Official Model S Child Seat Thread - reviews, pictures, and discussion

[FireLT]

So, I am looking for some advise here. I have a baby on the way (any minute now) and we purchased the Aton Q infant car seat. It has a great latch system to install the seat, however Tesla only has the latches on the sides and not in the middle.
I would like to use the latch system, but I have also read that infant seats should be placed in the middle. So, how have you all done that have rear facing seats?

 

[Max*]

So, I am looking for some advise here. I have a baby on the way (any minute now) and we purchased the Aton Q infant car seat. It has a great latch system to install the seat, however Tesla only has the latches on the sides and not in the middle.
I would like to use the latch system, but I have also read that infant seats should be placed in the middle. So, how have you all done that have rear facing seats?

Check the manual, I'm pretty sure they said you can latch two car seats, either side by side or on the outside edge. Thus you should be able to do it with latch.

If I'm mistaken, why not just use a seatbelt?

 

[Fezzik]

To put the seat I the middle can you not use the middle latches from both sides? That's how my other cars work

 

[!S4]

To put the seat I the middle can you not use the middle latches from both sides? That's how my other cars work

The manual says to only use the seatbelt in the middle position and not use LATCH.

 

[seclinton]

Well, for us, we finally got our twins (now 6) out of car seat, booster w/ and w/o the removable back, we found the smallest booster still approved for safety and awesome for travel is the BubbleBum. These flank the baby car seat in the middle.

Inflatable Booster Seat by BubbleBum (UK) Ltd | Home - BubbleBum (USA) LLC

For the new baby, now 7 weeks old, we strap in the middle using the seatbelt only. It's a Britax Marathon.

MARATHON CLICKTIGHT Convertible Car Seats | Britax USA

so we fit: bubblebum,Britax, bubblebum across the back seats and no issues with any belt access

 

[FireLT]

Check the manual, I'm pretty sure they said you can latch two car seats, either side by side or on the outside edge. Thus you should be able to do it with latch.

If I'm mistaken, why not just use a seatbelt?

You can only latch 2 seats on the outsides.. not the center. While I feel latch system will me much sturdier than seat belt, I am also a bit nervous about putting infant on the sides.
However, I talked to a tesla tech today and he stated that he has installed seats on the side without a problem and now a days cars are very safe, especially Tesla.
Still double minded though.

 

[andrewket]

We have to standard rear seat and with two child seats in the back, there is not really any room for a 3rd person. We have tried all several different seats (including the radian) and nothing really made a difference. We have come to accept that the tesla, with two child seats, is only a 2+2 vehicle. When we have to travel with any of our older children, we have to use the Honda Odyssey. Part of the problem we have is the way Tesla has recessed the seat belt buckles into the seats. Its the same for the latch system. I'll post pictures of the tesla and the honda to show the differences.

I purchased seat belt extenders to solve the recessed buckle problem. They're relatively inexpensive and can be had from amazon, etc.

 

[Max*]

You can only latch 2 seats on the outsides.. not the center. While I feel latch system will me much sturdier than seat belt, I am also a bit nervous about putting infant on the sides.
However, I talked to a tesla tech today and he stated that he has installed seats on the side without a problem and now a days cars are very safe, especially Tesla.
Still double minded though.

I got my lazy butt up and checked the manual, you're right. Outside 2 only for LATCH.

It's not safer using a LATCH than a seatbelt, it's easier to get it right. Also LATCH is weight limited (they also have "superlatches" which go to higher weights)
Mythbusting: LATCH vs Seatbelt Installation

 

[Gizmotoy]

I got my lazy butt up and checked the manual, you're right. Outside 2 only for LATCH.

Unless you have a 2012 or 2013 car. The center LATCH was eliminated sometime in late 2013. My late November delivery still had it, but I think it was among the last. Even if you have it, though, you can still only mount two car seats to it. There were only 5 anchor points. The center position reused the LATCH from the driver's-side position.

Anyway, we're about to transition from an infant seat to a full-size rear facing. Any suggestions? We'd been looking at the Diono Radian RXT. Anyone with an older car mount one of these in the center? Does it work rear-facing, or do you need the optional angle-adjuster?

 

[DIL]

Hey Gizmotoy - Congrats on graduating to the next step with your little one. We really like our Diono, as well as our Britax Marathon. Graco not so much.

 

[Max*]

Unless you have a 2012 or 2013 car. The center LATCH was eliminated sometime in late 2013. My late November delivery still had it, but I think it was among the last. Even if you have it, though, you can still only mount two car seats to it. There were only 5 anchor points. The center position reused the LATCH from the driver's-side position.

