cdperlov Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 I absolutely love my Ford Edge....however, I have just learned that I can not install my son's front facing car seat in the middle of the back seat!!! The headrest on the middle seat in the back is attached and does not allow the car seat to sit flush with the back seat. I have contacted FORD to inquire if the headrest in the middle of the back seat(which is attached to the drop down armrest) can be removed so I can place my child in the safest position in the car...which is the middle of the back seat. They will not remove the part due to safety concerns. My only options are to place my child's carseat in the back on the side next to the door. I have an extreme objection to this and traded cars with my husband. I miss my Edge and would like any advise or options to install the carseat in the middle of the back seat. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradywhite Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 I absolutely love my Ford Edge....however, I have just learned that I can not install my son's front facing car seat in the middle of the back seat!!! The headrest on the middle seat in the back is attached and does not allow the car seat to sit flush with the back seat. I have contacted FORD to inquire if the headrest in the middle of the back seat(which is attached to the drop down armrest) can be removed so I can place my child in the safest position in the car...which is the middle of the back seat. They will not remove the part due to safety concerns. My only options are to place my child's carseat in the back on the side next to the door. I have an extreme objection to this and traded cars with my husband. I miss my Edge and would like any advise or options to install the carseat in the middle of the back seat. Any suggestions? Here is a possible fix. Have your husband to make a spacer to go behind the car seat. Take a 2x12 and cut two lenghts that go from the base of teh seat to just below the head rest. Screw these two boards together. Then cover these board spacer with fabric to match your interior. Of course you would want to be sure that the car seat is still secure and safe. You could even add secure the boards against teh center drop down section with a strap to keep it from sliding from side to side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdperlov Posted September 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Here is a possible fix. Have your husband to make a spacer to go behind the car seat. Take a 2x12 and cut two lenghts that go from the base of teh seat to just below the head rest. Screw these two boards together. Then cover these board spacer with fabric to match your interior. Of course you would want to be sure that the car seat is still secure and safe. You could even add secure the boards against teh center drop down section with a strap to keep it from sliding from side to side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdperlov Posted September 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Thanks for your reply. Definitely a possible solution to consider. Will have to see how the spacer boards will be secured to ensure safety for my little one! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorporateEdge Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 It is unfortunate but the Edge is not child seat friendly in any fashion. The recessed seat belts make it hard/awkward for children in booster seats to fasten their seat belts (some adults have a hard time finding the latch also). That said, our two kids have been riding in the Edge since we got it with no problems. Yes, the middle of the car is the optimum place for a single car seat but I have yet to hear of a fatality in an Edge due to the location of a child car seat. The vast majority of accidents happen in the front/rear zones so the odds are in your childs favour any where in the back seat. The spacer is a fine idea but with two small children, it isn't an issue for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradywhite Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Thanks for your reply. Definitely a possible solution to consider. Will have to see how the spacer boards will be secured to ensure safety for my little one! Thanks! Of course safety of the little ones is top priority. We actually don't have kids and I haven't dealt with car seats. My solution was conceived with my engineer hat on and not a parent hat. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 (edited) I absolutely love my Ford Edge....however, I have just learned that I can not install my son's front facing car seat in the middle of the back seat!!! The headrest on the middle seat in the back is attached and does not allow the car seat to sit flush with the back seat. I have contacted FORD to inquire if the headrest in the middle of the back seat(which is attached to the drop down armrest) can be removed so I can place my child in the safest position in the car...which is the middle of the back seat. They will not remove the part due to safety concerns. My only options are to place my child's carseat in the back on the side next to the door. I have an extreme objection to this and traded cars with my husband. I miss my Edge and would like any advise or options to install the carseat in the middle of the back seat. Any suggestions? Hi cdperlov. :D I went to the Ford website to take a look at the back seat pictures, so I could try to get a better idea of the problem you are describing. In looking at those pictures, I truly believe that the car seat can be safely installed in the middle position. While it is good that you were cautious, I think there is no reason it can not be installed there. Using the LATCH System strap/straps, a properly tightened seat installed in that middle position should still be solid as a rock. I am curious, does the Edge Owners Manual address the question of child seat installation in the middle position? EDIT - I took a look at the Edge Owners Manual. There are LATCH System anchors and top tether anchors for the center rear position. There