[Cheesehead]

Has anyone put a child seat in their Pilot yet using the LATCH system? I read somewhere that there are only LATCH points for a child safety seat on the outboard sides of the second row and none in the middle. I'd rather have my newborn riding in the middle and not right next to the door.

 

[pjl56]

Cheese, if LATCH is where you strap the middle-back of the car seat to an anchor position behind the car seat back, my salesman was telling me that I could do it from the middle position. (My existing doesn't have the requisite anchor piece on it.) He seemed to know what he was talking about & actually installed the car seat for me prior to my driving off with the new car.

Has anyone put a child seat in their Pilot yet using the LATCH system? I read somewhere that there are only LATCH points for a child safety seat on the outboard sides of the second row and none in the middle. I'd rather have my newborn riding in the middle and not right next to the door.

 

[03pilot]

Re: Re: LATCH System

I think I got the same info from my dealer as well. In fact I remember him showing me the anchors for hooking the car-seats in all 6 positions (2nd and 3rd row). I will check and confirm.

Like pjl, our car-seat does not have LATCH either (I think).

Cheese, if LATCH is where you strap the middle-back of the car seat to an anchor position behind the car seat back, my salesman was telling me that I could do it from the middle position. (My existing doesn't have the requisite anchor piece on it.) He seemed to know what he was talking about & actually installed the car seat for me prior to my driving off with the new car.

 

[Evergreen]

Latch

I installed two child seats with the latch system today. I used the outside seats. The latch system is hooks on the inside and outside of each of the outside seats below the seat cushion just where the seat meets the seatback. I did not check whether there were latch hooks under the middle seat, but it may be possible to use the inside latch hooks from the outside seats to hook up a car seat using the latch system in the middle seat. I'm not sure if this is how it's intended to be used, so it might not be the safest thing to do, but it might work. I'm not sure it would be dangerous however, since latch hooks under the seats are simply used to secure the carseat to the car.

Evergreen

 

[crikey]

LATCH Installation Illustrations

Not necessarily a Pilot LATCH install, but a great illustration on installing a child seat using LATCH system can be found at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/csr2001/csrhtml/LATCH.html

Hope it helps.

 

[SpartanPilot]

Outborad LATCH anchors

I just pulled out the dealer brochure and it states that the LATCH system is only available in the OUTBOARD seating positions in the 2nd row of seats.

 

[gupt0014]

Re: Outborad LATCH anchors

I just pulled out the dealer brochure and it states that the LATCH system is only available in the OUTBOARD seating positions in the 2nd row of seats.

Yes, but you could still use the inner most anchors of the outboard ones and use the middle seat in the 2nd row.

 

[03pilot]

Re: Outborad LATCH anchors

I swear I have seen 3 hooks behing the 2nd row seats. Am I not understanding the issue correctly ?

I just pulled out the dealer brochure and it states that the LATCH system is only available in the OUTBOARD seating positions in the 2nd row of seats.

 

[JungleJim]

What type of carseat?

Do you have the "CARRIER" type of seat? The type you can carry and place on a stroller? If so, you do not use the LATCH system with this type. You can intall the base unit in the middle without the LATCH. Once the child reaches 22 lbs., then you must use a regular car seat.

At that point, you have to weigh the pros and cons of a middle position vs. using a LATCH system. You can still intall new carseats without LATCH.

 

[wmquan]

LATCH "Lower Anchors" are the attachment points between the seatback and seat bottom. They're meant to attach to a strap or rod from the bottom of the chid restraint.

"Top Tether Anchors" are the attachment points behind the seats, to attach to a strap connected to the top of the car seat.

Almost all forward-facing car seat benefit from or absolutely require that you attach the top tether anchor strap to one of the anchorage points. The second row seat has three of them.

Not all car seats are LATCH compatible (attachment at the bottom of the seat); they may only work with seatbelts to secure the seat.

