Question Convertible Seat with tall baby, tall daddy, and smallish backseats

I am looking for a convertible carseat with a strange set of circumstances (or hopefully, not so strange as I'm hoping someone has dealt with this!)

My baby is 8 months old, 21.5 pounds, but getting close to 30 inches tall. She's thus about to be too tall for her Chicco KeyFit 30 infant seat.

Daddy is 6 foot 5. We have a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe (the car I drive in which she rides most) and a 2010 Ford F150 4-door (but not the extended cab, pretty small backseat). Currently we have a base in each car for the Chicco. In the Hyundai, it fits pretty well behind the passenger seat, which has to be up fairly far, but still with a little more room to go forward. In the Ford, it just barely fits behind the passenger seat and that seat is pushed ALL the way forward, so whoever rides there has almost no legroom. My husband would not be able to fit in either car to drive if the Chicco was behind the driver seat, or to ride if behind the passenger seat.

So as I'm looking at the convertible seats (planning to get 2), they just all seem so HUGE. Because our infant seat takes up so much room, I'm concerned that nothing will fit. Also want the highest harness possible because my baby is 95th percentile for height and keeps growing!

I would like to get a Britax for safety, and I've heard good things about the Marathon for both tall babies and smaller cars. I've also been looking at the Graco Smart Seat, which I believe has a longer use as a booster. When looking at these at the store, I just could not imagine these seats fitting into even the Hyundai rear-facing. I'd like to stay rear-facing if at all possible, but I guess if I had to be forward facing in the Ford it would be OK.

I'm also thinking ahead...if I had another baby in the next 2 years, I'd need to fit the Chicco and the convertible seat both into these cars, with Dad being able to have a place to sit!

Has anyone dealt with these issues and have a suggestion/recommendation for a seat? Also, when you install rear-facing, must the seat recline ALL the way back if it is an older baby? I think the Marathon would fit in one of the more upright positions.

I know some of these Qs have been addressed but the posts were a little older and there may have been new seats released. Thanks in advance!

Have you looked into the Diono Radian, you may need the angle adjuster to help get it in right...

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I'm not a tech, so hopefully one will chime in and help you more, but I was in a similar position so here goes!

First, make sure your daughter hasn't already outgrown her seat. It is outgrown when she only has an inch of shell above her head, so she may already be there. My DD outgrew the keyfit long before 30" because she has a long torso.

I agree that the radian will probably be your best bet (if you need a seat now and can't wait). Definitely get the angle adjuster, it sounds like it won't fit in your car without it. In my experience the radian takes up more front to back room than the keyfit, so you may just have to try it and see.

My DH is 6'9" and I am 5'9" so I get the tall factor. My DD is only in the 75th percent for height but has been shooting up a lot lately. I figure our radian will keep her rear facing until at least 3, hopefully 4. Only when she outgrows it rear facing will I turn her. Until then I'll just deal with less room in the front.

Also, it sounds like you have her outboard behind the passenger. You may have more room putting her in the middle. My "oops we're have a second lo and can't afford a new car" plan is to put DD in the middle in her radian and new baby outboard passenger side in the keyfit. I haven't tried it but both seats are pretty narrow so hopefully it would work!

First off, she is still 16 months below the minimum ffing age recommendation, so that option is off the table.

Second, how much room does she have above her head in her infant seat? If she has a short torso, you may have a little more time than you think. My nephew just turned 2 months today and is 24 inches tall (so tall) but his shoulder height is a smidge under 7 inches, which is on the small side of normal for a newborn.

The truck...does it have normal opening doors or suicide doors? This will give us more info on which backseat configuration you are looking at.

i have a tall dh and we had an F150 like yours...i understand

we went with FF behind the driver and RF in the middle and behind the passenger (for 3 across) but that still left the passenger seat all the way forward. so, thankfully we traded the truck for a suburban now all is well.

It may loom huge, but I fit a rear-facing MyRide 65 into the same front-to-back space as a keyfit with base. It's a seat that would last a good while rear-facing even for a big kid.

She has about 2 inches from the top right now, maybe a little less, so we do have some time left on the infant seat. I'm just trying to do my research ahead of time so I don't have to be in a rush when she really needs it. She does have a long torso so I'm anticipating it won't be too long.

I'm not sure what you mean by "suicide doors" in the truck? It has four doors and you have to shut the back doors before the front. I'm not sure of the exact model, but I know it is not the biggest extended cab F-150. My husband now regrets not getting it...we weren't thinking about having kids at that point.

