# Installing Two Carseats in a 99 Corolla



## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Sorry because I know this MUST have been asked, but the search function on this site is so weak, so I could not find the answer. My question is, what is the safest way to install two carseats, one forward-facing (for a 2.5-year-old over 35 lbs) and one rear-facing (for a newborn still inside of mommy, this is just to get it over with).

My issue is, although I'd LIKE to put the RF carseat in the middle in the back, the '99 Corolla has a "bump" there that makes it really, really, REEEEAAAALLLY hard to install a carseat tightly.

In addition, I'm concerned about the under-three trying to give things to the baby. Right now she can sometimes remember not to give nuts or other food items to her cousin, but not always. And yet, snacking in the car is a big way to keep her occupied. (And yes, I know she should not be snacking or eating in the car, ever, anyway, but we do snack when not on the freeway and it's a risk we just take in order to keep mommy from driving us all off a cliff, at least, metaphorically.)

Plus it's not only snacks but the small but real chance she could give something else to the baby. Like her sunglasses or a crayon. Or hit the baby with, say, her notepad. Of course she could throw something across the seat anyway but that's less likely.

She sounds really aggressive but really she is a very sweet child, it's just that she IS two and these things do come up very occasionally.

What do you do? Do you have them both on the sides? If so, is one side better for the infant?

Cheers!


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

The least protected child should go in the most protected spot, so in this case the FF toddler would be best in the middle with the RF infant outboard. But, sometimes it is inevitable for them both to be outboard, which is completely and utterly fine


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## sunnymw (Feb 28, 2007)

Do you think you're going to need to hand stuff back to you 2yo? Or that your 2yo needs to see you to not freak out? Can your 2yo put a paci in baby's mouth or do you need to reach back (to the pass. side) and do that at a red light on occasion?

The safety difference between drivers' side and passenger side is marginal. So which kid goes where is really all about preference. I Have 2.5yo behind drivers' side and 8mo behind passenger side, but only because DS1's seat can be really upright (rfing) and DH wants more leg room


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## RunnerDuck (Sep 12, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EdnaMarie* 
She sounds really aggressive but really she is a very sweet child,

No, she sounds like a normal kid.









Just my humble opinion but - The center is safest for an infant, all other things being equal - but sometimes all other things aren't equal. Sometimes you have another kid to consider, sometimes you have a car that doesn't like you to put someone in the middle.

If the back seat of your car is too small to allow 3 across - is there LATCH in all 3 places?? - then - this is just my opinion again - but one in the middle and one on the side may be too close together - and I wonder if, in an accident, the kid on the side is in MORE danger should he get hit because instead of being shoved to the side (into nothing) he is pressed tight into the other kid? Don't know if there is any truth to that but that is what I wonder.

A car seat properly installed on the side is probably safer than a car seat made to do in the center.

I think given your situation I'd put one on either side. Sounds like it will fit better, plus in and out will be easier for you. I don't know that either side is safer or better for the infant, though - I can think of pros and cons either way. But I do know the one time I was hit from the side, it was the passenger side - seems to me accidents might be slightly more likely to happen on that side?

FWIW - I have twins - so someone, obviously, had to go on the side as an infant. You make do.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I would do one one on either side. It's just easier to not deal with the drama of the older bugging the younger. I put my rfing child behind the passenger because the seat has to be further forward to accomidate a rfing seat.


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## prettymatty (Feb 2, 2009)

I think that because your car does have that bump in the middle it wouldn't make for a proper installation on any seat in the middle. I would take it to the closest firehall or research where in your area they do carseat checks and find out from a professional just to be on the safe side.


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Quote:

The center is safest for an infant, all other things being equal - but sometimes all other things aren't equal. Sometimes you have another kid to consider, sometimes you have a car that doesn't like you to put someone in the middle.
Well thanks so much to all of you for your advice. Lots of good stuff here. You CAN install a car-seat in the middle properly, but it takes two people to get it tight enough (one sitting on the carseat and one pulling the belt, rinse, repeat), and you need to put an anti-slip pad (bath mat) in there and you also need to use LATCH instead of the belt.

You could definitely fit two buckets and a booster in my car. It would be tight, but possible. My cousin has a similar car with three in the back.

The two-year-old will be able to manage even if she can't see me but it is nice to be able to hand her stuff. But we could manage with her on either side if necessary.

I think I will do as suggested and put the new booster (the two y.o. is really excited about her fancy booster with a cup holder, but now she MUST have a cup in it







) for the older child behind me and the infant seat behind the passenger seat, and then maybe get these checked by a car-seat tech here to make sure.

Thanks again!


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I'm assuming for a 2 yo it's a harnessed booster?


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## sunnymw (Feb 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DahliaRW* 
I'm assuming for a 2 yo it's a harnessed booster?









