Marathon in 2003 CR-V

[sc415]

We just purchased a marathon car seat for our 8 month old and haven't been able to successfully install it in the center seat. My concern is that when I use the shoulder belt to secure it, the car seat does not sit flat on the actual surface of the seat because the seatbelt plugs needed to make the shoulder belt work properly are too close together. (There's not enough space between the 2 seatbelt plugs to accommodate the base of the marathon.) Has anyone one else encountered this problem or am I doing something wrong? We'd prefer to have the baby in the middle but we want to make sure the carseat is properly secured.

I also had a question regarding harness height. Our baby is pretty long (close to 28 inches) but if I'm to go by the manual's instruction for harness height for rear-facing it seems like the lowest harness slot isn't low enough to hit her properly. The diagram has the harness coming from behind and just below the top of the shoulder but the lowest harness slot is slightly above her shoulder. I don't understand how this seat could be used for babies given this...

Any help would be very much appreciated. thanks very much!

[sophdog33]

I am interested in hearing responses - we will be installing our marathon in our 2004 CR-V and like you want to put it in the middle seat but I didn't know there would be a problem.
Currently we have our Snugride in the center seat with the seatbelt that comes from above and I swear the seat is crooked because of that. I would use latch - one from each side - but I am not sure that is the safest idea.

[skipperlou]

I have a 2005 CR-V and was told at a car seat inspection by the CPS techs that we could not install any carseat properly in the middle since the seatbelt anchors are so close together. They called it "Bubbling." Since there are no latch anchors in the center either, you are pretty much out of luck.

HTH!
Lara

[MamaParis]

as for the harness height ...

according to Britax they allow the harness (on the lowest setting) to be up to an inch above the baby's shoulders when RF.
The point of the harness being at or below the shoulders is so that in the event of an accident the child doesn't ramp up and OUT of the shell of the seat.
With such a small child and with the Marathon havign SUCH a tall seat back - this is unlikely to occur with the straps slightly above the childs shoulders when RF and the harness on the lowest setting.

So you are allowed to have up to an inch of space between the harness level and the childs shoulders.
This is for the LOWEST harness setting only though ... after that - you must be at or below the shoulders for RF use! :)


And as for teh not fitting in the center - In my old car I couldn't fit our Roundabout in the center position the seatbelt anchors were too close together to use it properly.
I had to use an outboard position.
So ... as I'm sure you know ... a GOOD install in an outboard seating position is always better than a BAD install in the center!
If it doesn't fit - then it doesn't fit ... I'd move to one of the side seats.

[kellyotn]

I don't have a CR-V, but did have a similar problem (belt points too close together) in a different car. I agonized b/c my DD had always been in the center, but in the end it finally hit me that in a few short months there would be a new baby and neither could be in the center anyways. A rear facing seat is incredibly safe. Yes, there is a bit MORE safety in the center, but an outboard seat is not UNsafe.

I was going to say the exact thing about the straps too. Its ok for a small baby to be below the lowest slots b/c they are not going to be able to ramp out. Its when they are taller that that becomes a worry. My son was on the lowest slots for a loooong time. :)

(edited for typo)

[sophdog33]

I just wanted to update... we just installed our Marathon in our 2004 CRV and we were going to put it in the center seat using the seatbelt but the seat is so tall that it took up half of my view through the rear window, so I ended up installing it in an outbound seat with Latch. It is so huge but DD seems very comfy and safe in it!

[MissyAg94]

We have a Wizard installed RF in the center of our 2003 CR-V. It does keep us from using the seatbelt for a passenger on one side but we got a good, tight install. I am curious to see if we are doing something unsafe. A tech at the Honda dealership helped us with it.

[Joolsplus2]

It's a tricky combination, and just can't be done by some folks... there's got to a be a reason some CAN get it installed in there, but I dunno what it could be... magic? ;). As long as it's installed with less than one inch of movement at the belt path, it's safe (the thing the other poster mentioned about the anchors being to close together and it's not safe...that's from some older Blazers that don't allow seats for that reason...but since Honda has no restriction against seats being installed in the center in the manual, there's no reason your seat is unsafe if it's tight).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[MissyAg94]

Thanks for the reassurance! I was thinking I might need a new car to keep her in the center. ;) It takes two of us to install it and one of us basically puts all of our weight in it while the other one pulls on the seat belt. I don't think I could do it alone, though.