its just the two of us in the truck so i could slide the passenger seat forward if i had to.

its nice having the ability to turn off the passenger air bag if you had to if you were to put a 'little one' up front, but thats not the best place for my kid to be, so for now he will be staying in the back.

he's very content there, now hes got a side window he can open, as well as the rear slider. its also easier to get a direct 'eye' view of him now that he's on the far right.

 

If they can't sit with their back upagainst the backrest of the seat any their knees bent at the edge of the seat they HAVE to be in a booster seat. No matter how much they weigh.

My son is 8 and well over 60lbs. but his knees don't bend at the seats edge in the front so he still rides in back. My little 3 yr old girl is so small she will be in some form of seat until she is 13!!

 

Both of my little guys ride in boosters in the rear of my extended cab. Will probably upgrade to a Supercrew once they are a little bigger. In the state of Washington all children under the age of 9 or less than 80 pounds must be in a booster seat. When securing the seats using the shoulder harness belts, the belts must be fully extended before retracting in order to keep them tight. Hope that helps.

 

Defenitely agree that the side in rear is best for your current situation. Having that shoulder belt is very important.

 

Here in CA. I think they have to stay in a kid seat until 60 lbs. now, is keeping him in a kid seat a problem? Is he too big for it?

Although that would be my first choice for your situation (as I strongly agree with keeping him in the middle) I feel obligated to prod you into the Superduty CC!!

I have my son in the middle rear and, as you mentioned, he can see well and is as safe as possible with plenty of room.

Go get that 6.0L, you will absolutely LOVE it !! You only live once and your son can get student loans if need be!

 

I'm soon to go through the same myself. I'm keeping her in the center of the rear as long as she stays within the weight limits of the single belt seats.

Some of the boosters can be used for kids up to 80 lbs using just the single belt and no shoulder belt. They are a little more hassle since the seat has it's own belt system, but at that point they can usually get in and might just need a hand double checking the buckle.

 

I recently found out from our safety guy at work, it is now recomended for kids to ride in a booster seat until they weigh about 90 lbs. (sounds like some seats are only recomended up to 80 lbs) from the previous posts it seems some states are starting to agree with this recomdation too.

I think your best bet would be to get a good booster seat - this way your kid can see out, and be safe - but the new truck AND a booster may be the way to go...

Personally, I think the Simpson car seats are the coolest seats on the market (That's Simpson Safety Products, not the TV show 'the Simspon's)

 

 

Thanks for all the replies guys (and gals if applicable) I am impressed to see that so many people are so safety conscious... I am divoreced and am such a nut about my sons safety that I secretly kept a key to my ex's mini-van and stop by her work regulary to make sure my son's seat is installed tight... I am curious where to find one of these boosters that work up until 80 lbs!!! I think Signguy mentioned it... I really don't care how much it costs... that would be ideal to be able to keep him in the middle rear for awhile and buy me some time for those new 6.0 diesels to come down to a price that a normal guy can afford one... I stopped buy the local Ford dealer yesterday and was dissapointed to find that you can't touch one for less than about 40K... YIKES! Thanks again for the help!