Anyway, we're about to transition from an infant seat to a full-size rear facing. Any suggestions? We'd been looking at the Diono Radian RXT. Anyone with an older car mount one of these in the center? Does it work rear-facing, or do you need the optional angle-adjuster?

We had 2 Diono Radian RXT (technically 1, and 1 sunshine kids which was later bought by Diono). Great car seats, have as ****.

Can't comment about rear facing mounts in the Model S.

 

[green1]

Unless you have a 2012 or 2013 car. The center LATCH was eliminated sometime in late 2013. My late November delivery still had it, but I think it was among the last. Even if you have it, though, you can still only mount two car seats to it. There were only 5 anchor points. The center position reused the LATCH from the driver's-side position.

Anyway, we're about to transition from an infant seat to a full-size rear facing. Any suggestions? We'd been looking at the Diono Radian RXT. Anyone with an older car mount one of these in the center? Does it work rear-facing, or do you need the optional angle-adjuster?

When I did my test drive in Vancouver they told me there were 3 latch points, I told them they were wrong, I even showed them on the car that there was no middle latch point, and 5 minutes later I overheard them tell the next customer that there were 3...

 

[ohmman]

Late response, but I wanted to point out that the rigid seat belt extenders that FlasherZ posted were the ones I used for a while. The trouble with those, if you have booster seats, is that they push the boosters up onto the riser cushion on the edge of the seat. Eventually you'll get a decent indentation in that cushion. About 3 months ago, I replaced them with flexible strap-style extenders, and they allow the seat to slide down a bit more towards the center. I'm just as happy with them, and in my opinion they seem just as secure/safe.

So if you find that your back seats are showing signs of wear, the strap style extenders might be an option.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Just got the seat belt extenders for my kids. Youngest has to sit in a highback booster which blocks access to the right buckle. So we placed a 5" rigid buckle into the middle buckle. Older gets a 3" buckle for the left seat with a small booster seat. Got it at Seat Belt Extender Prosâ„¢ - Your Source for Safe Seat Belt Extensions

We chose to use the website after reading about the product on Amazon. The Amazon product is a single type (A). Lot's of reviews indicated that the product did not fit the make and model. The website allows you to choose the exact product for the car. Just FYI.

Here's a pic of the right sided booster with the 5" rigid buckle. Now my youngest can buckle himself into the seat without assistance. Still has some trouble with release, but that's easy for my oldest to help. Yes, they leave plenty of crumbs...

 

[andrewknight]

Unless you have a 2012 or 2013 car. The center LATCH was eliminated sometime in late 2013. My late November delivery still had it, but I think it was among the last. Even if you have it, though, you can still only mount two car seats to it. There were only 5 anchor points. The center position reused the LATCH from the driver's-side position.

Anyway, we're about to transition from an infant seat to a full-size rear facing. Any suggestions? We'd been looking at the Diono Radian RXT. Anyone with an older car mount one of these in the center? Does it work rear-facing, or do you need the optional angle-adjuster?

Interesting, I just looked at my 1/2013 build and confirmed there is a center LATCH position! I am going to move mine over to the center and see how that works.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

I'm facing the issue of our booster seat not fitting in our new MS, and just found this thread. FYI, it explicitly states in the MS manual that seat belt extenders are not safe for use with booster seats. They are meant only for obese adults that can't fit the normal belt. The seat belt extenders change the geometry of the belt position and are not safety tested. You can read more about this on websites like car-seat.org.

Back to the drawing board...

 

[Jurnimon]

I'm facing the issue of our booster seat not fitting in our new MS, and just found this thread. FYI, it explicitly states in the MS manual that seat belt extenders are not safe for use with booster seats. They are meant only for obese adults that can't fit the normal belt. The seat belt extenders change the geometry of the belt position and are not safety tested. You can read more about this on websites like car-seat.org.

Back to the drawing board...

Hi there. In what position are you trying to fit your booster seat into your MS? What is the problem with fit that you are experiencing?

 

[XJ9000]

Based on some other posts here and on other forum, I ordered the Clek Ozzi to use in my 2016 Model S. I can confirm that it is not a good fit as the seat covers the buckle. While not 100% impossible to buckle, it is very very difficult. Will be trying something else

 

[XJ9000]

OK after trying 5 boosters I have a solution. I had little success in finding a booster for my 6-year old that was easy to buckle. Finally I found the following video:

By keeping the seat belt buckled I was able to use our previous Clek oobr, so I recommend trying this with your existing booster before looking for alternatives.

 

[Sugacookie]

Hello, I may have missed it but what backward facing car seats will fit in the MS? I see this thread talking a lot about booster seats.

Thanks