If she still fits in the KeyFit her torso is on the average side. Does your truck have a seatbelt in the middle? If it does, you can install a car seat in the middle so it fits between the 2 front seats. You may want to get 2 different seats for the cars. If you have a BRU near you, you can try them out in your car.

OK I just went out to look at the truck. It's a 2010 Ford F150 Lariat. That's all it says on the truck itself. There are shoulder belts on all three seats in the back.

The Britax seats arent great for tall kids, I have a 101% 3 yr old so I know first hand. That being said I have put a Britax Classic Marathon in an extended cab F150 and it was fine. I wouldnt ff her and I would k at a Radian, which also rf tethers and not many seats do, alot of parents are more comdotable with a rf tether because the back glass is RIGHT THERE.

I would also look at the Maxi Cosi Pria, doesnt tether but should fit in both vehicals

My inlaws have that truck and I was able to get my son's Coccoro RF in it, but just barely. It's a very small back seat.

TheTallFamily said:

She has about 2 inches from the top right now, maybe a little less, so we do have some time left on the infant seat. I'm just trying to do my research ahead of time so I don't have to be in a rush when she really needs it. She does have a long torso so I'm anticipating it won't be too long.

I'm not sure what you mean by "suicide doors" in the truck? It has four doors and you have to shut the back doors before the front. I'm not sure of the exact model, but I know it is not the biggest extended cab F-150. My husband now regrets not getting it...we weren't thinking about having kids at that point.

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Suicide doors mean they open opposite of a regular door. The term came from the idea that you could jump out of a moving car before a crash back in the 50's. If the doors opened backwards, the door would be behind you and hit you if you tried to jump out.

ahh, I see. Then I think, if I'm understanding you correctly, that the back doors of the truck are NOT suicide doors...the hinge is toward the back of the truck.

I'm pretty sure that you do have the suicide doors. It's the extended cabs that have regular doors.

OK, I just re-read..."opposite of a regular door" meaning they don't open like a 4-door sedan. OK, in that case, we DO have suicide doors and the truck is not an extended cab (more the pity!)

My mom has an older model Santa Fe and we have an Evenflo Triumph Advance (one of the older ones that harnesses to 50 lbs--they're now called the Triumph 65 and harness to 65 lbs). My dd and niece used to share it; now my niece and ds do (niece lives locally to my parents; we do not). Anyway, the point is that, the Triumph fits really well in my mom's Santa Fe, both rf and ff, and I require legroom while driving (I don't know why, as I'm only 5'6"). But that's maybe one to look at, as it may be a good fit for your SF. My ds is reasonably tall (not off the charts though), and my niece has a pretty long torso. They're 3 and 4 and both still fit well. I haven't tried my almost-7 year old in it recently but she'd probably fit too.

TheTallFamily said:

OK, I just re-read..."opposite of a regular door" meaning they don't open like a 4-door sedan. OK, in that case, we DO have suicide doors and the truck is not an extended cab (more the pity!)

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It has suicide doors and is an extended cab, not a crew cab.

Ah, OK, I'm obviously not up on my truck terminology... I never drive it. All I know is there is a model of F-150 which has an even bigger cab and less bed--this is I guess what they call a crewcab and is NOT what we have, we have the next size down but what I'm gathering from the replies is that this is still considered an extended cab.

We have a variety of seats - radian, onside air, triumph, classic marathon....and the triumph and onside air both support a fairly upright/ minimal depth install rf....the onside air is also as narrow as a radian...it's not the best FF, but pretty good RF, and for the price might be something to try....we love the straps (daily tightening and harness adjustment) on the evenflo! The side knob would probably be good for a truck install too....

The radian, even with the AA, takes up at least 2-3 more inches in my car than the others...the tether would be nice though for you!

UPDATE: The Britax Marathon 70-G3 worked for the Santa Fe and the F-150

Thanks to all for helping me narrow things down!

Just in case anyone else has a similar ordeal, Britax Marathon was the winner. I was able to fit it RF in the Santa Fe behind the driver seat even when it was pushed back into the position that my tall husband would need while driving (it barely fit this way). It would also fit RF in the center spot using seat belt installation, right next to my Keyfit infant seat if needed down the road (trying to conceive!) Currently since I just have the one kid it's installed behind the passenger seat with LATCH and fits easily there. For the tether RF, you use the extra loopy thing and wrap it around where the front seat is bolted to the floor.

In the truck, no way would it fit behind driver seat in husband position...NOTHING RF will, I guarantee. But it will fit in the center spot next to a Keyfit using seat belt, or behind the passenger seat using LATCH.