Rotating/Swivel Car Seats

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My wife wanted a “swivel” car seat, specifically the Evenflo Gold Revolve360. I can see why she is attracted to the ease of use.

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Due to the design of my truck’s seat belts in the outboard seating positions, I was unable to install the car seat using the seat belt. The center seat uses a different seat belt design and that one is fine.

This Evenflo seat uses an unusual seat belt locking mechanism which requires inserting the upper/lower sections of the seat belt into the pictured grooves. However, if your vehicle’s seat belt has an additional fold of webbing (as shown below), this will interfere with your ability to insert the entire seat belt into those grooves.

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Furthermore, I wonder if these seats are inherently less safe? I recognize that car seats are a highly-regulated product in the US, but something about that wobble (due to the 2-piece design) is disconcerting.



Thoughts?
 

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Not familiar with these seats, but I got the most secure and tight installation using the specific anchor points, similar to the picture below.

Any other seat that I had to use the vehicle’s seat belts I could never get tight and solid, they always moved around.

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This is how I currently have it setup, but using the lower anchors usually limits the weight capacity to 35-45 lbs.
 
I’m not sure that I see the benefit of the rotating seat. Can’t say that it would be worthwhile for the additional failure point or possibility to not be as safe.
 
I’m not sure that I see the benefit of the rotating seat. Can’t say that it would be worthwhile for the additional failure point or possibility to not be as safe.
Easier loading, supposedly.

Your thoughts echo mine.
 
Not familiar with these seats, but I got the most secure and tight installation using the specific anchor points, similar to the picture below.

Any other seat that I had to use the vehicle’s seat belts I could never get tight and solid, they always moved around.

View attachment 117622
On our seats,(evenflo I think?) I figured out eventually that once you buckled in the seat with the seat belt, you could reach in through the removable washable cover and start torqueing on the seat belts individually, while you had your knee on it and get it very tight.
That rotating seat does look a bit flexible, I assume its not for 40lb er's?
 
Wobble is interesting… assuming that is because of the swivel rather than the two piece design? I mean plenty of infant carriers are base and seat.

I can definitely see the appeal. Our car is so low to get out and over the car seat it is almost inevitable that I’m hitting a head on the frame or getting death gripped as I try to get the little one out.

Edit: also assuming re the seatbelts you can use LATCH on either side so not that big of a deal?
 
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Consider that a human in a seatbelt "wobbles" freely. I don't think car seats need to be so tight they can't move. If mounted properly, the seatbelts will function as normal.

That swiveling car seat would have been a godsend when we had our XC60. The rear doors were so narrow you had to feed the kid in headfirst and then rotate them 90 degrees anyway.
 
Yeah, that’s kinda weird (not saying it’s necessarily unsafe).

I bought into the newer Euro car seats with a “load leg”. The force in a crash partially imparts into the floor of the car. Maybe you can convince her this is safer and return that one 😂

I use Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Nido from Italy.

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Consider that a human in a seatbelt "wobbles" freely. I don't think car seats need to be so tight they can't move. If mounted properly, the seatbelts will function as normal.
...
Car seats need to be mounted as tightly as possible, it is how they are designed.
Any free movement is transferred and multiplied into the child seat/child and can increase chances of injury.

I always used the latch mounts. Once installed correctly, they were not going anywhere.
I was thinking of a 76 Monte Carlo swivel seats. :unsure:
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That's what I thought of first as well.

I had a '77 Monte Carlo, but no swivel seats.
 
Car seats need to be mounted as tightly as possible, it is how they are designed.
Any free movement is transferred and multiplied into the child seat/child and can increase chances of injury.

I always used the latch mounts. Once installed correctly, they were not going anywhere.

That's what I thought of first as well.

I had a '77 Monte Carlo, but no swivel seats.
My Graco manual specifies a maximum of 1" fore-aft and side-to-side movement.
 
LATCH is the way to go for baby seats. When I worked as a porter at the dealer, you have no idea how many baby seats were improperly installed in customer cars. I’d usually take the time and either educate the customer with LATCH or ensuring the seat belt tensioner is “locked” out but tight.
 
On our seats,(evenflo I think?) I figured out eventually that once you buckled in the seat with the seat belt, you could reach in through the removable washable cover and start torqueing on the seat belts individually, while you had your knee on it and get it very tight.
That rotating seat does look a bit flexible, I assume its not for 40lb er's?
The seat is rated for up to 65 lbs. But after 35 lbs, you can no longer use latch.
 
But after 35 lbs, you can no longer use latch.
Is that car-seat-specific or for the LATCH system overall ? That's news to me, not that it matters nowadays ! It does seem that when you get into the booster seats (the type that mimic normal people car seats), they only use the seat belt and not LATCH.
 
Is that car-seat-specific or for the LATCH system overall ? That's news to me, not that it matters nowadays ! It does seem that when you get into the booster seats (the type that mimic normal people car seats), they only use the seat belt and not LATCH.
Pretty sure LATCH has a maximum weight limit of 65lbs rear facing and 60lbs forward facing so that is seat specific. That is a combined weight with the seat. Looks like our seats instruction manual has a weight limit of 45lbs for the child forward facing.
 
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