Rear facing installs in Fiat 500

ceridwen

New member
My brother is living outside the country for a couple of years and has left us his 2012 Fiat 500 to take care of while he's gone. Obviously not a car we would have selected with a baby to accommodate but we weren't going to turn down a second car. Thus began my quest to find a seat that would work for our daughter to rear face until at least 2 in that car (we don't need to use it every day, but wanted the option for all 3 of us to go places in it). Google and posting in Facebook groups gave a few suggestions, but no one with hands on experience.

First, we tried our Radian RXT (what she normally rides in in our 2011 Subaru Outback) with the angle adjuster:
15021971380_f71cfc4ecf.jpg

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This worked pretty well. We were able to put the front seat back one click from as far forward as it goes, and move the seat back back one click as well. Not super comfortable for me as the passenger (5'6" with short legs) but my knees aren't completely in the dash. But it's not a cheap seat and as long as we were looking at spending that much again we wanted to try out the other options that were available.

We took a trip to the city to get some warranty work done on the car and were able to try out seats at Babies R Us. We also purchased the Milestone at Target to try out. Unfortunately no pics for most of them because I didn't have time.

Milestone: Doesn't fit. Can't click the front seat into position, even as far forward as it goes.
Size4Me/MySize: Fits with front seat as far forward as it can be and headrest all the way down. Can't raise headrest.
NextFit: Fits basically the same as the Size4Me but headrest can go up 1 click.
4ever: Allows front seat to be back two clicks, and the seat back of the front seat to be back 2 clicks, giving about 1-2 inches more space than the Radian and a more comfortable ride for the front seat passenger. Headrest can go all the way up without interacting with front seat.

We were recommended to try the Guide65 but didn't because my daughter is likely several months away from 22lbs so we wouldn't be able to use the more upright angle on that seat yet.

Pics of the 4ever:
15227907057_bf69a9f735.jpg

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It's hard to see the bubble in the pic, but it is just barely within the blue and settles a bit more into it when we put her in the seat. The car seat does not touch the seat back even when her weight is in the seat. We installed with both seatbelt and latch and latch worked better as it avoided tipping problems with the seat. Playing around with it, the 4ever actually fits even in the most reclined position, which should give a good recline level for a newborn. I'm pretty sure it's actually a more compact install (even at the most reclined level) than our KeyFit.

None of the seats I've tried will fit rear facing behind the driver seat, which do not go as far forward as the passenger seat. I don't see having two babies rear facing in this car being an option, but I was pretty pleased we were able to find a way to rear face our toddler in it.
 
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Dillipop

Well-known member
Another seat you might try, if you don't mind the expense and you are still looking, is the clek foonf. It installs pretty upright and fits in small places well.
 

ceridwen

New member
I would probably have tried it if we had an option available locally, but I wanted to avoid ordering online and having to deal with returning something if it didn't fit since this car was such a tough install to begin with. Plus I managed to get the 4ever for ~$200. I think the Foonf would have been tough to sell my husband on.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I us a clek fllo in there. similar to the foonf. I could not get the ant-rebound bar to fit. I believe the foon requires it, but the fllo does not. Try putting the baby in and out through the rear hatch. It works great for us.
 

ceridwen

New member
Scenara NEXT does work, we now own one as a travel seat (it wasn't available at the time we were originally looking for a seat for this vehicle). Depending how upright you choose to install it it can give you more space up front than any of the other RF seats I've tried.

That said, I still have yet to encounter any seat that can RF behind the driver seat. Even the NEXT used very upright just doesn't fit. As a result my daughter (now 2.5 years old) has to forward face behind the driver in that car now so that we can have her brother's seat installed RF on the passenger side.

We do load and unload RF kids through the rear hatch. Much easier than trying to fit them through the doors.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
 

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