Has anyone tried putting an infant seat in a '97 or '98 model (i.e., no LATCH system)? The front center seat is the only one with belts placed close enough together to keep it from wiggling, but putting a kid up there doesn't seem like a good idea.

 

do you have a supercab????

 

what do you mean by "keep it from wiggling"? The reason I ask is because infant seats are designed to "wiggle" in the front or the end opposite where the seat belt passes through the base. You are right that putting the infant seat in a front seat is NOT safe.

Also all child seats only need to be installed so that there is less than 1in.* of movement in any direction at the point where the seat belt passes through the seat for them to be safe for child use.

I know this because I used to be certified CPS technician through Safe Kids Worldwide. Safe Kids has locations all across the USA where you can take in your child, child passenger safety seat and your vehicle where they will instruct you in the proper way to install your CPS.

I noticed in your posting that you are located in Houston, TX so I went to the National CPS Certification web site and looked up some Technicians in your area, there are several, and I am including the web link to for them:

https://ssl13.cyzap.net/dzapps/dbzap...ebmembers/tool

or you can go to http://www.usa.safekids.org/ and look for the CPS Certification link and look up the information for yourself. The link is located about halfway down the page on the right hand side and will take you to National CPS Certification web page where you can do a search for technicians in your area.

 

I have a supercab, so I'd like to put the seat in the rear center, but it fits a lot better on the right rear side. If I'm allowed 2" of give at the seatbelt end, I might be OK. I was just concerned that the seat was able to move around at all. It's probably overkill in my part, but the seat in my VW with the latch system is steady as a rock. Thanks for the link, hdff2002 - I'll see if I can get in touch with a tech down here.

 

I believe if you go the your Ford dealer they will either install the anchors in the back seat or they will give you the parts to do it yourself. I dont know if they are required to do this or not but my local dealer installed them for free.

 

Glad that I could help Stukadriver, but I need to correct my previous posting that you can have 2" of movement it is only 1" of movement in any direction sorry for any problems this may have caused.

Lastspash mentioned that your dealer may be able to install the brackets or the give you the parts to do the install yourself. that may be true depending on the model of vehicle, not all vehicles will allow the install of the 'latch-system' bracket. Most vehicles will allow the install of the 'tether-system' bracket that is for use with forward facing child safety seats.

I still think your best bet is to take your vehicle to one of the CPS technicians and have them give you a hand in installing the seat so that you can learn how to install the properly and have it fitted to your child. They can also give you other general safety information of use of your child safety seat while traveling in your vehicle.

You may also look into a program called 'WHALE' it is an acronym for We Have A Little Emergency. It is an information system that police, fire & EMS can use if you are in a crash and can not answer question for you child. You can put your child's name, age, medical history, emergency contacts, etc. on it so that your child is cared for. All the information is put in a small pouch that is stuck to the child safety seat so that it can be found.

Here is a link to a them: http://www.whaleprogram.org/

You can use it to see if there is anyone in your area that offers the program or anything like it.