2005 Nissan Sentra, have Evenflo Triumph, want second seat (better and that will fit both in Sentra eventually)

I have a 2005 nissan sentra, and have been using the convertible triumph. DD is almost a year, we are going to need a second car seat (will be starting daycare so both need to be able to transport). I would like the carseats to fit RF in the sentra in the future should we have our second child soon (we will probably try before too long and then we can stop daycare.) If not rear facing, I guess around 2 we can flip DD forward anyways. She HATES car rides so we've been considering flipping her sooner anyways should we not be able to find a solution (but that was another post lol).

When I bought the evenflo, things like britrax were too expensive and radian's weren't locally available but now both are relatively affordable. I think that some of those were smaller and could possibly fit.

What do you suggest?

oh- and we are taking the triumph with us next week while we go on vacation to NV so ideally I will buy something to put in the car by then.

How heavy/tall is your DD? Most intereted in a seated height to top of the head (or just measure how many inches she has before the top of her head reaches the top of the shell in her seat). Is the seat you have the Triumph Advance (30lbsRF/47lbsFF with infinite adjust harness - has red tabs over shoulders) or an older Triumph (I think that harness had slots for diff harness heights)? The Advance ("EFTA") has a nice tall shell while the older Triumph I think was not as long-lasting. We recommend to RF until at least 2yo, but preferably to 3-4yo. It is totally doable with the seats on the market now!

What is your other vehicle?

Re: hating the car - is your seat installed at a 45 degree angle still? An older baby with better head control can gradually be installed more upright and many prefer to be more upright so they can look around more, so that might be something to try. Some EFTAs also had issues with a bump at the lower end of the harness adjustment range that would press on baby's back, so this could be the issue as well. A different seat might help. Another issue with the EFTAs can also be that the knobs allow the harness to be over-tightened, so make sure that the harness isn't squeezing her. You want to tighten just until you can't pinch any slack across the strap at the collar bone, but not so much that the child "re-inflates" when you loosen it a bit.

Radians are a wonderful seat and they will last the longest both RF and FF, but do at times have install issues, and also it is hard to adjust the angle at which they install, so if you can't install it upright enough for your older baby they do take up a ton of room front to back. They are definitely worth a try, though!

The Britax seats are fine, they do not last quite as long as some others and have less leg room for RF than other seats, and also tend to be expensive compared to the competition, but are very nice seats none the less. They do fit small spaces, for sure. I would consider other options as well, though.

Depending on weight/height, I would also consider the Graco MyRide, the First Years True Fit and the Safety 1st Complete Air. All will fit in a smaller vehicle quite well, even the TF and CA with their very tall shells, because they easily install more upright. The TF and MR will fit a small baby well, though if you needed a seat for a new baby you could always use the EFTA for the baby and use the higher-RF-wt limit seat for your DD.

The EFTA that you have is a good seat but these days a 30lb RF limit is really too low for all but the most petite children to ERF, so I would not buy another Evenflo convertible.

Another very budget friendly option which has decent RF limits and will fit a smaller baby, and fits very well in small spaces, is the Cosco Scenera. It is very bare bones but perfectly adequate. It also has it's new cousin, the Safety 1st OnSide Air, which is a bit more but has the "airbags" and maybe better padding.

Hope that gives you a start to ask more details about the seats you are interesed in. I would pick 2-3 front runners and then go to the store to try DD in them, and do a trial instal to see how they fit.

That's right, it is the Advance. It's the last model, not the latest. It was a pretty good seat last year lol.
I am not sure how much she weighs, she's around 23lbs now (but could easily be a bit more). She's about 30 inches tall. I just measured and she's around 18" sitting (ground to head top).

I have to double check on the angle- I don't think we've ever changed the angle on the seat. And I'm sure sometimes she's a bit squished in there lol. She will scream her brains out sometimes and it seems there's nothing we can do. I pass her toy after toy, right now she's a bit mellower with some kid's music playing.

We don't have much room front- to-back. I like to drive with the seat all the way back, at most I can comfortably do it with it a click up. This works fine with just the one seat in the middle. We had a friend's infant bucket in the back for a while (beside DD) and we had to have the front seat pushed all the way forward- my friend is about 5"1 and she was squished!

The other car we have right now is a 1985 Toyota Camry, we are upgrading to a 2005(?) Taurus sometime this summer I think for the second car.

Gotta go somebody needs me!

That does sound like a tight fit - I would definitely check on the angle. It can be installed as upright as 30 degrees from vertical (so not quite halfway between 45 degrees and fully vertical). It can save quite a bit of space. Most infant buckets take up more front to back room than a convertible, especially if the convertible is installed more upright.

Your EFTA is still a great seat. It just has somewhat lower limits so it may not be an option that fits "all" applications, but for your fairly avg size DD it is just fine. :thumbsup: (Other than maybe she doesn't like it, lol).

Since she doesn't sound to be exceptionally tall, I would look at both the Britax seats and the MyRide. The MyRide is probably about half the price and has more leg room, and I think the shell is a bit taller, so it might last a little longer RF. It's huge but fits surprisingly small. I really like mine. (You would want to try to put it in FF as well to see if you are happy with the install - it does have occasional compatibility issues FF in some vehicles, though the latest word is that it is allowed to overhang and the FF feet can either be on the seat or float as long as the seat back is along the vehicle seat and the install is solid.) You may also still be able to find an older style Britax for a reduced price but they only have a 30lb RF limit and even less leg room than the new models, though the shell is a little taller. A 30lb limit should probably get you to 2yo unless your DD suddenly sprouts. As I said, my personal preference out of the two is the MyRide, DS at 3.5yo is very comfy in the MR while he was starting to look quite squashed for leg room well over a year ago in the old-style MA.

