What infant seat in a 1994 Civic and need Tech in Denver

My sister and brother-in-law just got news that they will be adopting a baby due in early July. I am trying to help them pick their seat.

They want an infant seat, and I thought I would steer them toward a 30+ pound seat. They drive a 1994 Honda Civic and aren't super tall (5'8 and 5'11 ish), but will need a fair bit of leg room in the front. I heard good things about the Onboard 35, but is that too huge for a '94 Civic? Is there something else you would recommend?

Also, they are in Denver. Does anyone know of a good car seat clinic or tech there?

Thanks!

You can find techs in CO here http://www.carseatscolorado.com/Events/index.cfm?fuseaction=SearchFittingStations

They're likely to have that Civic for a long time since they're such good cars, lol! Unless they're like my dh and me. We had our firstborn for a week before we panicked and bought a Sienna ! (We traded our '89 Civic for it--our '96 RAV4 barely was big enough at the time too).

As long as they don't get an Evenflo infant seat, they're OK. Graco, Dorel (which includes the onBoard 35), Combi, and Chicco all allow their handles to be in the up position which buys the front seats several inches of leg room. Also, the center position in the back seat is a lap-only belt, which is the easiest place to install the carseat in this vehicle. I don't know when exactly Honda put locking retractors on their lap/shoulder belts (it was required beginning on the model year '96 vehicles), but it's likely that their car doesn't have seatbelts that lock on the outside positions. This won't matter if they buy a higher-end seat because the carseat will have built-in lockoffs, which will lock the belt tight, but the Dorel onBoard 35 has different versions and the lower-end version has a cheap base without lockoffs.

If they don't buy a carseat with a lockoff built-in, they'll have to mess with a locking clip if they install the carseat in a position with a lap/shoulder belt.

Congrats to them!

I hope your seat style is similar to the 90,91,92 civics (not sure which one my nice has) Her sister and I had Graco infant seat so she was leaning towards them anyways. Saved me from posting a question myself. Good information to have!:thumbsup:

Why would you be steering them towards a large infant seat? In a smaller car, I'd prefer a convertible that can be installed more upright when the baby is ready for it (usually long before 30#).

chickabiddy said:

Why would you be steering them towards a large infant seat? In a smaller car, I'd prefer a convertible that can be installed more upright when the baby is ready for it (usually long before 30#).

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They want the function of the removable infant bucket, and to get through that first winter in the bucket, they may need a larger one, in case it's a big baby.

Just like convertibles, can't infant seats also be installed more upright when the baby is old enough?

Is there a smaller bucket that you would recommend for their small, latchless car?

Oh, and it looks like someone will be giving them a Graco snap-n-go (Snugrider?) stroller frame, so ideally the seat they get will work with that. Does anyone know if the Onboard 35 or the Keyfit 30 work with the Graco stroller?

Technically, yes, infant seats can be installed more upright, but IMO/IME it's easier to do it with a convertible.

I cant help with rear facing seats but I do know the belts will not lock. I have a 95 2 door civic and ERL belts. I can tell you what fits forward facing in the center but that's a long ways off and probably have a another car by then or new seats out at that time.

chickabiddy said:

Technically, yes, infant seats can be installed more upright, but IMO/IME it's easier to do it with a convertible.

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THis is true, but it is not always easy to get a convertible to fit at a 45* angle in any car. An infant seat is easier to get to a 45* angle, imo (unless it is a radian, and that probably wouldn't fit rf in this car)

I had the same car they have before the 2000 Elantra I drive now and it had significantly more back seat space than my Elantra yet we've had no problem getting the 30# Safeseat in our car with front seats back with plenty of room for long legged parents (very similar heights to theirs)

We love our Safeseat even installed outboard now; we felt that it was totally worth it to have a bigger infant seat to get thru a Wisconsin winter.

Even now with my dd being 15 months old & 26#, we still carry her in the seat every once in a while when its raining or she's sleeping or whatever. We're actually dreading having to switch soon okay, i'm mostly dreading finding convertibles that work for us...