Not only will it fit, it is designed for it. The Element has the seat anchors to hold the baby seat in the back.

While we don't have kids, it looks easy to secure one.

Good luck with the baby

 

The owners manual has a few pages outlining the process to use in attaching front/rear facing seats for infants/children. When we went for the first test drive, the salesman did not know where the anchor locations were located. My wife located the the tether supports on the ceiling area just inside the cargo door - there is one on each side) and apparently anchors location are available for Canadian market needs as well per the owners manual.

We have used the baby seat on both back seats - need to tighten seat belt per manual instructions and then attach tether strap to ceiling and also tighten as you probably do with you your current auto.

Hope this helps

 

I even received a booklet on child safety with all my Element info.

 

i received the child safety info too with my element, too, but i think that is Standard Operating Procedure for any vehicle.

Suggestion perhaps find the seat you want for your baby to be, or borrow a friends.. take it to the dealer try it in the vehicle to see how well it fits in and check to see how stable it feels.

i would expect it should be fine, but i believe in assume nothing, be safe, be careful & be sure..! Let us know please when you do, do this and what you experience.

I do have an element, so if i transport any of my friends kids in it i will let you know. I am also hoping to have kids so i eventually will know too.

Good luck!

 

One of the main reason we got this Not a minivan - not and SUV, non a pickup truck, not a van wunderKar!

We have a youngster on the way. The baby seat fits right in the back seat using the federaly mandated LATCH system.

 

We have one installed (which also has the LATCH, so it's really easy to install). IMO, the baby seat is easier to deal with in the E than it is to deal with in my wife's 98 Accord...

 

That is a great help Puppy: about the install of the child seat in the Element.. I kind thought the higher interior might aid in that as well.. curious what you think does make the difference, also which seat you are using that works nicely! Thank you!

 

Me and my wife have a 5 month old girl and the loading and unloading of car seats is easier then any vehicle I have owned. With the doors both open, the front seat scoots forward on its own. There is a ton of room to access the rear seat. The whole thing being higher helps alot as well. We are about to switch to a front facing seat and am really glad that the LATCH system is in place and available. I can't think of another vehicle that would provide easier access.

 

As to what makes a child seat so easy to use in the Element, "There is a ton of room to access the rear seat."

I don't remember what brand seat we have, but anything with the LATCH system is very easy to use (the LATCH is essentially a hook that's built into the child's seat and it hooks right onto some hooks that are built into the Element). My wife's car, 1998 Accord, doesn't have the LATCH....

 

I've been usin the "Comfort" brand car seat in my E (bought it the same day, 'cause the old one didn't match). The LATCH system is sweet! I've been using the old seatbelt style carseats for about 4 years now, and the safety in this new system is obvious. Also, WAY easier to get it in secure. The thing I like about the Element and carseats is the ease of loading and unloading my daughter. She loves it because she has the best view in the house (including the sunroof). I found that the upper strap is easier to "snug" up if you recline the seat you're mounting it to just one notch, tighten it (afore mentioned strap), then raise the seat back up to fully upright. Also, I bought a (color matched, of course) floor mat, folded in half (soft side out), and placed this under the carseat to avoid leaving any unsightly grooves in the Element's seat. I folded it in half because it is twice as big as it needs to be, the abrasive side is not in contact with anything but itself, and it makes the barrier twice as thick. You can't get away with putting anything under a car seat if you're using the seatbelt style system, but with the LATCH type, the secure-ness (?) of the carseat is not dependant on upper body strength, and is not held "down" onto the seat (ie, it cannot work loose, if the floormat, towel, blanket, etc., under the car seat works loose).
-Anthony
PS. Honda rules!

 

We have 19 month old, and the Element is great for us. Especially the plastic floor, since he loves to throw food and drinks when he is done. We thought the suicide doors would be a pain, but its already become natural. The only downsides are that you need to lean farther in to get to the baby (than a sedan), and the kid is pretty far away from you when you are driving. Who ever suggested sliding back seats is a genius! We love it, its a perfect family machine.

 

Dont have kids but, I put my nephews car seat in today and it was a breeze. The roominess and highness of the backseat make it easy to install. And the points for the strap are built right in the ceiling, unlike in the car where they are on the back deck. The roominess also let him swing his legs and he sit and stared out the roof the whole trip. Hope this helps.

 

After we picked ours up we went to Florida for a week. Acfter a week of beaches, sand, Disney, Cheerios, and various other snakcs, spills. The Elephant just cleaned right up. Witht he way the door open its perfect for getting kids in and out of the carseat.

 

So now they are telling me that there's an EX-AWD GG rolling out of the factory in 2 weeks with my name on it (assuming the dealer sticks to his word or close to it on the deal we made) - yay! My question is for those who have rear-facing infant seats (and I guess all car seats) installed in their Elements - how does it work (my little girl just turned 4 weeks old yesterday)? You LATCH the base into the seat and then install some kind of tethering device into the roof? Where is this device? Where do you get the tether straps? Or do you just install the car seat without the base? My other concern is, with LATCH and this tethering system can you remove the car seat base and safely reinstall it yourself? I want to be able to take 3 passengers on short notice when the baby isn't with me, but I don't want to have to go back to the fire station every time I want to reinstall the seat base as is the case with my pre-LATCH VW. Any help would be appreciated - thanks!

