Child Car Seats Thread

Additionally, those concerned with damage to the seat surface, these things are great and don't slide around. Doesn't help much with seat foam getting squished from the car seat, but at the end of the day, the car seats are for safety, slightly squished foam is a small price to pay for having the kids safe.

$47 Diono Ultra Mat - Black

https://www.amazon.com/Diono-40242-Ultra-Mat-Black/dp/B01HNY1V0S/ref=dp_ob_title_baby

 

I think the Diono people are mentioning on here is the convertible seat. ie not the infant carrier which you can take out without taking the baby out of the seat. And it can convert from rear facing to front facing.

I saw Diono was highly recommended on other boards too, mainly because you can fit more seats due to how small it was. Came across one on clearance at Target, I think it was an internet return, and can't remember the reason for not getting it. I think having to buy the seat wedge separately was one of the reasons.

But for infant carriers, we started out in a Graco as well. Mainly because it was on clearance. The keyfit 30 was highly recommended at the time and is what I would've gotten. But the wife made the final decision for the Graco.

The main things about the Graco was that we got the 35 at the time, thinking that we could get longer use out of it. But knowing what I know now and maybe just for our case, I would've gotten a seat with a smaller capacity. ie one that just carries up to 22 lbs. Because our kids outgrew the height limits before the weight. So the smaller seat might've fit better in the smaller space of the crew cabs too.

And the other issue with that particular Graco is that the belt behind the seat would get caught in the locking mechanism that clicks into the base when trying to tighten the belt sometimes. So you had to sometimes hold the belt out of the way of the mechanism while tightening the belt. This was a while back and in what they now call the classic connect system. Don't know if they ever changed or improved on that. But other than those two things was pretty happy with that Graco for an infant carrier seat.

 

Here's what the cool dads use. Plus, there's no reason to worry about spilled sticky drinks.

 

There is a company that sells these for tacomas. Seems if it has seatbelt its legal.

 

I’m currently between the Graco and the KeyFit at the moment. The wife is pretty set on the Graco stuff but I see really good things about the KeyFit so I don’t know. I’m 6’1 and she’s 5’7. What didn’t you like about the Radian? I’m curious because that one I was looking at once we move out of an infancy carrier

 

I use the middle seat as well and just flipped the seat around recently since my daughter just turned 2. Best position is in the middle IMO. Also had the Diono ultra mat for protection but it didn’t help from indentations. There is a really cool trick that I did learn though since I left some indentations in the foam previously on the side seats. Just get a steamer that you use to remove wrinkles for your clothes and a clean microfiber towel. Place the towel over the indentation and use the steamer on high. You can use steam from an iron too if needed but be careful not to touch the car fabric directly with the iron. Worked like a charm, brought back the foam to normal after a day or so. Repeat as needed.

 

You guys using the latches or the seat belt to anchor the seats in the middle?

I thought I read somewhere not to use the latches for a middle seat position?

 

Same here. Gotta tilt the seat back forward some and it gives you load of leg room. There's not really room to ride like a G lol.

 

Preciate the tip about the indentations!

 

Anyone have this https://shopdoona.com/ ?
know how it fits in the Tacoma?

 

Not sure how it fits, but it’s a neat setup. I like the color options.

 

Our twins fill the backseat up, But they will soon be in booster seats so they will have more room.

 

Tacoma doesn't have a latch system for the middle seat. You're using the 2 outboard latches here. From all the previous cars we have had the manuals state not to use the outboard latches for the middle seat as that's not what they are designed for because geometry/angles are wrong and may not work as designed in a crash. There are only a handful of SUVs that have 3 LATCH positions in the middle and of course all minivans do.

I recall having this discussion here before and someone looked at the Tacoma manual and the illustrations only show outboard latches being used and a lap belt being used for the middle seat.

All 3 of ours are in boosters now and I'm 6'1". Personally I would not use the Tacoma as a primary kid car as it was way too cramped with those big seats. It's doable, but would have been a pain.

 

Informative!

 

Yep . Changed it to seat belt for more room. Thanks for your concern.

 

We used the Keyfit while my daughter was still in the infant stage. The ability to click it in and out of the truck using the base system made things SO easy when we were transporting her that young. We could get her all situated inside and then just drop her in. The Graco stays with the vehicle but will work for her until she's completely out.

I didn't care for the Radian in terms of how it mounted into the truck. Even with the LATCH cranked down it just didn't seem secure to me. I didn't like that there was a separate tether from the top of the backrest to the front seat mount to stabilize that area (not to mention eliminating that area behind the front seat as storage for the diaper bag). I also didn't like the adjustable side bolsters for the base, they felt flimsy.

The Graco feels like a more substantial seat. It's an opinion that goes against what most members on here have experienced, but that was my feeling. I don't doubt that it's a great seat, but it didn't give me the feeling I wanted with the baby.

 

This morning I mounted the infant car seat in the middle rear and found enough room for my wife and I to sit comfortably upfront and room for me (6’1”) to sit in the rear behind the front passenger. I’m so excited about this, my wife was correct all along! The only issue I noticed during the install was the booster seat for my oldest son sat so close to the infant seat that it blocked access to the seat belt receiver. My son is old enough to get out of the booster seat, but he’s a lightweight so we’re keeping him in the booster a bit longer. I removed both booster seat armrests and gained access. I finally feel comfortable with hauling a family of four in the Tacoma!

 

I have two in the back. Rear facing behind the passenger side but my wife is only 4' 13"

I also have 3 Diono Radian XTs... two in our Murano and one in the Tacoma. Awesome seats. The rear facing in the Tacoma is some other seat though, don't recall which. The kids aren't in that one as much as the Murano.

I'd also say rear facing in middle. Plenty of room for kids in a booster IMO.

 

Any tips on how to hook the rear tether for a forward-facing car seat?

 

I tried to get my wife to do that. She's a certified car seat technician(yeah that's a thing). She lost her mind on me and proceeded to show me pictures of accidents that happened with towels under the seat, aftermarket seat covers and seat protectors that aren't tested by the car seat manufacturer