are specific instructions in the Owners Manual concerning what type of child seats can/can not be installed in that center position. Take a look at your Manual and see if your seat is one of them. However, I would not expect you to simply take the word of a stranger (me) on the Internet concerning this situation, so I would recommend the following: Many (if not most) Police Departments offer instruction on how to safely install child car seats. They usually have at least one officer who has taken a certification course in child car seat installation. Call you local Police Department and inquire as to what you need to do to register for an appointment to have your seat installed. When you take the vehicle in, you can express your concerns about the middle position. If your local Police Department does not offer the service, give your State Police Department a call. You can also check with your towns Public Safety Department. I am hopeful that at least one of them would offer the service. But again, in my opinion you should have no problem and no worries if you were to install the seat in the middle position. And if you were wondering, yes I have installed several car seats in the last few (7) years. I am always called on to properly read the directions and install seats for my nieces and nephews (sisters twins, brother-in-laws daughter and sister-in-laws son). Starting with rear facing and moving on to front facing I am at 8 different seats and counting as they have grown. And that is just the number of different seats. Actual multiple re-installations of the same seats due to switching them back and forth between different cars probably has me at 20 installations all together. Isn't family great!? Give your Police Department a call and see if they can help you. If none of these options work, you can always try what gradywhite suggested. And this last part is just my opinion (as an FYI): If the center position can not be used "as is", I think gradywhite had a great idea. However, if it were me I think I would feel safer having my child in a secure outboard position as opposed to the center position with a jury rigged support system (no matter how well constructed it may be). Again, this part is just my opinion. Good luck. :beerchug: Edited September 9, 2008 by bbf2530 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chingon Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Just wanted to bump this thread. Our son finally arrived and we realized that even a rear-facing carseat base (at least ours) cannot be safely secured to the center position. I'm 200 lbs and couldn't get the belt tight enough there due to the latch positions. I just moved it over to the passenger side after fighting for 5 minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgieguy Posted October 22, 2011 Report Share Posted October 22, 2011 Had our first sons car seat installed in our 2008 Edge in the center without any problems. Once we had our second they each got a side. Just FYI as a police officer, I don't know a single department that doesn't offer child seat installation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) I got a Chicco KeyFit base in the center as well as a Britax Boulevard CS. Both took some adjustments and shims underneath to get it to the proper level but was find once in place. Now the we have the Britax on the side since he is just too heavy to try to get him in the center position. I haven't tried forward facing yet but if you are having issues because the car seat is tall (like the Britax) then maybe look at removing the center armrest. The headrest is attached to that so if you can get it out relatively easily I would think that would be the preferred method. But as many have suggested have your local PD give it a check....there are a ton of Edges on the road so chances are they have done a few. Edited October 24, 2011 by wlepse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlong Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) I hear pool noodles work great as spacers. I have 2 kids one in a rear facing and one in a front facing car seat. I don't have any problems getting the seats to mount correctly on either side, never tried the middle though. The fact that the rear seats recline makes it real easy to get the car seats in the correct position. Edited October 24, 2011 by jlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 The fact that the rear seats recline makes it real easy to get the car seats in the correct position. +1 Found this to be great for the little guy, gives him more leg room and since they now recommend rear facing until 2yrs we have a better shot at keeping him rear facing longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenpridgen Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Hi everyone! I'm a first time mom and I havea 2011 Ford Edge. I have recently bought my daughter a Britax Advocate car sear, its for rear and forward facing. The britax requires that you use a tether for rear & forward facing. I am having a hard time finding a spot to attach the rear facing tether. PLEASE HELP!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 I wasn't able to find a legit one but did something that should be better than nothing. Our Britax came with a strap that had a connector on one end and a loop sewn into the other. I took that strap and loped it around the seat support then connected the tether. Not ideal but worked for us for several months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 It goes under the carseat, between the back and butt cushions, and hooks on the anchor on the back of the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 It goes under the carseat, between the back and butt cushions, and hooks on the anchor on the back of the seat. Pretty sure that only works for forward facing...don't think the strap could make it that far and even if it did going under the car seat you wouldn't be able to adjust it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Here's the owners manual. Look at Page 16. