Infant Seat & Marathon

[Unregistered]

My 2.5 year old (42 pounds) is FF in a Marathon in my 2006 Impala. My husband took our Graco Snugride out to my car yesterday to make sure that it would fit in with the Marathon and it doesn't look like it's going to fit side by side (infant in the middle) due to width and when we put it behind the passenger seat, the seat has to be moved all the way forward with the back completely straight and the infant seat still touches the back of the passenger seat. Is this safe or should we look into a different infant seat? If so, what infant seat do you recommend...we looked at the Baby Trend seats yesterday and they look to be narrower but I've never seen one installed.

[skaterbabscpst]

It's OK for the infant seat to touch the front seat. Installing it without the base will give you a little more front-to-back room as well.

As for the front seat being upright, that's actally safer for yor passenger.

[Mama Jo]

The only infant seats that are specifically NOT allowed to touch the front seat are the Evenflo infant seats. Unless your vehicle manual states that a child restraint cannot touch the seat in front of it (particularly due to airbag sensors) it's ok.

Which model SnugRide is it? The 22 lb or the 32 lb? I had a Graco SafeSeat (30 lb.) installed with the base behind the passenger seat of my 2004 Malibu, with a few inches to spare between the infant seat and the seat in front of it, so you should be able to make it work.

[Unregistered]

It's the 22 pound model...We bought it in 2006 for DS.

[mommycat]

Another thing you could check out if you have not done so already - look in your manual to see if you can leave the handle up on the SnugRide. I am pretty sure any new ones allow the handle to be up in the car, giving you that much more room.

I have seen people here mention 3-across in an Impala...
http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=738829&postcount=2

Someone with a very similar issue - an '03 Impala and 2 RF seats, a SnugRide and a Boulevard. She managed to get the two seats in side by side with the SR in the center:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=69221&highlight=impala+snugride

I am also wondering if it is the SR32 and not the 22lb one, as that would mean it would be bigger and possibly harder to fit. (Here's someone who was not able to get a Safe Seat (previous version of SR32) next to a FF Marathon: http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=163740&postcount=10 but then later says they got a 3 across in it with the Safe Seat, a MA and a Regent... http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=269190&postcount=4)

Also, when you tried to put the seats side by side, were you installing using LATCH or seatbelts? Using seatbelts allows you to have more flexibility about where the seat sits in the car, allowing you to move it over sideways a bit to make more room for the seat beside it.

[Mama Jo]

Is the SR32 the same size as the SS? Because I could get my SS behind the passenger seat of the malibu (which is a little smaller than the impala) and was still able to flip the handle back if I wanted to. (Though I never did.) And my front seat passenger was not uncomfortable.

Hmm... I've never tried to get the SS next to the BV. Maybe I'll try that out tonight...

[mommycat]

I 'm actually not sure if they are the same or not. ??

[Mama Jo]

I am also wondering if it is the SR32 and not the 22lb one, as that would mean it would be bigger and possibly harder to fit. (Here's someone who was not able to get a Safe Seat (previous version of SR32) next to a FF Marathon: http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=163740&postcount=10 but then later says they got a 3 across in it with the Safe Seat, a MA and a Regent... http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=269190&postcount=4)


I wonder if in that 3 across, they had the SS in the base, but not necessarily able to pop it in and out...? Although it would probably be tough to determine if they were all independently tight without being able to take the seat out and put it back in...

I seem to remember trying to get my SS next to something (maybe it was the BV) where I could get it to fit if I put it in first and left it in the base. But then I couldn't get it out. Which made it difficult to determine if the seat installed next to it was independently tight.