Car Seat Center

Installed Car Seat - Middle

Today, I posted a question to my friends about which side of the car to install a rear facing infant seat. I got back several great answers.

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GE: Seems from experience that it would be easier to reach the kid while driving if it is on the passenger side. Also would put you typically on the curb side for loading/unloading. All that said, I don't know why ours is on the driver's side. Maybe Jill had a reason for it.

BP: The argument for putting the kid on the driver side is that you instinctively protect that side because it's the side you're on. So if safety is your goal, driver's side it is. For convenience sake, and for getting in and out curbside, the passenger side makes more sense. Or you could just put it in the middle and have done.

MM: I was always told the middle was best when I had kids. See if the NTSB has a recomendation.

AH: I prefer the driver's side because I don't have to walk around the car to get it out. Plus, taking it out on the curb side seems like a good idea until winter when large snowbanks get in the way. I suppose if you put it in the middle you can get it out of either side depending on the situation.

LH: Middle is usually safest. And you can easily reach back from either front seat.

SR: Yah! We put ours on the passenger side, so we could reach bottle back to her. We had a Jeep Commander when she was born, and I couldn't get her into the middle.
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Because all of those answers seemed good and well thought out to me, I went back to the great oracle: the internet. The reason that I asked the question in the first place was that it seemed there were several good sites and videos for how to install a car seat correctly, but not one of them made any suggestions as to which side was best, safest, or legal.

Then, I finally found an article, "Safest Spot for Baby's Car Seat?," at the WebMD of all places. So, if we can manage it, we'll keep our seat center.

Thanks again everyone.

Thanks again all-mighty internet.