# Baby/child seats in motorhomes?



## 110319 (Mar 2, 2008)

Hello all, does anybody have any advice on fitting of child seats in coach built vehicle rear seats, is it safe to fit them on top of removable seat cushions? 
My wife doesnt really relish the idea of travelling in the back whilst daughter gets pride of place in the front with Daddy!! 
Cheers, Mike.


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## Arizona (May 9, 2005)

Hi

I would just remove the cushion, place the seat on the wood and as long as it is secured in by the seat belt properly all should be fine.

Ciao

Arizona


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## ash (Aug 17, 2006)

Hi we asked at about rear seatbelts for our grandghildren baby seats we were told that the base cusions would have to be fixed and the seatbelts would have to be ancored properly ,you would need a 3point seatbelt for safety NOT a lapbelt ,


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## 108401 (Nov 22, 2007)

Hello! Both of our girls are still in child seats, which seem to fit just fine. Personally I wouldn't remove the cushion: I think the give of the cushion helps you tension the child seat in firmly, and it makes the adjacent seat more comfortable for my wife :lol: 

I always test the seats after fitting them and they seem as secure/immobile as when fitted to the car.

As ever, test your seats in the motorhome first. We made a point of choosing a motorhome that had rear facing 3 point belts on the rear facing bench seat too, simply so that my wife doesn't always have to travel backwards - you can't fit a child seat with only a lap belt.

Oh, and one final point - my understanding is that when travelling abroad, it's not legal to fit a non-rear facing child seat in the front. At least for most European countries. Hence important to make sure you're happy with the fit of child seats on the rear benches.


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## 100004 (Jul 12, 2006)

mrtrilby said:


> Oh, and one final point - my understanding is that when travelling abroad, it's not legal to fit a non-rear facing child seat in the front. At least for most European countries. Hence important to make sure you're happy with the fit of child seats on the rear benches.


Actually, that got me last year for Ian's seat. However, it doesn't apply in practice and we never had any problems and saw lhd cars with seats in the front. H


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

mrtrilby said:


> Oh, and one final point - my understanding is that when travelling abroad, it's not legal to fit a non-rear facing child seat in the front. At least for most European countries. Hence important to make sure you're happy with the fit of child seats on the rear benches.


Are you implying that it is legal to fit rear facing child seats in the front seat? If you have a passenger airbag then it is something that you must not do.


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## 108401 (Nov 22, 2007)

Frank - I wasn't suggesting for a moment that you should fit a rear facing child seat in the front if there's an active airbag. Apologies for the confusion.

To clarify: I *think* (but check for yourself) that in places like France it is legal to fit a rear facing child seat in the front (subject to disabling the front airbag), but it is not legal to fit a front facing child seat in a front seat at all.

I can't comment on how strongly it is enforced - I was a good boy last time we drove overseas. Annoying, because I enjoy the company up front, and the cab feels a long way from everyone else on a long trip.


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## 100004 (Jul 12, 2006)

I was told by a Dutch gent on here last year that it was legal and that was confirmed in France last year. H


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## 108401 (Nov 22, 2007)

Do you have a link for that? It'd help us as a family a lot if I'm wrong. I can only Google information suggesting that France (and only France) don't allow children under 10 in the front, except for rear facing seats.

e.g. http://www.sciuridae.co.uk/child_car_seats/european_child_seat_law.htm


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## Pollydoodle (Aug 18, 2005)

The cushions on the seats in our last van moved about so I put some non slip matting underneath which helped and I felt that leaving the cushions in place made a firmer base for the seat not _too_ different from a car seat. If you have bench seats, make sure the car seat is near the window otherwise it (and child) fall off the edge as you corner


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## 106661 (Aug 24, 2007)

Hello Mike

For our 2 kids, the baby is in a rear-facing seat on the rear hab seats of our Euramobil coach built, with the cushion left on - its well secured to the wooden base beneath it with a load of v strong velco. The eldest is upfront with me in a booster seat (if that's the best way to describe it?! - i.e. the 3rd of the seats they use before they graduate to a simple booster cushion). This combo works well for us. Thanks for the advice picked up here on France, I didnt know that! Good luck  Graeme.


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