Install Britax Blvd in center or outboard in Volvo S70 and V70?

[4Cats]

Hi,

We have a 1998 Volvo S70 sedan (no LATCH whatsoever) and a 2001 Volvo V70 wagon (LATCH on the two outboard positions).

When we went to the local police department last summer for help with installing our infant car seat, we were told that the only appropriate place for a RF car seat was at the outboard positions. Apparently the armrest could fall down in a crash and interfere with the appropriate pivoting of the car seat.

Now we are planning on installing Britax Boulevards in the same two cars. Since they will be RF, can I assume that the only appropriate positions are still the outboard positions?

Thank you,
Kristin

[DebbieJ]

What does your car manual say?

In my experience, armrests do not matter at all. I have a Honda CRV with a center armrest and my son was RF in the center for a long time with no problems.

I'd say install in the center if that is what you prefer.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[Joolsplus2]

One company only, Evenflo, ever prohibited installation of a rearfacing seat in front of a fold down armrest, and they have long since rescinded that recommendation for all their seats, since NO child has ever been injured by a flip down armrest (yay!). Unfortunately, a lot of techs don't keep up with newest recommendations, and don't bother to read car and seat manuals thoroughly, and were 'trained on' Evenflos (they are usually the free seats given out and used in classes), and seem to think they can't put any RF seat in the middle with an armrest.

Soooo...long story short...unless your car manual and/or your seat manual have a restriction about installing a seat in any given position, then there is no reason not to, assuming the installation is good :). If you can't get a good installation with the seatbelt in the middle for some reason, then go ahead and put it outboard (with LATCH in the one car and seatbelt in the other).

Hope that helps!

:)

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

[ppshah]

I have a 2004 volvo xc70 and have a marathon that always been in the center position-first rearfacing and now forward facing.

I would put it in the center.

[newmom03]

I had an '01 V70. I called Volvo to inquire about center LATCH installation since the car only has outboard LATCH. My DH wanted to use one anchor from each outboard seat. They told me that their tests show that the children were safest in the outboard position and that is why there are no LATCH anchors in the center. They said that the child is well protected by the SIPS and Volvo frame. I think they also feel there's too much danger of things coming through the front windshield in an accident. I now have an '04 xc90 and there's still no LATCH in the center even though there's no armrest.

[rrkalina]

We have a '98 S70 and a Boulevard outboard. The car manual said we could install center, but we just got a better fit outboard.

~K

[shishamo]

I had a 99 S70. I can't remember which seat, but we tried RF Roundabout in all three positions and there were one that just would not work at all (I'm having a mommy brain and I can't remember which one). Have you tried installing it?

[4Cats]

Thank you everyone for your advice. We haven't actually tried installing them yet, so as some PPs suggested, we may also be limited by how well they fit in the center vs. outboard. I will let everyone know how things work out.

Kristin

[4Cats]

Hi

I first posted a couple of weeks ago about installing the Britax BV rearfacing in our Volvos, and I wanted to update and also ask a few more questions.

First, in the S70 (no latch), we were able to install the BV in the center position. We switched the little red button on the seatbelt from the adult to the child setting (I don't know what it's called, but it prevents the seatbelt from loosening) and we got a firm fit.

The problem we're having is with our 2001 V70 wagon. The seatbelt has no adult/child slide lock thingy, and I'm wondering if these are necessary for a secure seatbelt installation? The lockoff on the non-buckle side pops open when we secure both the lap and shoulder parts of the belt (per the instruction manual for the BV), but doesn't pop open when we just secure the lap portion. However, I'm not sure that the lockoffs are doing much anyway, because when I yank on the seat to check the installation, just pulling on it loosens the belt quite a bit (WAY more than 1 inch, and gets looser with each yank).

If the seatbelt install just won't work, we will next try a LATCH install in the outboard position. But, I know in the future we'll need to use the seatbelt install once DS exceeds the LATCH weight limit, so I'm still interested in some insights on this matter.

Thanks for reading. I guess my main questions are 1) how do you get a secure seatbelt install without the child seat lock on the seatbelt and 2) what function are the lockoffs supposed to serve since they don't seem to be doing much to secure the seat?

Kristin