'07 Sentra- what seats would you recommend?

todzwife

New member
My brother's wife is due in December with their first baby. I offered my keyfit but they are wanting to get a convertible from birth. He's a police officer and is doing his research. His wife likes "Eddie Bauer" but I told him not to bother with those :whistle:

Can someone tell me if a Radian would fit RFing in a Sentra? What about a Marathon or BLVD70.
I may offer up my keyfit30 for them to borrow for a couple months until he grows into something better (it will be winter but they live in Phoenix).

Thanks in advance!

ETA: he said he'd prefer "one seat until he is big enough for a booster"...
 
ADS

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
No way will the Radian fit. The Complete Air can fit pretty well at a 30 degree angle. The Britax seats might fit but I haven't tried them.

Many children will need a combination seat after a convertible, and in the case of the Sentra, honestly it's extremely likely that a combination seat will be necessary after the convertibles that fit well in that car. (Unfortunately, you need a really low-profile combination seat, and many of the larger ones will not be usable to their full height.)
 

todzwife

New member
No way will the Radian fit. The Complete Air can fit pretty well at a 30 degree angle. The Britax seats might fit but I haven't tried them.

Many children will need a combination seat after a convertible, and in the case of the Sentra, honestly it's extremely likely that a combination seat will be necessary after the convertibles that fit well in that car. (Unfortunately, you need a really low-profile combination seat, and many of the larger ones will not be usable to their full height.)

thank you :) any seats I should point them toward?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Well, I'd say the Complete Air is the longest-lasting seat I KNOW will fit in there. (The front seat was even still usable.) The True Fit might as well but I haven't tried the lockoffs with that belt/LATCH geometry. I'd look for low-profile and tall-shelled if possible, but able to sit upright, for ease of rear-facing in that car, and then tall enough slots that SOME kids might make it to booster age, and maybe they'll get lucky, with the caveat and knowledge that they may later need a FF only or combination seat as followup. I'd focus on this stage first, and worry about the combination seat later. More seats come out every year (heck, Clek is coming out with a FF only seat next year, don't know at all what that's gonna look like!)
 

jjordan

Moderator
The big down side to the complete air is that the bottom harness slots are quite high and newborns are unlikely to fit well in the seat.

People seem to have been having good luck with fitting the new Britax convertibles (MA70, BV70) into small front-back situations. And they have lower bottom slots than previous Britax convertibles, as well as an infant insert, so it seems like they should work well for newborns. But I haven't seen any real-life reports on that yet. Still, those seats would be on my short list.

Any guesses as to the approximate size of this new baby? Are the parents tall/short/heavy/skinny/long torsoed/etc?
 

todzwife

New member
Mama is about 5 foot 3 and average build. My brother is 5 10 ish and buff LOL!. He was a TINY TINY kid though (but he was a preemie and only ate PB&J sandwiches until he was about 8 so...)
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
One thing about the new Britaxes is that they have really deep sides. I can definitely see that causing loading problems in the Sentra. And I do NOT think they would fit well at a 45 degree angle. If I had a Sentra, and no way to get a different car, I'd probably, personally, be doing Coccoro, Complete Air when outgrown (unless kid was really tiny and got to 3 plus RF in the Coccoro) and then hoping they didn't outgrow the CA as a FF harness until 6 or so. (Which is feasible for many kids-- my 6 year old still fits in it with room to spare, though she's skinny. It will soon be rated to 65 lbs. That will help with that too.)
 

gigi

New member
Not sure if the body changed, but I had a heck of a time getting my BLVD65 into my SILs 05 Sentra (extremely chiseled, narrow seats). I ended up getting it in passenger outboard (at a toddler angle) but the front seat was fairly useless and at a newborn angle it would be REALLY useless.

And forget about LATCH. Those were the worst placed achors I've ever tried to use. Not a great situation for car seat installs.

I'd get a Cocorro too for that car b/c it can be upright and still safe for a newborn. And then hope something better suited to the car was out or we bought a new car :) bythe time I needed a bigger convertible.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Somewhere on this board there are pictures of a CA at a 30 degree-ish angle in a Sentra. It does fit well with some work, and I was able to sit comfortably in front of it. But yeah, for a newborn, Coccoro all the way in my book. :)
 

todzwife

New member
Thank you :) I have a coccoro coming (should be here any minute) so when I see them at the end of September for our baby sister's wedding I'll show them how to install it in case that's the route they want to take.

What about borrowing my Keyfit30 and use it until baby can be at a 30 degree angle in a CA? Would that be an option?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Yes, I'd say that should work, though I think the Coccoro can give even more room (and lasts a while longer) than the Keyfit. Make sure they know to always leave the handle on the Keyfit up if they go that route, as it's both safer and gives more space. They can leave the seat in the car, and basically use it as a convertible. If they don't want to carry it around they don't have to.
 

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