Baby Seat options D1

TexasTJ

Climbing Nerd
My Wife and I are having a baby in a February. Were looking for baby seat for the Discovery, 99 series 1. This is out camping truck and see a lot of back roads. We want a baby seat that will perform well in offroad situations. Not hardcore rock crawling but definitely some bouncy road so we need something to keep the pure little one from getting shaken baby syndrome. Any good options out there.

Nate
 

Ray_G

Explorer
I would suggest going with Britax, was very happy with their seat(s) for my girls as they grew up in my Disco 1(s).
r-
Ray
 

jscusmcvet

Explorer
Congrats on the baby on the way!

The only seat input I have is to pass on info from a doc that I have wheeled with on occasion. He says to avoid wheeling with any child under 2 or 3 since their heads are so big in comparison to their bodies. It is hard for them to control that big grape.

Best wishes for a healthy baby and mother...

John
 
Congrats on the kid, they really change your life. My 3rd kid is 14 months and I wouldn't have any worry about taking him on a bumpy road, much younger and I'd have to agree with John's advice. Basically any child that can't sit in a forward facing seat shouldn't be bouncing along a dirt path.
 

dcwhybrew

Adventurer
Sounds like sound advice from the two previous posters saying hold off for two-three years. However, we used a Graco seat with the base (so you can detach the carrier out of the base and leave the base in the seat). It worked great. I secured it with both the LATCH clips and the seatbelt. If I remember correctly, if you put the seat in the center you can attach the LATCH clips to the seat belt rings behind the seat on the floor. Then I ran the center seat belt (or the side seatbelt using the retaining bracket/clip/ring - whatever it is called) and that held the seat very tight and stable.

We did take our 4 or 5 month old (at the time) on a trip up Wheeler Pass just outside of Vegas. It wasn't a smooth drive up, but it wasn't extreme either. Whe had also bought those little pillows that attach to the shoulder harness which helps keep their head stable.

Again though, holding off on wheeling with the baby sounds like good advice though. Congrats on the new edition.
 

Nonimouse

Cynical old bastard
We have another due in early November - not sure how that happened!

I'm particularly partial to Graco. All the stuff we had for our four year old is still good. We have an 'upto six months' forward and rear facing with the extra support legs, then a couple of 6 month onward forward facing; then we moved on to the booster seat with adjustable back/side support.

With our oldest we used Britax and found that to be very good
 

LR Max

Local Oaf
I've been told by many parents (I'm the only single guy here at the office) that the fire department is more than willing to install a car seat for you. From what I've been told, they are pretty darn good at it too, getting that sucker in there and uber secured. Some people have complained that you can't get the darn thing back out again! Overall this seems like an OK problem to have when it comes to car seats and childrens safety. So its probably worthwhile to check with your local FD to see if they'll do it for you.

I've seen many Recaro ones on the trails. Seem to be popular with a lot of the off road crowd.

That is all I have to contribute. Hope it helps.
 

dcwhybrew

Adventurer
Nate, one other piece of advice...keep your baby (child) in a car seat as long as possible, and do the research on which ones are best. And pay the money. Don't go to Wally World and just pick up the cheapest. I believe it was discoweb.org, or some other LR website that I read a post by a guy who linked to a web posting by a father who lost his child in an accident. The child was a toddler and was in one of those booster seats in mini van with the mom. They got hit on the side (not sure which side) and the kid died even though the kid was restrained. The father's advice was, find the highest weight rated upright seat that is rated for side impact protection (which they all seem to be these days), and keep your kid in it. My 6 yr old daughters is rated for 80 pounds. She only weighs 45 or so in the first grade. She doesnt like it because her friends get to sit in the "cool" booster seats. I dont use the 5 point harness anymore because she grew out of it, but she's definitely more secure in that seat than those flimsy booster seats. Protect your kid and dont skimp on quality.

Just my $0.02
 

bigreen505

Expedition Leader
For a newborn or close to it (i.e. rear facing) I have been happy with Graco, but avoid the ones with the adjustable base as they really are not safe. For forward facing, either Brittax or Recaro. No personal experience with the Recaro, but several friends here are happy with them.
 

SCRover

Adventurer
Congrats on the pending arrival of your fruit! Cool to hear you're already thinking of getting the babe right into rovering, but I would definitely follow the above advice concerning taking a newb on the trails.

Britax is consistently ranked at the top or near it. There are several models available and, other than the Graco Snug-ride we used for our first child when he was a freshy, Britax is all we use. Specifically, we've had good luck with the Roundabout, Marathon and Frontier. Pretty sure we've used another,too, but can't recall the name. I, too, have heard good things about Recaro, but I believe their seats perform better for toddlers and up.

With respect to your D1, your child will, of course, sit rear-facing. My wife and I had a D1 when our first was born. We had to put him in the middle of the rear seat because the car seat did not fit behind either of ours - we're fairly tall. When the second child came, the D1 went by the way side, simply not enough room.

I completely agree with keeping your kids in car seats as long as possible. We have/do, despite the grumblings from the older two. Is it better to hear regular complaints or have empty seats behind you?

Best of luck in the coming months!
 

spikemd

Explorer
We have Britax and Sunshine Kids. The Britax is great for one kid, but when your family starts expanding. They are just too wide to fit more than two across the back seat of even a full-size truck. We went with Sunshine Kids for the next two carseats which have just as high safetey ratings, but they are narrower at the base. The Britax flare out at the base so you can't fit three across any vehicle. The flare-out doesn't add any further saftey to the carseats. The Sunshine kids also fold flat, which makes transporting them in luggage easy. They are also approved by the FAA for inflight seats if you take your little one on a plane. Just have to buy an extra seat for it. With the Sunshine Kids, we have all three car seats fitting across the back of the 4Runner or Range Rover.

Also, it you juse have one, the middle of the back seat is the safest, though more inconvenient. I have taken my two of my little ones, both when they were under three, on the White Rim trail and they loved it. In fact, they slept a good portion of the time, just bouncing around back there. I had no issues with safety since we were going very slow, especially over the rocky sections.


The most important aspect for safety is correct installation and the child properly belted in without too much slack int he child straps.

If your truck doesn't have built-in carseat latches, which I am sure the D1 does not, pull the seat belt all the way out and then slowly let it retract. You will hear a distinct clicking as it retracts in. Get the carseat all belted in properly and then take out all the slack in the seatbelt.By pulling it all the way out, you are locking the seatbelt in so there is no slack and it remains taut. It you don't do this, there is slack before the belt tightens and you won't be able to properly install the carseat.

Congrats and good luck.
 

TexasTJ

Climbing Nerd
Congrats on the pending arrival of your fruit! Cool to hear you're already thinking of getting the babe right into rovering, but I would definitely follow the above advice concerning taking a newb on the trails.

Wife said we could talk the Baby Home in the Rover! :)

thanks for the info on the install!


Spikemd We will look into the Sunshine Kids seat too! thanks
 

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