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Good thread. I am a "no food/only sealed container with water" in the car type of guy and so far so good. I have a 2.5 year old boy who is into cars (I made sure of that early on, you know...). When I brought the Tesla home a couple of weeks ago, he fell in love with the pano roof of course, then was puzzled by the lack of "step" in the middle of the floor.

He then stumped me when he pointed out that he had never seen people drive with their "ipad" and that i probably shouldn't be doing it either.
 


Do the seat back protectors work with the next gen seats?
 
We have a 2yo and a 7mo and the Model S is our primary vehicle, so if the kids are going somewhere it's in the Tesla. We're trying to keep the kids rear facing as long as possible so that has helped with containing messes to just the immediate seat area. The following is our setup ...

2yo is in a Diono Radian RXT, rear facing, connected with LATCH. This thing weighs a ton but it solid and folds up. We've even taken it on the plane as it is FAA approved.

We got the Diono Ultra Mat Full-Size seat protector. The reviews say it doesn't help with the indentation in the seats but I've found it works fine on the Tesla seats. It has definitely protected the seat from getting the dents (unlike what has happened with our infant seat base). And the mat goes all the way up which protects the back of the seat from getting scuffed up by my son's shoes/feet.

7mo is in the Chicco KeyFit30 with the car seat base in the middle (this gives us one seat in the back for a guest! - and is probably the safest place for the intant). The base connects via LATCH and then the car seat just snaps in. I don't think we were able to find an "approved" seat protector for this one so I had to install the base right on the seat. Unfortunately over time it has left indentations on the bottom portion of the seat-back. Hopefully they're not permanent.

And one cool gadget I got was the Yada baby monitor. It doesn't have a very wide lens, so I had to install it on the far side window to see both kids, but it's great especially since it has IR to see at night which you don't get with mirrors.

Pictures below. Hope this helps!!

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We use the Prince Lionheart seat protectors. They seem to do the job so far.
 

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So here's another story to add. Driving kids to school today in the morning, and I hear a scratching noise, look in the mirror and see my son leaning slightly out of his carseat scratching the leather. I ask him what he's doing, he replies "I'm trying to make a hole"

:bigeye:

LOL!!

I get concerned with some of these seat covers and mirrors for viewing them in the back being strapped to the leather head rest and over time causing the wear we have seen and cracking and cutting of the leather headrest. I wish it was the type that went up and down and could be secured between the headrest and the chair like in most of my other vehicles.
 


Just got our Brica kick protectors. The strap to go around the front seat headrest is too short. Will have to add elastic strap. That might be best anyway as ours are for grandkids, and that will make them easier to remove and install for the infrequent times we will use them. Snapping the strap would definitely groove the headrest, if we could even get it to close at all. Going to try to keep the little ones in the ice mobile.
 
I am having trouble putting Chicco car seat in my model S. The strap just won't reach far enough around for second second latch, unless I tilt car seat, and it doesn't seem secure. Thanks.

You might want to consider using the seatbelt to secure it rather than latches. From what I understand the latches are more of a convenience feature, but don't necessarily improve safety over using a seatbelt to secure the car seat.

For additional installation help, you could stop by your local highway patrol or fire department for help. We're in California, and our California Highway Patrol offers this service for folks. You might also try your local Tesla service center.
 
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100% agree here. The seat is wider than the actual space between the buckle and the other side. I have had some big success with a seat belt extender but the booster itself is a little off centered and slightly crooked if that makes sense?

I highly recommend one of these for anyone with a booster and having this issue as the seat belts are so deep into the caverns of the space in the back seat it is tough to get to when buckling in kids.

https://www.amazon.com/Rigid-Car-Seat-Belt-Extender/dp/B005JZD6KM

Thanks for this! I had no idea these existed. I just did a 400 mile trip with my 4 kids under 7 in our Model S from Phoenix to LA. Was able to fit one rear facing seat, one front facing convertible seat, and one booster across the back seat with one kid in the rear facing seats in the trunk. (One of my kids gets dizzy riding backwards). Stroller and luggage in the frunk with a couple bags on the floor of the back seat and a couple in the trunk. Having one of these seat belt extenders would have saved a bunch of hassle!
 
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You might want to consider using the seatbelt to secure it rather than latches. From what I understand the latches are more of a convenience feature, but don't necessarily improve safety over using a seatbelt to secure the car seat.

For additional installation help, you could stop by your local highway patrol or fire department for help. We're in California, and our California Highway Patrol offers this service for folks. You might also try your local Tesla service center.
Thanks for the very useful info!
 
Wow thanks to everyone for the great ideas - just noticed this thread and jotted down everyone's suggestions. We have a CPO that isn't as fancy as most Model S' we see here but it's still our baby and our kids ... are messy. So we put in "AmazonBasics Waterproof Car Bench Seat Cover for Pets", and thanks to these forums, found the "Kraco K2520BLK Black Rubber Universal Runner" for the back seats and splurged for the Weathertec ones for the front seats, and found a boot tray rug/mat for the rear-facing seats foot well. Looking for something to provide back pockets and act as a kick protector.

Kids love the car but have been banned from bringing food in for now as they are horribly messy. Drinks are ok but all garbage gets taken out at the end of each trip. I want to relax a little more but the kids destroyed the last car and this new-to-us car is still being babied somewhat.
 
Anyone using the LATCH anchors for center mounted infant car seat install? The manual recommends using outboard seats, but I'm not comfortable having the infant so close to side doors/airbag of the car. Center is safest. I test installed in the center with the LATCH mount system and it seems to work fine and is very tightly installed.

Any idea why they recommend outboard seats? The locking/ratcheting latch install seems more permanent/stable compared to lap belt.
 
Anyone using the LATCH anchors for center mounted infant car seat install? The manual recommends using outboard seats, but I'm not comfortable having the infant so close to side doors/airbag of the car. Center is safest. I test installed in the center with the LATCH mount system and it seems to work fine and is very tightly installed.

Any idea why they recommend outboard seats? The locking/ratcheting latch install seems more permanent/stable compared to lap belt.

If you have an older model s like mine there are actually 5 LATCH points. You can safely use them to secure a seat in the center. The newer S have only 4 LATCH points and you should not use them to anchor the seat in the middle by using the inside two LATCH points. They are too far apart. Use the center seatbelt.
 
If you have an older model s like mine there are actually 5 LATCH points. You can safely use them to secure a seat in the center. The newer S have only 4 LATCH points and you should not use them to anchor the seat in the middle by using the inside two LATCH points. They are too far apart. Use the center seatbelt.

I hear that too. Is there any info about why far apart spacing is bad/dangerous. Just curious. I’ll try the center seatbelt and hopefully I can get it as snug as the latch sustem.