 

The tether straps will come with your carseat. There are two plastic covers over the Latch mounting points on the seat itself. Then in the rear just above the rear glass there are two sliding doors that expose the rear Latch point. Whe I put in our seat (front facing for a 3 year old) I installed it as you normally would with the seatbelt, then attached the Latch straps. Its easy to yourself. Its a carseat, not rocket science. The key to getting in in correct is to put your knee into the seat with all your weight when you tighten the straps. You want little or no movement of the carseat in the cars seat. Your are trying to make the baby's seat as motionless as possible by strapping it in very tight to make it a fixed object in the car.

 

Has anyone installed an infant carseat with the LATCH system in their E yet? We have the EvenFlo Portabout 5, which has two parts, the seat and the base that stays in the car. When I hooked it up using LATCH at the dealership, the base seemed to lock in pretty well in the back, where it hooks into the seat--but when I tightened it in there, the base near the front of the seat came off the seat and stuck up in the air.

I can post a picture when I get around to taking one. In the meantime, has anyone noticed this and/or figured out how to solve it? Our baby is not yet here but will be soon! Thanks.

 

I don't have any knowledge at all about baby seats in cars, but I wanted to wish you all the best for your baby's birth.

Share pictures - of the carseat and of baby - when you can!

 

[quote:a44349b659="TheLusciousHellcat"]I don't have any knowledge at all about baby seats in cars, but I wanted to wish you all the best for your baby's birth.

Share pictures - of the carseat and of baby - when you can![/quote:a44349b659]

Will do, of course will show the babE as soon as he/she shows up! Thanks for your wishes!

 

We have a 6 week old daughter and are awaiting the delivery of our E, so I am concerned about this too. In our current car, the seat base sticks up a little in the front when the back is tightened down (though it is a pre-LATCH car so it may be more pronounced in your car), but when we put the seat and the baby on the base, it sits fine and the little level indicator is all blue (good to go). I think the function of the LATCH system is to prevent as much side to side lateral movement as possible - I don't think a little looseness in the forward-backward plane is a big deal. You can confirm this with your local fire station (that's what ours told us when they installed the seat base in our VW). Other posters have also talked about tether straps that attach to the roof of the E just inside the liftgate - do you know anything about this? Our car seat is a GRACO leisuresport and I don't remember it coming with any kind of tether straps like that.

 

I installed seat with LATCH system today and it's slick

 

[quote:4d514ff6cc="Jonesin4anE"]Other posters have also talked about tether straps that attach to the roof of the E just inside the liftgate - do you know anything about this? Our car seat is a GRACO leisuresport and I don't remember it coming with any kind of tether straps like that.[/quote:4d514ff6cc]

I believe the tether straps are used for the next level of carseat, not infant, but forward-facing child carseat (22lbs and up). Thanks for your info, I will be checking with the local police/fire and making sure it gets installed right before the baby comes!

 

I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but I had a similar experience with our car seat. I installed the infant seat using LATCH (rear facing in a Toyota SUV), and then ran the tether strap from the back of the infant seat and connected it to the underside (frame) of the of car seat. It pulled the infant seat down flat to the car seat.

Our local police department gave the thumbs up, and also gave us a free rubberized mat to place under the infant seat to prevent slippage. The rubberized mat is very helpful.

I hope this helps.

 

[quote:6cb73c698e="Jonesin4anE"]
[snip...]I believe the tether straps are used for the next level of carseat, not infant, but forward-facing child carseat (22lbs and up). [...snip][/quote:6cb73c698e]

correct

 

I posted a question about carseat usage in the "shoppin" forum before I saw this thread.

I have been studying all sorts of carseat stuff lately as we are due with our second soon. Most infant seats don't come with a tether, but most convertable ones do. We have the britax roundabout which we used with our first and bought another one for our second.

The angle of the newborn seat is very important. I remember having mine installed the first time and when I had it inspected, the angle wasn't what it needed to be. The installer used a piece of solid foam pool noodle to make the base more level and still provide the stability.

The best advice I've heard so far and can give is to go to a certified installer and have it checked. I was amazed at how wrong I was. Do it now before you have the baby so you won't worry when he or she gets here.

Good luck.

bexter

 

[quote:9196248d02="bexter12"][snip...]
The angle of the newborn seat is very important. I remember having mine installed the first time and when I had it inspected, the angle wasn't what it needed to be. The installer used a piece of solid foam pool noodle to make the base more level and still provide the stability.

The best advice I've heard so far and can give is to go to a certified installer and have it checked. [...snip][/quote:9196248d02]

our carseat has a little level indicator on the side.
that way i always know it is properly positioned no matter what vehicle we take.