where to put infant carseat?

[Anonymous]

I know carseats are supposed to be rear facing in the back seat, but are they supposed to be installed in the middle seat in the back? Or can you put it behind the passenger's seat?

[Anonymous]

Debate is out as to the safest place. I had the fire department insall mine (Montgomery County) and they said with first child and one carseat that the middle is the safest and passenger side is the most dangerous. Passenger side theory is that the most likely impact would be from making a left turn and being side swiped on the passenger side. Again I think it is a theory. I am not expecting baby #2 and we have installed older child behind drive and younger behind passenger. I put younger behind passenger because you spend a lot of time with one arm back holding a bottle/pacy/or just patting. Just my two cents-

[Anonymous]

I just read in Parents magazine that the infant seat should be in the middle, because there is a 43% higher chance of injury from an accident if the carseat is on the side rather than the middle. I think this must be a relatively new finding, because I had never heard that when my first was an infant.

[Anonymous]

I just had my infant car seat installed at the D.C. inspection station and they also said that the middle was the safest place. They did say, however, that in some car models, it is difficult to get the seat as flush and tight as possible in the middle, and in that case, the car seat should be placed behind the driver.

I have also heard that, if there are two car seats in the backseat, the infant should be placed behind the driver seat and the older child behind the passenger seat. I think it's fairly well-recognized that the passenger side is the most dangerous and therefore it's better for the baby (who lacks head control, etc.) to be behind the driver.

[Anonymous]

Ours didn't fit in the middle, so we installed it behind the passenger seat. We have an old car.