How long did it take you to install the car seat?

[Deleted]

We did this yesterday. It took us about 1 hour of playing around with the seat in the house to learn how to adjust it, etc and then it only took like 5-10 minutes to put in the car. I was surprised because everyone complains about what a pita a car seat is to correctly install. I'm thinking maybe we did something wrong. We are getting an inspection tomorrow so will know for sure though. fwiw, it is the Britax B-Safe

[IndiaInk]

Good to know. We have the Britax B-Safe also.

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2014 14:27:57 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

We have the same seat! After the thread the other day about car seat safety I watched all the YouTube videos Britax had on that particular seat and it took me less than 10 minutes as well. It was very easy but I had heard that particular seat is easy and was one of the reasons I wanted it.

ohhh lucky-I didn't know it was easy, just that it had good reviews! I haven't watched any videos. We only use the (2) Latch buckles on the bottom sides right? I think the top only needs to be connected if it is a large forward facing seat.

Did you guys put it in the center back seat? 

[winemaker06]

It's not as difficult as everyone makes it seem if you actually read the manuals and safety instructions. I think the problem is that many people don't bother, and also don't get it tight enough.
It didn't take long for us either, but DH was on top the seat base with one knee pushing it down while pulling the straps tight, in order to get it secure enough. Some people probably don't go through all of that effort.

[natablue]

We have the same seat - we still need to install the base in my car, but it took DH about a half hour to install it in his Jetta.

He doesn't have LATCH, my car does. In his car, we had to pit the seat on the passenger side. The issue is now the front passenger seat has to be up all the way, leaving little legroom. I'm hoping we can install in my car in the center seat.

[anna7602]

I never figured that thing out to my satisfaction. Every time we rented a car, we stopped by the fire station for a check. I am so much happier now that DD is in a booster seat and am dreading having to figure out regular car seats again.

[soozy87]

We have the same seat. It took my H maybe 20 minutes to install the base, but then I went out and wiggled it around and we decided that it needed to be in there better. He watched a few YouTube videos and tried again. 5 minutes later it was in much better! Now he can move the base from car to car with no issues.

[shelbyann]

We have the same model and it took us about 30 minutes, installed in the center of the back seat with the seatbelt. It wasn't complicated but getting the plastic piece that snaps over the belt in the middle to shut took a surprising amount of muscle. My H had to basically lean his entire body weight on it to get it to snap shut. We spent a good amount of time wondering if we were doing it right because that, but we took it to the fire station and they said it was right.

[changedname]

We had the same thoughts. Ours is the Graco snugride and it took about 15 minutes to install which included wading through the instructions and the car manual to find the right pages. We couldn't believe how easy it was and watched a youtube video, sure we had missed something but it was right.

I'm really not sure why people make such a big deal about it, the only thing I can think of is that maybe they don't have the LATCH system?

People (BILs) seriously had us totally worried about the car seats to the point where we blocked off a whole Sunday in order to install them.

[speckledfrog]

I have no idea. MH did it while I labored in the house. Get them in early!

[speyedr]

We have the B Safe and it took DH about 5 minutes to actually get in. He said it was pretty easy.

[timorousbeastie]

We also have the B-Safe. After playing around with it for a while inside the house, it only took ~5 min. to install. In my car, it's in the middle seat using seat belts. In H's car, it's on the side using the LATCH system (I would have preferred the middle even without LATCH, but the seatbelt would be underneath the carseat with the setup of his car).

Has anyone else had any rattling with the carseat base since installing it? Only one of our bases does it, and it seems to be installed correctly - I think the rattle is coming from the levels, but it scares me that something is wrong.

[FastHands]

I just had to look up the latch system. I am so clueless.
So I assume that you can only put the seat where the latches are? Like my car only has it on the sides, so I couldn't put it in the middle, right?

[changedname]

Feb 3, 2014 17:27:01 GMT -5 FastHands said:

I just had to look up the latch system. I am so clueless.
So I assume that you can only put the seat where the latches are? Like my car only has it on the sides, so I couldn't put it in the middle, right?

I can't put mine in the middle because the arm rest comes down so we installed it on the passe nger side using Latch.

[FastHands]

Feb 3, 2014 17:49:13 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

Feb 3, 2014 17:27:01 GMT -5 FastHands said:

I just had to look up the latch system. I am so clueless.
So I assume that you can only put the seat where the latches are? Like my car only has it on the sides, so I couldn't put it in the middle, right?

No it is safest in the middle if you can get a good fit. You don't have to use latch. Mine is in the middle with just the seat belt. I just had H do the tightening as he pulled it very tight to prevent any movement.

Oh really? So why are most of the stupid latches on the outside? That seems counterintuitive.

[amaristella]

Feb 3, 2014 17:59:48 GMT -5 FastHands said:

Feb 3, 2014 17:49:13 GMT -5 MNH2013 said:

No it is safest in the middle if you can get a good fit. You don't have to use latch. Mine is in the middle with just the seat belt. I just had H do the tightening as he pulled it very tight to prevent any movement.

Oh really? So why are most of the stupid latches on the outside? That seems counterintuitive.

I've always wondered too. In some vehicles it may just be difficult to get three sets of two to fit properly in the vehicle so they do two sets of two outboard instead of one set in the middle. Or maybe they're just lazy, or cheap?

Not all vehicle manufacturers allow for latch borrowing and most seats will specify in the manual the max distance on the latch anchors. I think mine says 12" apart or something and even though our car might allow latch borrowing the distance is too great, like 16" or more.

First try with different positions and things I think was 15-20 minutes. Second try I was in labor so he did it but I would guess like 5 minutes maybe to put the base in. And I know he fiddled with something extra on top of that. We chose our seat for ease of install and harness adjustments.