:


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Harnessed booster? It's a convertible Cosco Alpha Omega Elite. I installed it today and it doesn't move even 1/8th of an inch, not even 1/16th of an inch, not a bit. She is (or rather, will be) still using it as a FF carseat, not as a booster per se.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

How are you using LATCH in a 1999 car?


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Aurora- uh, the latches? The car has metal bars in the seats just like in the pictures in the instruction manual...

ETA:

Okay, I looked this up assuming that everyone here knows more about these cars and seats than me, and what I can tell you is that I have these little metal hooks down in the seats where you would hook the latches in. They don't stick out of the seat like I saw in some pictures- you have to stick your hand in there but they are secure. Is it possible that these are something OTHER than latches??? Anyway I use the seat-belts when the seats are outboard. As it is, because I have not had two until now and because she's been FF, I have been able to use the seat-belt up until now with her on the side. We got the car just 6 months ago so it's not like she was an infant in that position.

Hmmmm.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

LATCH started in 2002, in some cars as early as 2001.


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## lasciate (May 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *an_aurora* 
LATCH started in 2002, in some cars as early as 2001.

It became required in all cars in 2002, but it was around a few years before that in certain models.


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

It says online (I looked after Aurora's post) that there is LATCH in 1999, but only rear tethers, which would indicate that whatever I have in my car is not LATCH but... some other system... for what, I cannot imagine.

Thanks for alerting me to that. If it was not standard tested I really prefer to use the seat belts anyway. Cheers.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lasciate* 
It became required in all cars in 2002, but it was around a few years before that in certain models.

Yes, that's why I stated in some cars it was started in 2001.







It was mandated in Sept 2002 but some manufacturers started a few months early. My 2001 has LATCH.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EdnaMarie* 
It says online (I looked after Aurora's post) that there is LATCH in 1999, but only rear tethers, which would indicate that whatever I have in my car is not LATCH but... some other system... for what, I cannot imagine.

Thanks for alerting me to that. If it was not standard tested I really prefer to use the seat belts anyway. Cheers.


Yep, it's not LATCH







You do have top tethers, just not lower anchors (LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren, so the full set was not started for a couple years after your car was made).


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

No, I do NOT have top tethers. That is the bizarre thing. I would have understood that because they do mention top tethers in '99 cars. I have anchors on the bottom, in the seats, where the seat belts are. Maybe these are some sort of proto-LATCH system or God knows. It is hard to say and I can't find anything on the net about it.

They are these metal hooks, shaped like LATCH latches in the pictures, but more rounded, right where the seat-belts are. So you can install a car seat using its LATCH belt attached to these and it feels really secure, but on the other hand, since I don't know what those metal hooks are attached to, I guess there is no way to tell.


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## thixle (Sep 26, 2007)

:
We have the same car, and a similar situation (DD1 is 3.5, 36lbs, FF convertible; DD2 4 mos, RF, soon to be in a TrueFit). Right now, DD1 is on passenger side, DD2 is in a bucket in the middle- lot of work to get it in "securely."

I checked the owner's manual to the car and it only shows tethers at the top (they have to be retrofitted, though)... I can't wait to check out the seatbelt "latch-like" spots. (dh has the car right now)


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I would not use those spots, though. You don't know what pressure they could withstand in an accident and may not be secure at all.


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Yeah, I would not have used them if I had known that they were not really tested or intended as a LATCH system. They might be for something else entirely. Now I am extra glad I came here because I would have tried to use them.

Lucky that you can put the RF in the middle, thixle. It's so much easier to work with a 3.5 yo than with a 2.5 yo.


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## Jes'sBeth (Aug 30, 2004)

LATCH has been around for awhile and your car manual will tell you if what you have your seat hooked up to is LATCH or not! If it's not you need to do seatbelt installs but your car manual will tell you what you need to do.

As for the middle vs outboard (side) thing... I could never get a good install in the middle position in my 99 Tercel because of the hump thing. We've used outboard the whole time. A properly installed seat is BY FAR safer than an incorrectly installed seat in the 'safer' position. Since most collisions are at the front then front corners then back the middle back is only safer in the least frequent collisions (side impact) and even then you are looking at a pretty bad crash when you're talking about something hitting the carseat from the side when it's inside.

I'd go with both seats outboard. I have our FF 4 yr old behind the driver and my 11 mth old RF behind the passenger seat. RF behind the driver doesn't leave enough space in my car.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

LATCh is a complete system, so if you have no top tether anchors you most definitley don't have lower anchors. In a 1999 car, it's not LATCh, it's just random pieces of metal


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Yeah... I mean it is not totally random, they are strategically placed, but clearly not LATCH. Now I know.


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