My daughter is still small enough to need a harness in the car. My SIL (who is living with us for the time being) recently got a truck, which is now our main from of transportation when my husband takes our vehicle to work at night. Her truck has really stiff leather (or imitation leather...) seats. This is a problem because no matter how tightly I try to buckle my daughter's seat in, it will slide several inches very easily. I tried a trick that I was taught by a safety-riders car seat technician (putting some of that gripping shelf liner between the truck's seat and the car seat) but it didn't help at all. Another problem is that the seat in the truck is about 3 inches shorter than the car seat, so it hangs over the edge. :/
I checked the truck's manual, and it didn't provide much help. It just says to install car seats according to the car seat manual.
So, has anyone faced this problem, and have a solution? I am not willing to out my daughter in the truck if I can't do so safely.. For now, my SIL has been letting my husband take the truck to work so we can have the seat available... But the truck gets horrible gas mileage and hat is adding up fast.
Take the truck and the car seat and go by the local fire station. They should be able to fit it properly.
Call your local Police station and have somone install it in the truck and show you how it goes. They will do it safley or tell you it should or should not be in there.
I also recommend bringing it to the police or fire station for help. They often use pieces of pool noodles to fill in any gaps between the carseat and seat that are allowing for slippage. You also need to kneel into the car seat and pull the seatbelt taut when all of your weight is pressing the two seats together. With the kneeling and noodle, they should be able to get a tight fit.
Not all car seats will work in all vehicles. It sounds like you may need a different car seat if it is hanging over the edge as you say. I would consult with a local fire station or police station so they can check it and install it properly if possible. Hope they can get it to work for you!
Kneel in the car seat as you pull the straps tight. That's what we've had to do in the past to ensure that the carseat doesn't slide around.
Are you locking the belt? Pull it ALL the way out, then as you let it feed back it you'll hear a ratchet sound (if it's working correctly). Put your weight into her seat as you feed the belt back in. You should be able to get it very tight.
And if it's totally hanging off the seat? Maybe a smaller base, so a different car seat. Some seats can hang a bit...call the carseat company and ask.
The police (or fire?) department will help you with this, free of charge. Give them a call and find out where to go!
What did you and DH do before the truck? My DH and I have 2 seats for DD. And if my SD has the van (with one car seat) and we need to take DD somewhere, we take my car because it has the other seat. My DH's car doesn't fit her seat very well. If my car isn't available, either we don't go together or we make SD leave the van (say, my car is in the shop).
If you absolutely need the seat to work in the truck, talk to a local fire department or call up whoever handles car seat inspections in your area. Describe the seat cover and type of vehicle and see if they can tell you what seats to consider for that vehicle. Then buy one that works. Seats run anywhere from $50 on up, and if you're burning gas with the truck, it might just be better to buy an appropriate seat.
I agree about the pool noodles helping with slippage, but I know that my former FIL is not allowed to drive with my 7 y.o. in his pickup because the seat is shorter than the distance that the police said it needed to be for a booster seat. We even tried a really small booster from Walmart and there still wasn't enough space.
While inconvenient, it's likely not worth the risk of her being poorly secured unless you have a life or death reason to take the car rather than public transportation.
