Yes, I use Honda OEM seat covers. They fit great, look good and protect the leather very well from my experience. Plus the carseat grips it a little better than the leather so I think it would be win-win.

 

I have some shear comfor installed in the middle row about two months back... but these days we barely drive. Although we did take one hour trip with that. Didnt notice anything problematic.

 

We use it under large toddler 5 point harness Britax. Don't remember the brand of the car seat liner, something babies r us used to sell. We don't use them with full back Chicco boosters. The car is for us to enjoy, not for me to go out of my way trying to preserve it for resale value so the next guy can enjoy it. 🙂

 

yeah, I agree. Especially after reading some articles that it might be dangerous to have something between seat and car seat. But I was just curious if other people did their research and have information to share

 

Car seat mats/seat protectors can also mask a bad install. If you're concerned about your vehicle seats, you can remove the car seat to condition the vehicle seats about once a month or so.

But yes, like others have mentioned, you can only use protectors that have been approved for use with your specific seats. Your car seat manual with tell you what is approved.

 

The primary source of restraint for the infant or child seat is the vehicle's seat belt or the infant / child seat harness that attaches to the LATCH anchors on the car.

I have not seen any testing that would indicate that a thick towel placed over the vehicle's seat would lessen the capability of the vehicle's seat belt or the LATCH system to do its job. Car seat companies won't test a seat with anything between their product and the test vehicle seat, as there is no way to standardize this in the testing process unless it is their own brand.

OF

 

Towel would slide on both leather and plastic bottom of most car seats. The actual car seat liners are rubberized to prevent that.

 

Great discussion!
I had a Lusso car seat protector for 2 weeks and I noticed that child seat moves more side to side when compared to child seat installed only on car seat with nothing in between.
So I decided to install all child seats with nothing between car seat and child seat.

 

Friction between car seat and child seat does nothing for a side impact. You need to tighten the hell out of the seat belt against its ratchet (if that is what your are using), or the LATCH harness.

Installed properly, you will put divots into the leather or fabric, and cushioning. A cover or towel does nothing to prevent this in a tightly and properly installed safety seat. All a cover or towel does is temporarily keep barf, spilled food or drink from first touching the automobile seat. If you can tug the child seat on any seating surface (fabric, leather or a towel on top of either), and that child seat moves in the least, it ain't tight enough, period.

If you physically cannot get on top of the seat (get into that crouch), jam one knee into it, and put your entire weight into it to get those belts (or LATCH harness) as tight as humanly possible, then anything less than that is an unknown half-measure. In that case, get somebody who can; no shame in that. The policeman at a Seat Check Saturday can do this...yes, he will jam the child seat into the automobile seat deeper than you thought possible, and it will look like the automobile seat surface will most certainly be damaged....I say screw it, go all the way, you can replace the seat cover. What you want is the belts securing the child seat as tight as banjo strings; same if you are using LATCH.

Too many people worry that "a towel might cause it to slip", and then when the child seat starts to really crunch into the automobile seat as they tighten things down, they back down for fear of ruining the automobile seat. Wrong answer. The hell with damaging the automobile seat surface or not; you can replace it when your kid outgrows that child seat. You can't replace your kid.

OF

 

Hi everyone,

What is your take on seat protectors from carseats?
I read some articles that carseat companies don't do crash test when there is something between seat and child carseat and do not recommend to have anything between.
Do you guys put it or no?
If yes - what do you use?
If not - any tips to maintain leather?

Valid question. We use a car seat cover that is made of faux leather (very durable and fits well) to protect the leather seats. You can find a ton of options online.

The anchors/latches and seat belt routes on the car seats are there for a reason. Having something like a seat cover in between isn't going to do anything to decrease the effectiveness of the car seat, if it is secured properly.

It's not like the bottom of the car seat base has dragon claws that pierce into your leather with an epoxy super glue that's included as a must to aid in the car seats job to protect the child right? If there was a front or rear impact, the latch is there to do it's job. On the other hand if there was a side impact, the effectiveness would be the same with or without a seat cover or even a towel.

The bottom line is, secure the car seat base according to the instructions and make it tight. That is the best that you can do and regardless of what's in between (within reason like a car seat cover, towel etc...) it will do what it's designed to do in holding the car seat in place nice and secure. Relying on little rubber feet thinking that it would do anything is silly lol... It's the proper anchoring of the car base that means everything.

As as side note, for the car seat itself where the child sits, the foam and cushion have an expiration date. Crazy right? Check yours to see when the inserts expire. I've found this very intriguing, but it makes sense...

Hope that helps.

 

unlock42, thanks for wording that in the best possible way that I could not.

True that, again from unlock42...in general, the polypropylene that makes up the structure (along with steel inserts, in some cases) of the child seat lasts an incredibly long time. Not so the open cell foam that usually is included in the padding, hence I'll see a date tag on the padding. Parents will dutifully note that the car seat appears in good shape as they put the child seat restraing belts into different slots (for a growing kid) without ever noticing that the foam in the cushions is now crushed, and no longer comfortable on any trip. It's a wear item, and needs to be replaced.

OF