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britaxusa.com%2Fuploads%2Fcms%2Ffile%2FAdvocateCS_P363400_R1.pdf&ei=dzi4T7U9hpbyBI75hdUK&usg=AFQjCNFsaw0Lon2aiLAJsP7XlgWV30Vklg Edited May 20, 2012 by Dingo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Here's the owners manual. Look at Page 16. http://www.google.co...JsP7XlgWV30Vklg Dingo what you are referring to its the latch point not the tether points. As far as I know the Edge only has tether points on the back of the rear seats. If you look at page 30 of the pdf you linked you'll see what I am talking about. While they do show you can use the rear tether for rear facing good luck getting a kid in and out of the seat with all those straps in the way. On page 31 it does show the strap I was referring to and how to use it. On the Audi I had this wrapped around the rail supporting the front seat on the Edge I wrapped it around the bottom of the rear seat support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20Edge11 Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 SO, when you have a car seat on either side, how much space is left in the middle? Is it useable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Sure useable depends on what car seat, who is sitting back there and for how long. I can tell you that with a Britax Boulevard 70CS mounted on the side you can still get the armrest down. I didn't measure but would guess there is about an inch clearance. So someone could sit there but don't think it would be super comfy, especially since the car seat sides are somewhat unforgiving. But if you are just looking to take a few guys from the office to lunch you should be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkus Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hi everyone! I'm a first time mom and I havea 2011 Ford Edge. I have recently bought my daughter a Britax Advocate car sear, its for rear and forward facing. The britax requires that you use a tether for rear & forward facing. I am having a hard time finding a spot to attach the rear facing tether. PLEASE HELP!!!!! We have the same problem. Previously we had rear facing Britax B-Safe Infant Car Seat placed on the passanger side of the back seat and we didn't have any problems. Now our son is too big for that seat and we had to buy bigger car seat (Britax Marathon 70-G3 Convertible). I tried to put car seat on the same place than before and follow the instuctions. We still wanted to keep rear facing installation. I tried to use tethering spots on the trunk, but then we were not able to get our son in the seat, because the tethering starps were in the way. There is no "official" tethering spots below the rear seat, so I just fastened the strap on the horizontal support structure of the rear seat (below the seat). That structure didn't feel very solid, but I still think that it was the best way to tether the seat. What do you think? BTW, I noticed that base of the old car seat streched the leather seat quite a bit and lower anchors also made the seat look pretty bad. I hope that leather will recover when car seat is removed. Are there any tricks how to make car seat look new again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richy Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 It is unfortunate but the Edge is not child seat friendly in any fashion. The recessed seat belts make it hard/awkward for children in booster seats to fasten their seat belts (some adults have a hard time finding the latch also). That said, our two kids have been riding in the Edge since we got it with no problems. Yes, the middle of the car is the optimum place for a single car seat but I have yet to hear of a fatality in an Edge due to the location of a child car seat. The vast majority of accidents happen in the front/rear zones so the odds are in your childs favour any where in the back seat. The spacer is a fine idea but with two small children, it isn't an issue for us. I am a level 4 Collision Reconstructionist. I had a case where it was a rear facing infant carrier that was in the middle position in the rear of a small compact car. The car got struck from the side by an 18 wheeler running about a 10 second old red light at a high rate of speed. The crush into the passenger compartment came all the way to the middle. Had that child been on the outboard position, it would have been a fatality. Centre is best if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richy Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 We have the same problem. Previously we had rear facing Britax B-Safe Infant Car Seat placed on the passanger side of the back seat and we didn't have any problems. Now our son is too big for that seat and we had to buy bigger car seat (Britax Marathon 70-G3 Convertible). I tried to put car seat on the same place than before and follow the instuctions. We still wanted to keep rear facing installation. I tried to use tethering spots on the trunk, but then we were not able to get our son in the seat, because the tethering starps were in the way. There is no "official" tethering spots below the rear seat, so I just fastened the strap on the horizontal support structure of the rear seat (below the seat). That structure didn't feel very solid, but I still think that it was the best way to tether the seat. What do you think? BTW, I noticed that base of the old car seat streched the leather seat quite a bit and lower anchors also made the seat look pretty bad. I hope that leather will recover when car seat is removed. Are there any tricks how to make car seat look new again? Never, ever, ever tether a rear facing car seat!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokkus Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 Never, ever, ever tether a rear facing car seat!!!!! Why not? Any rationale for this? Britax's user manual especially mentions that tethering is recommended to use always when possible. This is quoted from user manual: "Britax recommends that the tether be used at all times when installing the child seat. Using the tether will improve the stability of your child seat and reduce the risk of injury." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.