Re: Car Seats. Bought my dream truck, now i'm pregnant. Send Help.

I don’t have anything under the 2 high back boosters But I was looking into a solution a while back. This got me thinking again so thanks. Admittedly- you say that as a bad thing there’s no backseat drinking or eating in my truck. We did take 1 long road trip that had an exception for drinking but the cups stayed in the rear console and were given when asked. Eating was when we would stop for gas/bathroom and done on the tailgate. Feet on the backseat is also a no no- that was learned young from the start so I don’t have to worry about that too much.

 

This is great advice.

 

yah def would say get the DC if you want to keep a truck. I can't imagine fitting a car seat in an access cab.

 

@Seymoh

2nd Gens could make a car seat work but it was tight and the front passenger was screwed.

Trading in might not be the best option since the last thing you need is to strain the finances more by rolling car payments together.

It might be cheaper and all around better to find a vice used minivan. Siennas and Odysseys are dirt cheap. The only issue then would be space to park two vehicles.

 

Congrats on the kid! I ran a baby seat in my 04 ext cab for a few months. Double cab or 4Runner is the way to go. Id go with the 4Runner personally. Wife has one and it’s perfect with two car seats in back.

 

Wellllllll......

 

Some chick told me those are real tasty.

 

how were you able to run the baby seat in the ext. cab 04? In the back somehow or up front with the airbag off?

 

Yes in the back on passenger side. There was a little fold down thing specifically for it. Had to have passenger seat all the way forward. Nobody in front seat either. Did it for a few months and wife had a 4Runner for when we went places . Much better with a double cab.

 

I was driving a regular cab S10 when my first son was born. My wife and I parked the child seat between us as I rowed gears.

By the time the second boy arrived the S10 was kaput, so I bought an access cab Dakota (two doors only) - made that work for 19 years.

We did have the wife's car, so it was pretty easy.

The only experience I can pass on is that having a child is a major lifestyle change.

As much as you love the truck, and can probably make it work, you might be better off with a car, SUV of even a van.

If you did do this, it probably won't be the last thing you sacrifice for the family.

On a positive note, I have never been happier in my life than the time when there were little children running around.

Good luck and enjoy this time, they do grow up fast.

 

At the least you need a double cab. It's still tight but it's manageable. We put the seat in the middle and it's still rear facing. So it allows us to be able to move the front seats back a bit more.

 

I had my 2nd gen regular cab when my son was in a car seat.
The answer? My partner traded her 2d Civic for a Subaru.

 

Might find these helpful, although car seat have changed over the years.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/access-cab-and-a-car-seat.192445/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rear-facing-car-seat-in-access-cab.549374/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/baby-seat-in-access-cab-possible.32159/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/child-seat-in-access-cab.150293/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/infant-car-seat-in-backseat-of-access-cab.386340/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/access-cab-and-kids.201310/

All that said, I went from a 1st gen Xcab straight to a 2nd gen DC when our kid was on the way. I died a little inside, but I did it.

Honestly, with a kid, soooooooo much other crap comes along with it, and they will be in a booster for a while too. The extra room a DC provides could make a big difference for you. Your trade-in/resale value will never be better than it is right now.

Or get a 4runner. Apparently they are more solid and better materials than the Tacoma anyway.

 

Do not ever put a car seat in the front!

***Moms just take my word on it and don’t read this further***


The worse thing that I’ve heard happen with that was a slow head-on bump accident in a parking lot set off the airbags. The baby in a rear facing carseat belted in the front seat was slammed rearward by the airbag so hard that her head ended up in the parking lot. It was not that hard of a bump and the airbags shouldn’t have triggered that easily.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/11/27/Air-bag-blamed-for-childs-death/4311849070800/

 

Highly dubious Old wives tale.

Modern cars have sensors to deactivate the airbag or a manual deactivation feature.

Human heads don't tear off and fly through safety glass windows because of whiplash.

 

Really a true case, but I’m not going to go look for the case report. It happened before airbags had better valving and force control.

Oh never mind, I don’t just make stuff up and would fact check myself before saying stuff:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/11/27/Air-bag-blamed-for-childs-death/4311849070800/

 

You are federally allowed to put a child in the front seat if you have the ability to disable the airbag. My 04 has an on/off airbag switch via the ignition key.

Now, whether or not that's the safest place for an infant/child in general is another matter of discussion, but infants/toddlers can be up front so long as the airbag is off

 

You are right, you can turn it off or it does so itself if the weight in the seat isn’t enough. And cases like the one with the Jetta in ‘96 that I pointed out above are why you now have a switch to do that.

 

I know it’s a big No No where I live but some people here have said it’s ok. We never put our kids or grandkids in front or front facing until they hit the guidelines. But putting them in the back was never an issue for us. So we weren’t in the dilemma the OP is in.

 

One thing we did to make the rear facing seat in my 1st gen better and safer for our kid in the rear (also a double cab) was to prop the seat more level with a solid spacer under it a bit and put a belt under it towards the front seat anchor. Whenever they are put in rear facing, the baby seats tip forward a lot because of the angle of the backseat, which makes the baby’s head fall forward when they sleep- its a terrible angle for them to sleep and even breathe normally. also, if you only have one kid, put them back center to be further away from both sides of the car.