Subaru Ascent Forum banner

CPST-I

3K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  kalfolh 
#1 ·
Hi!

I know I'm new to this forum, so introducing another side of myself. I've been a child passenger safety technician for many years, and an instructor since 2016. I'm always happy to answer any questions about car seats (in the Ascent or ANY vehicle, really)!

As an instructor I also have a handful of training car seats accessible, so if anyone ever has a question about what might or might not fit in a position, please don't hesitate to comment or reach out and I will be happy to try and test set ups to see if something works. If I don't personally have it on hand, I'm pretty close to another instructor with a HUGE collection and can try just about any combination within about a week (my work schedule is... spicy 😂)
 
#2 ·
Appreciate having you as a resource, I'm sure there are a lot of Ascent parents who will have questions. I'm pretty set in the carseat world (we've got a 3 yr old), but I do have one question that may sound kind of silly. When tightening the carseat in place, the only way I've ever been able to get it tight enough is to place a knee on the carseat and bounce my weight on the carseat and tighten when the carseat is at its low point when I squish it down. This works great except for one thing, my knees are old and tired, and occasionally this ends up hurting the poor knee I use for this maneuver. Any suggestions for getting the seat tight enough without abusing my poor knee? And if anyone else reading this has a great suggestion, please add your 2 cents as well.
Thanks!
 
#3 ·
Yes! So, using a knee isn't recommended anymore due to some folks damaging car seats (since most of us adults are a hair over the weight limit of most car seats).

My favorite trick basically involves changing the angle you're tightening the belt. For seat belt installs, you put one hand IN the car seat, and use the other hand on the side furthest away from the buckle to tighten. For lower anchors it really depends on the particular car seat, but in general, you want to be pulling towards the center of the car seat and not out away from it to tighten. For extra great leverage, I have been known to pull back part of the car seat's cover and pull the shoulder belt / tail strap of the lower anchor strap UP into the center.

I know that makes next to zero sense written out, but here is a blog post with pictures that hopefully make more sense! The post is older, and the seats used are older, but the concept and physics remain the same :)

 
#7 ·
So Ive got a 3.5yr old. About 30lbs and somewhere close to 40 inches I think, will be forward facing.
Soon to be 2 year old, 20lbs and 32ish inches tall, rear facing
And will have a newborn at the end of april, of course rear facing too.
Trying to rearrange seats now in our 2020 ascent with captains chairs. Plan for the time being is 3yr old in 3rd row passenger side, 2yr old behind driver, and newborn behind passenger.
From my understanding, the middle row seats need to be all the way back, which gives barely any leg room for third row. Im concerned(will work with) my 3yr old will want to put her legs on the seat in front of her since its so close. Can i scoot it forward just a tad out of her reach though?
Also, for the split 3rd row, we want to keep the whole row up when possible, but there's barely any storage space then. When thinking groceries, diaper/other large boxes we might buy, and our stroller, we'd need the bigger portion down. Is there a recommend way to secure items? Ive heard about a net but have never used one as this is our first suv.
 
#9 ·
So Ive got a 3.5yr old. About 30lbs and somewhere close to 40 inches I think, will be forward facing.
Soon to be 2 year old, 20lbs and 32ish inches tall, rear facing
And will have a newborn at the end of april, of course rear facing too.
Trying to rearrange seats now in our 2020 ascent with captains chairs. Plan for the time being is 3yr old in 3rd row passenger side, 2yr old behind driver, and newborn behind passenger.
From my understanding, the middle row seats need to be all the way back, which gives barely any leg room for third row. Im concerned(will work with) my 3yr old will want to put her legs on the seat in front of her since its so close. Can i scoot it forward just a tad out of her reach though?
Also, for the split 3rd row, we want to keep the whole row up when possible, but there's barely any storage space then. When thinking groceries, diaper/other large boxes we might buy, and our stroller, we'd need the bigger portion down. Is there a recommend way to secure items? Ive heard about a net but have never used one as this is our first suv.
So, I can’t tell you WHY Subaru made the rule that it has to be all the way back, but typically when a manufacturer has a hard set rule about seat positioning/recline, it’s a hard set rule. I think the only way to avoid the leg issue is either lots of reminders/reinforcement or putting your forward facing kiddo in the middle of the third row… which would cut into your folding down storage space.

One thing that won’t be an issue yet but will be later is third row access. If all you have on the captain’s chair for now is the base for a rear facing only seat, it’s still easy to get to the third row. Once that becomes a convertible, that’ll get …complicated if not nearly impossible, especially if you’re still needing to buckle your 3yo at that point. Unless you have your 2yo forward facing by that time.

A few factors to consider for cargo loading would be balancing two main problems: 1. Cargo needs to be loaded with heavier stuff forward and low in order to maintain better control of the vehicle especially in crash avoidance situations, but 2. You don’t want a bunch of heavy stuff directly next to a kid in a car seat. However if all you’re talking about is groceries, that generally isn’t enough weight to make a difference in the way back and softer/lighter stuff (bread, eggs, rice… NOT cans/gallons of milk/etc) can go on the folded down portion with heavier stuff directly behind the third row (ideally with a cargo net, and you have plenty of places where nets can be tied down).
Another option for securing groceries a bit is the large cloth/ish organizer bins with velcro-on lids. If you do end up putting the stroller where it goes into the third row folded down space, you can also tie it to the tie down hooks on that side to keep it as much in place as possible (although let’s be real, in a rollover, everything is going everywhere…. The goal here is to keep this stuff from hitting y’all at full force and slowing it down a bit).
 
#14 ·
Do you have a high back booster seat you recommend for the third row on the passenger side (smaller side)? We had a Graco Tranzitions for my 6.5 year old that we just changed over from the harness, but when I put it back there I found it a touch too wide. I'm hoping to occasionally be able to drop the seat down for more trunk space (groceries, etc). I was looking at the Maxi-cosi Rodifix and the Peg Perego Viaggio hbb 120 since they are the most narrower ones.
 
#15 ·
I do like the Rodifix, although as with all narrow boosters, some won’t fit wider shouldered kids well. The Turbobooster is technically narrower as long as that interior cup holder is folded in (it’s 17” wide with them in, 21” wide with them both out, Rodifix is 18” with back adjustment in and 21” with them out).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top