2010 vs. rear facing infant car seat.

Congratulations! :thumb: :baby:

Can't speak about rear facing child seats in the Prius...but I do know that some of those rear facing seats can get quite big.

If I remember back I think I moved the passenger seat forward a touch in my RAV, to make room for the rear facing seat.

Anyway, well done to you all.

 

Congratulations.

 

You always have less room with rear-facing car seats than front-facing. You'll gain a lot more room when you turn it around in one year. We had Graco Snugride which doesn't take up that much room and I still had to shift the front passenger seat forward.

Congrats.

 

Congrats! Wait 'till you get a convertible carseat; many take up even more room when used rear-facing. Some infant seats are a little shorter than others. Also, many now also allow you to leave the handle up while in the car. Some others require you to rotate it back, taking up even more room. Sometimes, installing the carseat in the middle will give you a bit more room between the front seats, though it is more difficult to load and unload and you also can't technically use LATCH there in the Prius.

On the plus side, rear-facing the safest way to travel- Keep your baby rear facing as long as possible!

 

Not to mention that the middle of the rear seat is the safest position.

 

Congratulations!

We also have a rear-facing infant car seat in our V -- snug ride 32. We have no problems fitting it into our V. Did you adjust the seat handle all the way down? What brand/model seat do you have?

 

I was just going to mention the middle position myself, not necessarily for the safety but for the space issues. It allows you to take advantage of the gap between front seats.

Congratulations, NIN1024!

 

Rear facing car seats are a snug fit an every vehicle except the largest of sedans (like my '95 Impala SS) or a mini van. And Congrats on the new baby.

 

Congrats! With our first child I'd definitely recommend putting the seat in the middle of the rear - that way you can even fit two small adults on either side in a pinch.

With our second, that wasn't an option any more, so we put him on the passenger side.

While it was a snug fit on our 2008, it wasn't too bad for the front passenger as long as they're not huge (I'm 6' 180lbs and while snug, just barely fit in the front when needed) and we have a pretty large Britax Boulevard.

 

Hi-Congrats on the baby...Our son just turned one on 8/28/09. I agree with the others that the rear facing infant seats are a snug fit, pretty much no matter the vehicle. We used to have a Peg Perego Primo Viaggo installed in our FX35 and it was a very tight fit in there. (I believe the Prius actually has more space/makes better use of the space than our FX35). By the time we got the Prius, he was in a full size Britax Marathon rear facing. In my opinion, it fits great in the back of the Prius. We still haven't turned him forward as he hasn't reached 20 lbs yet, but it does fit rear facing. You just have to keep the seat in the front pretty forward. Good luck.

 

The middle of the rear seat is safest because it is almost in the exact center of the car. Next is the rear seat on the passenger side. There are more side impact crashes on the drivers side because when you start to pull out into an intersection that is the direction the closest lanes are coming from.

 

Note that the 2010 Prius only has LATCH on the outboard back seats. Do not use LATCH to secure a carseat in the center. You physically can hook it up in the center using LATCH by using the inner hooks from each side, but this is not recommended and could fail during a crash. The Prius owner's manual mentions this and this is a common issue on lots of cars (at least on our Prius and our Subaru and the child safety seat owner's manuals warn about it).

Edit: Oh yeah, congratulations!

 

As SmellyPup stated, the Prius is not equipped to handle a center car seat. The latches are made only for right or left placement. Placement in the middle is completely unsafe, not to mention illegal!

We use a Graco rear facing seat. We have the front passenger seat up a good ways to fit it. Luckily, my wife is 5'0" but it's not comfortable for me.

Steve

 

I can say with certainty one will fit in the middle. I'm surprised at 6,1" you need the driver's seat so far back that it won't fit, though.

Latch is fine but you can cinch a car seat down using the "click" mechanism in all seat belts just fine. It may take a bit longer but is perfectly safe.

Are you sure? Many cars without latch still have the click seatbelts--pull the seatbelt out ALL the way and then let it in slowly and it will click and not let you pull it out again--this is built for car seats. I don't know if the center has that or not but I assume it does.

Otherwise a car seat I got 5-6 years ago had some clip thing that worked even in cars without that clicking. I would be very surprised if it's illegal to center-mount a car seat in a Gen 3 prius.

 

Unless otherwise noted in the owners manual, Toyota generally does not allow you to "borrow" the inside anchors from the outer seating positions in order to install a child safety seat with LATCH in the center seating position. Beyond that, it is perfectly legal and safe to install a child seat in the center using the seatbelt, provided you can get an acceptable fit. I posted a video today of such an installation in the 2010 Prius-

Graco Nautilus Elite: First Look Review

Virtually all rear seatbelts in passenger vehicles since 1996 should have a locking feature for child seat installation. Most Toyotas do this in the retractor, others, like Chrysler, often accomplish this in the latchplate. For vehicles before then, a locking clip accessory may be used with some types of seatbelts that do not provide a locking mechanism. Other types of seatbelts may need a heavy duty clip or may not be compatible with child safety seats at all.

 

My convertible seat almost didn't fit because the straps just barely made it to the LATCH locations. Otherwise I don't have much trouble with it, but with the kind you have, definitely have to have the handle up.
Our little guy is 9 months tomorrow, I remember those first days when using the car seat!

 

Ironically, I found the Prius' rear seat is breeze to put our Rear Facing Graco Safety Seat in. In fact, it's way easier because the rear door opens much wider than my 96 Impala SS. I just move the front seat foward, and the rear has the leg room that matches S-Class Mercedes.