There are relatively few rear-facing seats (infants under 20 lbs and not yet a year old) that are LATCH-compatible. Graco does make a LATCH retrofit kit that will work with some of its SnugRide infant seats (but not all).

LATCH is becoming much more common for convertible (rear-facing and forward-facing seats) seats, as well as forward-facing only seats. Most of those seats can still work with belts.

Britax is releasing a new line of seats that are LATCH-or-belt compatible. They include an infant seat (that has a detachable base and goes to 30 lbs!), a LATCH version of their ubiquitous Roundabout convertible seat, and other convertible seats (including one that goes to about 65 lbs). They're expensive but a lot of people think they're welll worth it.

Generally, installing a car seat in the center position is the safest. This keeps it away from side impacts. I'm not sure if a LATCH seat can straddle the two outboard LATCH pairs, it would depend on the seat design and width between the two inner LATCH points (and probably prevent another LATCH seat from being used).

Some folks are nervous about installing a rear-facing seat in the center position because they fear the armrest coming down and hitting the infant. That's a decision each parent should make individually, based on their vehicle, their seat, and their comfort level. Many infant seats have a lip so high that a flapping-down armrest simply can't contact the infant. And, side impacts favor the center position more than the outboard positions.

That aforementioned upcoming Britax infant seat has a solution -- a unique "stabilizer bar" that is designed to keep the rear-facing seat from a rebound toward the back. I'd imagine that bar would also keep an armrest in the tucked position too.

http://www.childseat.org/whats_new/wne_detail.cfm?wne_id=29

 

[RedRockPearl]

I had my grandson's seat in the middle of the second row. I used all three second row seatbelts in anchoring the seat. Talk about safe! However, his feet "rested" on the rear air vents and a few little kicks mashed them in. He's now in the third row and I have a tether kit ordered so I can put him in the middle.

RRP

 

[Kit_C]

We use a Britax Roundabout forward facing carseat for our 2 year old daughter, installed in the second row middle position. We used a LATCH adapter (instead of the roof mounted shoulder harness) to attach the base of the carseat to the inboard LATCH points, and restrained the top of the seat by connecting the provided tether to the middle hook on the back of the second row seats.

The latch adapter is essentially a short length of seat belt webbing, with a clip at either end. The one we used was for a Graco/Century carseat, but it it a very generic part:

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000062TQK/qid=1026147601/ref=sr_11_0_1/104-6815688-5186344>

Contrary to the bad review at the provided link, it works great.

I'd love to move the car seat to one of the outside positions to make it easier to load up and to allow access to the center console, but She Who Must Be Obeyed says no, and is probably right.

Kit
San Diego, CA

 

[Dano]

I have a Cosco convertible seat with a Latch adapter. It sits perfectly in the middle position and the LATCH system works fine. Just use the inboard latch hooks from the outboard seats. The car seat is now so secure it's scary. So glad I got the adapters.

 

[Giralda]

Britax Carseat and LATCH adaptor

I saw that Kit_C installed the Britax Roundabout with a generic LATCH adaptor. Browsing the Britax website, I noted that they do not recommend using adaptors from other manufacturers. Does anyone know if Britax offers their own LATCH adaptors?

 

[Giralda]

Britax Carseat and LATCH adaptor, Part 2

I think I answered my previous question. I looked on Britax's website and found the below Q&A regarding the use of non-Britax retro-fit adaptors with a non-LATCH Britax convertible car seat.

I also read that Britax does not currently have a retro-fit kit available. I will call them tomorrow to see if they have any plans to do so in the near future. I personally would much rather have my 20-month old sit in the center of the 2nd row and not have to use the stupid lap belt that sticks out from the ceiling.

From britaxusa.com's FAQs
Q. Can I use a retrofit kit from a different manufacturer on my child seat? It seems to work just fine.

A. Absolutely not! The design of the system and angles of attachment could be different enough to cause crash loads that would break the system. Never mix parts from one manufacturer's product to another regardless of how similar they might look.