Installing a Baby car seat in my Liberty?

[richtj99]

Hi,

I have a 2005 Liberty Limited & have learned a lot lurking for the last several months. Well, my wife is 8 1/2 months pregnant & I bought the baby seat for the Liberty. I am not 100% sure how to install it but I wanted to know if anyone had put their own baby seat in the Jeep?

I would like to give it a try but I wanted to make sure there was nothing terribly tricky about the install?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Cableguy]

Nothing to it! Your jeep should have both upper and lower LATCH anchors available. Make sure to read both your owners manual, and more importantly, the car seat directions. I can't emphasize that enough!

And if your anything like me, your going to be driving like a grandma home from the hospital! \/


Congrats!

 

[richtj99]

Hrmm, my seat only seems to have one set of anchors.

BTW, my wife said that the seat needs to be in the middle? Is that the case?

 

[dnm45227]

the midddle does put more space between the seat and any potential impacts.

the top anchor should be on the back of the seat, the seat belt is (if I recall correctly) the bottom anchor point.

congrats!

 

[KJ02Ltd]

In my '02, the side seats in the back both have lower anchor points. There's nothing that says the seat has to be in the middle and the simple fact that there are no anchor points in the middle would seems to steer most people away from there, I'd think. The latch points are so simple to use it's almost laughable. Besides, I've got 2 in car seats (a 1 month old and the other'll be 3 in March) and my 5 year old fits right between them perfect and can help out with either if they need something while driving.

jpm

 

[JC]

I think the car seat was my first mod actually. Installing it is really simple, and should take every bit of 10 minutes or so. But if you are unsure or just very cautious, go by your local firehouse, and they'll install it for you.

 

[2003KJ]

I think the car seat was my first mod actually. Installing it is really simple, and should take every bit of 10 minutes or so. But if you are unsure or just very cautious, go by your local firehouse, and they'll install it for you.

x2. Local fire station or police station. They are more than willing to help you, and in most cases do it for you, but at the very least walk you through installing it properly, and ensuring that there will be no safety issues.

A lot of times, atleast around here, they hold "car seat installation" days at the local baby stores (like babies 'r us), where members of the local PD and Fire will assist anybody who shows up in installing a car seat, and check to see if you have installed you're properly if you did it your self. All for free.

You might look into that. I'm not doubting that you can't do it yourself, but you can never be too sure about something as serious as a munchkin O

BTW, Congrats! Are yall expecting a boy or a girl?

 

[desertkj]

I think the car seat was my first mod actually. Installing it is really simple, and should take every bit of 10 minutes or so. But if you are unsure or just very cautious, go by your local firehouse, and they'll install it for you.

x2. Local fire station or police station. They are more than willing to help you, and in most cases do it for you, but at the very least walk you through installing it properly, and ensuring that there will be no safety issues.

A lot of times, atleast around here, they hold "car seat installation" days at the local baby stores (like babies 'r us), where members of the local PD and Fire will assist anybody who shows up in installing a car seat, and check to see if you have installed you're properly if you did it your self. All for free.

You might look into that. I'm not doubting that you can't do it yourself, but you can never be too sure about something as serious as a munchkin O

BTW, Congrats! Are yall expecting a boy or a girl?

x3 on the FD or PD. I've talked to multiple police officers who say they have absolutely no problems taking a few minutes to help properly install a car seat. They would much rather do that, than (God forbid) end up responding to a call where an infant gets injured in an accident due to an improperly installed car seat. One thing I would expect though, is that you may show up at a station during a hectic time when they simply don't have the manpower. Basically, what I'm saying is dont put it off until the last minute. Oh, and congrats from me as well.

*EDIT: You may even see if you can call and schedule an appt so that they can insure someone is there to install it.

 

[Cableguy]

the midddle does put more space between the seat and any potential impacts.

the top anchor should be on the back of the seat, the seat belt is (if I recall correctly) the bottom anchor point.

congrats!

The top anchor (back of the seat, in the trunk region) is only for when the seat gets turned around forward facing. Infants have to be rear-facing. Apparently, they recomend rear-facing as long as you can.

I dunno, that's what my wife tells me, and she works with kids.

 

[CRD4Liberty]

Many towns have public employees that were trained in properly setup car seats. They many times have days you can come in and have a seat installed or checked. My town newsletter has all this info. Usually it's a few firefighters and officers that get the training, one of the ones in my town says that she sees about 75% of the seats she checks installed incorrectly.

 

[hyde]

about car seats, I just watched on the news that most of the car seats were faulty and failed to protect kids even at low speeds as 35mph.

I watched on CW11 so check their website to see if they listed them yet.
CW11.com

 

[copenhagen6]

I put my daughters' car seat in the middle due to side impact. I have been told that the middle is not a good place to put them because if the seat fails, then they can fly forward with nothing to stop them but the windshield. I drive on four lanes and in a small city, so I think that the chances of a side impact are much greater than a head on. When I install the seat, I get in the jeep and put my knee in the seat and force it down, then pull the slack out of the belt. This really helps make it rock solid. Also, when the seat is facing backwards, find a spot under the seat or under the front seats to use the other anchors. This will help to keep the seat from slamming into the upright part of the back seat in case you get hit in the ass. Congrats and good luck.

 

[JC]

about car seats, I just watched on the news that most of the car seats were faulty and failed to protect kids even at low speeds as 35mph.

I watched on CW11 so check their website to see if they listed them yet.
CW11.com

I just read THIS on Excite. com about that report. Here's an excerpt.

Consumer Reports' Reputation Takes Hit

Saturday January 20, 8:09 PM EST

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Consumer Reports once mismeasured the ingredients in dog food. Just last year, it screwed up the depreciation rates of hybrid cars.

But it's rare for the trusted, independent magazine to go as wrong as it did in its report this month on infant car seats. Consumer Reports retracted the report Thursday when it turned out that side-impact crashes in tests of car seats were carried out at speeds near 70 mph, not the 38 mph the magazine claimed.

The magazine told its 6.3 million print and online readers — and the millions more who had heard about the widely publicized report — to disregard the startling findings earlier this month that only two of the 12 seats it tested were worth buying. Parents of babies may or may not have been comforted by the magazine's promise to retest the seats and issue a new report.

 

[SRotblat]

BTW, my wife said that the seat needs to be in the middle? Is that the case?

the Liberty's build in LATCH anchor points are for use only on the left or right side of the rear bench (I do not know if they changed this for the 05+). While you could put the seat in the middle the LATCH system as installed in the Liberty was not designed to be used with the child seat in the center and that could cause problems. You should follow the LATCH mounting as described in your owners manual to make sure you are following all guidelines.

That said if the LATCH anchor points were available on both sides and the center of the Liberty's rear bench the safest point would be the center for the seat.