Convertible car seat for a small car (Geo Metro) and a big baby

[pablob]

Hi!

We are currently using an infant seat for our baby (it barely fits, but it does!), but he looks like he is going to be taller than 30 inches way before he's 1 year old. Thus, we would need to get a new seat, but we'd like to get a convertible one we could switch to forward-facing after he is old enough.

We've been looking around, but it is not clear that the models we saw would fit in our car when used as rear-facing. Does anybody have any recommendations or specific car seat models that might work?

We are in Alberta, Canada (just FYI).

Thanks a lot!

[bobandjess99]

If he is an only child, the absolutel best option is to sacrifice your front passenger seat, push it all the way forward and up, and get a nice big convertible so you can rearface to the maximum limit of 30 or 35 pounds. Have the second adult sit in the back behind the driver.
We used this method when dd was a baby. When we had ds, and therefore 2 kids/total of four people and needed the front passenger seat, it became exceedingly difficult. do you guys have the coccoro in canada? Otherwise, one "trick" is that seats do not need to be the full 45 degree angle for an older child, they can be as upright as 30 degrees, so you can fit some pretty big seats into a fairly small space...but still, in a metro, you'll be ushing the front passenger WAY up.....Our titan fits pretty well, as long as the front passenger is me (5 entire feet tall) and it is really upright.

[QuassEE]

Although we do not ever recommend disregarding any portion of the users manual for your carseat or your vehicle manual, I would first like to point out that the height limitation on your carseat is likely somewhat arbitrary. One child at 30" could fit completely differently in the seat as compared to another. Each child is different, and many children have their height in their legs versus their torso. As a result, the recommendation is to discontinue use of your infant carrier (or discontinue rear-facing use of an infant-child restraint) once the child has reached the point where they have only 1" of hard plastic shell left above their head OR has reached the maximum weight of the restraint--whichever comes first. You may have more time in your infant seat than you think.

You're also quite correct that the next step would be to continue rear-facing in a child restraint that both rear-faces and forward faces. However, don't be in a hurry to forward-face your child. Children are much safer if they continue rear-facing until the limits of the seat (30, 33, 35lbs here in Canada) which often times is 2 or 3 years old. Every "graduating" step with carseats is actually a step down in safety. Once your infant seat is outgrown, look for a rear-facing/forward-facing seat that can be used rear-facing as long as possible, and then has a tall maximum harness height and high upper weight limit for forward-facing. There's a list of higher weight harnessed seats at the top of this forum.

As for the Geo Metro...One thing to be aware of--if your infant seat fits in your Metro with the necessary 45 degree newborn angle, a larger infant/child restraint will fit just fine. Why? Once your child hits about 8-10m, they have the head and neck control to be more upright than 45 degrees. Because it is such a small vehicle, you may want to consult the Compatibility Database: http://www.carseatdata.org/ but keep in mind that it's a US tool and will also list US seats in it. You'll have to narrow down from there. Another "tool" is to head to the store and try out some seats in there before you buy. Toys R Us is great for this, as are boutique specialty stores. Zellers may also let you try out seats if you give them your driver's license to hold.

I have no doubt that you'll have a full selection of seats to choose from, even with your smaller vehicle.


-Nicole.

[pablob]

Thanks a lot for the experience and information!

We'll be looking at the different choices we can find around here. I might be back with more questions, though. :)