Car Seat Position

Rear facing is safer at that age even if it is by the door. There is no such thing as too tall to RF! The AAP's recommendation is for kids to be RF until 2 years old, several states are considering changing the law from 1 and 20lbs to 2 years.

A.,
Rear-facing for as long as possible is ALWAYS better, no matter if you position the child in the middle or side seats.

Here is more information: "Frontal and side impacts are the most common type of crashes. They account for 96% of all crashes. They are also the most deadly type of crashes (especially side impacts) and rear-facing children have MUCH more protection in both types of crashes than forward-facing."

That quote is from this site, which has a wealth of information and statistis to help guide your decision:
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/StayRearFacing.aspx

Hi A.,
I am going to tell you what I learned from the CHP who came to our Mommy & Me class. The safest seat is in the back, middle seat. The 2nd safest is in the back behind the passenger and the 3rd safest is in the back behind the driver (more side impacts happen on the driver side according to CHP). Hope this helps with your dilemma. Also, he did say rear facing is best for as long as possible and that in Europe they stay rear facing until almost 4, long legs and all... they adapt!

Good luck with your decision!
J.

we have a bmw x5 & a ford explorer. for both cars, the CHP officer said behind the passenger seat was the safest in these 2 particular vehicles. my daughter is 18 months old, & we have had her forward facing behind the passenger seat since she was 15 months old. she loves looking around :)
good luck

15 months is a good age to switch to front facing. She will enjoy the view! :)
If you want to keep her rear facing then you will have to put her by a door. Both my kids have their car seats by the doors because that is where the latches are for their seats. Put the child locks on the doors so she can't open them and make sure to lock the door each time you put her in(that is a rule in our family-doors must be locked). She will be safe.

We have the same seat. I also intended to keep my 14 month old daughter rear-facing, but felt more comfortable with the seat in the middle. We decided to have her front-facing and in the middle. I like having her in the middle for safety and convenience, and she likes being able to look around more now. Good luck!

My daughter is 19 mnths and around the same time i switched her car seat and had the same problem. I perfer to put her in the middle and use it as a front facing seat. I did this for the same reason you stated to close to the door i also did it cuz my kid haated the car seat till it was front facing cause she could see me.

Because we have two children and neither fit in the bucket, they are both on the sides in the back seat - one faces forward and one faces backwards. We are keeping our son rearfacing as long as we can, but his feet are already up against the back of the seat. Good luck with your choice.

We have the same car seat and it was rear facing in on the passenger side of my car for a long time. I had the same nervous issues about her being so close to the door, but my car (Nissan Rouge) does not allow a rear facing seat in the middle so for 15 months she has been next to the door. We recently had to flip her around (too tall to be rear facing) and she really does seem to like it. Good luck.

I liked Lee Lee's response, but I would consider the type of car too... If you have a small/narrow car with thin doors, I'd give the middle seat more consideration, but for example in my Nissan Murano, there is a gap btwn seat and door and so I'd say it is safer for the side seats. Way to go on preferring RFing--my daughter was in RFing until 23mo old (until she had to give up her seat to her baby sister). and no, a toddler doesn't care if his/her feet touch the seat back in front of them...they bend their legs anyway.

Are you sure you can't adjust the recline so that you can still have the seat in the middle position? My seat (Britax Marathon) won't even fit rear facing on the passenger side (there would not be enough space for a passenger), it has to be in the middle (which is what I prefer). I would go for the passenger side rear facing, but I would try adjusting it first. If it doesn't adjust, and you feel this strongly about putting her in the middle rear facing, see if you can find a different seat that does fit.

Dear A.,

I was under the impression that it is illegal to have a child under 40 pounds in the forward facing position. Your choice may be cut out for you.
I have a Britax...use it on the passenger side. Yes, not ideal, but you do what you have got to do.

First I'd like to say these decisions are always best made by you, the parent. I can offer my suggestions only as a car seat technician and instructor. I agree that rear-facing is the safest way for young children to travel. They should remain rear-facing for as long as the car seat will allow whenever possible. I understand what you are saying about your child being in an outboard seating position and closest to potential impact. Luckily, Britax usually provides good side impact protection with the structure of most of their seats. Also, the T-bone type of car collision is not the most common type of collision. That being said, I would tend to keep my child rear-facing and in the outboard position before putting them forward-facing in the center...however, you are the mommy and you will make the best decision for your child and your situation. My best!

I'd put her on the passenger side - it's so much safer for her to be rear-facing and on the side than forward facing in the middle.

I opted to do rear facing on the side rather than forward facing in the middle.