The TF would probably be an option as well since your DD is only in the lower/mid 20's for weight. It has a RF limit of only 35lbs but that should be plenty. I find my slimmer kids gain about 2-5lbs/yr, so even at a conservative 6 lbs you would get another 1-1.5 years in it RF, but most likely longer (keep in mind I am making guesses here, based on my own kids' growth). Doublecheck her weight to be sure before you get a seat with a lower limit. The TF can go as upright as 35 degrees from vertical, but the way the removable headrest angles a bit inward seems to make it fit decently as well.

The Scenera is still an option for a very small seat but if you aren't on a really tight budget I would try the MyRide or one of the other seats first. :twocents:

Oh, two more things:
1. Do you have the car all picked out? I have no experience with the Taurus, but have found the Ford Focus to have an incredibly small amount of front-to-back space. Having installed the same seats in the (04?) Focus vs 2001 and 2007 Honda Civics, I have found I was eating the dash in the Focus when there was comfortable room in the other two. So, try your seats in there before you decide unless you are getting a super deal on a specific vehicle.

2. Check the Public Listing of Canadian Technicians to see if there is a CS.org tech in your area, if you have any problems and would like to have some individual help.

The car is going to be gifted to us from a family member, fortunately (or unfortunately lol) but it's a super deal at free ha ha. I think it's actually more like a 2001. It seems to me that tauruses had a decent amount of room, at least the old ones. But I could totally be wrong on that.

I will try to take a look at:
britax (any?)
Graco my ride
First Years True Fit
radian
and the Safety 1st Complete Air

I think what we'll do is just try them all RF at the appropriate angle (more upright) for her behind the passenger seat, next to the triumph advance, so we can see what that arrangement will be like if we have another baby in a year or so.

I was just reading the manual that came with my triumph and saw that it's not for babies under 19", I am lucky DD was 22" because it never occurred to me to check the height restrictions! I guess there's a reason you are supposed to read the manual!

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it!

Come back if you have more questions once you look at seats.

Hah, yes, reading the manual helps. But I think the EFTA tends to fit most babies well - you just need the baby's shoulders to be at least level with the bottom harness position - the overall height is a guideline but may not guarantee fit anyway.

Free is always nice. I think in that case you can find a seat to fit the car, yes! LOL

okaaaayyyyy... here's the scoop.
we tried a few britax seats, the only one that will fit beside the ET is the marathon (or the counterpart, which is more expensive, I don't remember which it is).
the radian will also fit.
both will only fit forward facing.
NOTHING else has fit.
we did not find a myride, but tried a couple of others.

we also discovered that the car seat has been incorrectly installed this whole time (going on a year!), our middle belt does not keep it stable it pulls it up on one side, so DH used the latches (as per instruction manual with seat) but then we checked the car manual and we shouldn't be doing that! soooo we have now installed it behind passenger, and had to recline it fully! it's not supposed to be upright at all when it's RF!!

so we can't try to keep her upright to see if that makes her hate her seat less, we can't have a passenger in the front seat, we can't fit a second car seat RF if we have one in the middle... hmmm this is getting worse and worse...

so, we have made some arrangements to pick up a car seat once we get to the US, leave it there when done, and then start all over when we get the new car. For now, DH is very nervous having DD on the side. what can we do to the seatbelts to get her back in the middle? I'm sure there must be a solution!?

The Radian is a PITB to install forward-facing and won't install rear-facing in my mom's 2003 Sentra. :twocents:

The Complete Air (not LX) fits like a dream at a 30 degree angle behind the passenger, with the front seat upright (but not too far forward to be very usable.) It also installs excellently well with seatbelt forward-facing. It should install fine in the center; if you don't want it to pull up on the side (which isn't an issue safety wise, but if you don't like it) use a locking clip instead of the switchable retractor.

HTH!

What she said! You can use a locking clip on a lap/shoulder belt instead of locking at the retractor to keep it from tipping.

You can also install more upright - you need it to be in full mechanical recline mode, but if you push down at the toe area of the seat instead of where baby's bum goes, while you tighten the install, you can get it sitting more upright. You may need to pull the seat away from the seat back a little bit as well (the shell will slide in tight as you tighten but at a better angle). This is what we mean that you can install more upright. It should be possible and allow more room for your front passenger seat.

I guess I missed that you wanted to install the two seats side by side. Unless you need them to fit this way and are willing to get narrow seats or ones that puzzle well (and the EFTA is neither) then it is ok to put the seats both outboard. Middle is a bit safer but outboard is ok, too, especially if your seats won't otherwise fit.

Using center latch when it isn't allowed is a very common mistake - at least now you know and nothing happened in the meantime. :thumbsup:

Hope that's all clear. By the time you are done all the research and test installs and reading, you will be a pro! (and then you must promise to help spread the word )

Oh, yeah, there is no way that you're going to get 2 side by side. That back seat is just too narrow for it to work, and that middle space in particular. Since the Radian is a no-go rear-facing, it just won't happen. They'll both have to be outboard, sorry. However, outboard and rear-facing, correctly installed and used, is VERY VERY safe.