Question Frustrated! Need convertible for small car...

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi,

I'm trying to find a convertible car seat for my 1 year old. I'd love to keep her rear-facing. Unfortunately, the baby is tall and our car is a Toyota Echo, which has VERY little room in the back (a little bit less than the Subaru Forester). We've tried the First Years True Fit, Britax Boulevard, and Radian 65 so far and none of them fit. Any recommendations on what else to try? Am I going to have to settle for one of the smaller convertibles like the Coccoro in order to keep baby rf? Of course, such a seat will probably be outgrown quickly, since baby is at the 75 percentile for height. Or do I have to give up on extended rf with such a small car?

Thanks,
Alex
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Neither. Were you installing the seat more upright, or at the 45 degree newborn angle? The Radian may be tough, but the True Fit and Boulevard fit in small back seats very well. All seats but the True Fit can go as upright as 30 degrees. The True Fit can go to 35 (if 0 is upright and 90 is flat on the back). Basically, you can go as upright as 1 o'clock on a clock face, or as reclined as 1:30.

Wendy
 

Maedze

New member
I agree, either the Boulevard or the True Fit will fit nicely as long as you install them nice and upright.

Two other seats that work very well in confined spaces and will keep your child rear facing for a long time yet are the Graco My Ride 65 and the Safety First Complete Air.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Thanks for the quick responses!

I've heard about installing seats more upright, but it seems as though the manuals for the seats we tried state that with rf, the seats have to be installed fully reclined. So I'm confused! Are those instructions only for using the seat with a smaller baby? If so, why aren't instructions provided on how to install with a different angle? I just want to make sure that we're installing the seat safely!
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
It's horribly confusing. Ready?

Seats must be in the recline mode rear facing. However, that doesn't mean they're usually forced into a 45 degree angle. You can keep it in the recline mode, but pull it away from the seat back an inch or two, then add weight at the foot of the seat. That will install it more upright. But reclined.

Wendy
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
And the britax manuals actually state that :) It is in their manual that the seat needs to be in recline mode for rear facing, but it can be between 30 and 45 degrees reclined.

Oh, and there are a couple of tricks to do this. One is to pull the seat away from the seat bight (crack) and when installing it, push down where the feet go, rather than where the baby's butt would go.
 

Ali

New member
Definitely what Wendy said!

A neighbor has an Echo and you're right - it's tiny!

But, we had a 2 door 1994 Saturn Coupe when DD was younger and I was able to get a rearfacing Marathon in. It was quite reclined (she was an infant) which made the front passenger seat almost unusable, but if she had been older, it would have been fine.

You can see a pic here: http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=439504&postcount=2.
 

Jocey'sMommy

New member
i have installed my Marathon(same shell as the boulevard) in a VW Bug RFing at about a 30degree angle and still had room in the passenger seat for an adult(granted not a tall adult lol) It all depends on the angle ;) Center is also easier that outboard positions in small cars
 

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