dont know how to pick a new seat - Canada

U

Unregistered

Guest
Miss 2.5 needs a new seat. She's 98cm and 14kg so off the charts for height and avg weight and is ff'ing. We will have a newborn in Oct. We have a '09 Hyundai Elantra. Dh is tall. I just don't know how to decide what to get. My thought is I'd like to have one seat in the middle in Oct (newborn?) so third seat can still be used by an adult.
 
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Keeks64

New member
Hi & Welcome!

Which car seat is your DD currently using?

Given her age/weight/height your going to want to go with either the Britax Frontier or Graco Nautilus. Both harness to 65lbs & have the tallest harness height in Canada.

Neither is going to be great for puzzling next to another car seat though. Both are kind of wide & flared at the base which can make it tricky.

Are you open to possibly putting the baby behind you & your DD behind your husband?


For infant seats here is a list of tech recommended favourites & their pros/cons

http://vicarseattechs.com/our-favourite-seats/infant-seats/

Hopefully someone with experience in an Elantra will come along & help with your seat arrangement :)
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
I would get a Sureride for your DD and install as close to the door as possible using the seatbelt. Do you already have an infant seat? If so, which one? The narrowest ones that are somewhat budget-friendly are the Comfy Carry Elite, Snugride 30, Onboard 35.

You could possibly free up even more room by using the infant seat baseless. So even if you had to install the base outboard most of the time, you could take it out and install the seat baseless in the middle when you had a 3rd passenger in the back.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I have no idea what seat she's in. :/ It's borrowed and old and I've put this off for too long, then got pregnant And feeling horrible so put it off longer. :/ I don't have an infant seat. (we used to live in Australia) We Could put them in passenger seats but dd likes to kick the seat and that would drive dh nuts. Plus, I really can't imagine not sitting next to my newborn for the first little while. Is that ftm speaking? Lol. I Could probably fit in the middle but would rather not. I can't see your replies while I write this so hopefully answered everything. Thanks for your help!!
 

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Can you post a picture of the seat she's in right now? We should be able to identify it by that. Or can you find a sticker on it that will tell what it is and also how old it is? That will help. Also - how is she outgrowing it - weight, height, harness height? Or is it expired?

To get you started here's what we like for infant seats.

The SureRide/Titan 65 details are at the top of this page. A Radian or Foonf might also be an option and bonus, you could rear-face her for a while in one of them. They're both quite narrow.

Alternately a child/booster seat like one of these might do, but probably not if you want to put them side-by-side.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I'm not wanting a seat because she has outgrown it. I actually have no idea if she's outgrown it. I haven't really been able to parent in the last month at all. I am only replacing it because it's borrowed and old and so not near as safe looking as newer seats. And will need to be returned soon anyways. I didn't know you could install infant seats without the base. Interesting. I'd still really like them next to each other but as our car isn't big I'm thinking I have to forget that.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I have the option to buy a used advocate g3 65. I know it's not narrow. Any thoughts? I never thought I'd bother with a bucket seat but having a fall baby in Canada has changed my mind. Brr!!! (was thinking of a convertible as first seat as that's what we did with dd-tho it didn't save us $ in the end since she's so stinkin' tall)
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
I have the option to buy a used advocate g3 65. I know it's not narrow. Any thoughts? I never thought I'd bother with a bucket seat but having a fall baby in Canada has changed my mind. Brr!!! (was thinking of a convertible as first seat as that's what we did with dd-tho it didn't save us $ in the end since she's so stinkin' tall)

Since it's used (do you know the history & trust the seller?), VERY WIDE, and not all that tall, I don't think it's a good choice. What's your budget?

Would it be possible for you to get a shoulder height measurement for your daughter? Floor to shoulder while sitting on the floor. That would help us figure out how tall her torso is. That is generally the determining factor for how long forward-facing harnessed seats will last.

You have a wide back seat. I think 2 seats side-by-side can work.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
You have a wide back seat. I think 2 seats side-by-side can work.

Are you sure about that? An Elantra is one of Hyundai's compact cars. I checked the rear seat hip room for the 2014 Elantra and it's an inch less than my Mazda3 which would never consider a wide back seat. Unless '09's were larger?
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
Are you sure about that? An Elantra is one of Hyundai's compact cars. I checked the rear seat hip room for the 2014 Elantra and it's an inch less than my Mazda3 which would never consider a wide back seat. Unless '09's were larger?

Here's the 09: http://www.edmunds.com/hyundai/elantra/2009/features-specs.html
Unless there's a typo, it's 54" hip room, so bigger than your Mazda3, my old Protege, and about the same as my uncle's Buick Century. Seatbelt configuration and contours obviously play into it too, but I think 3-across with an adult should be possible.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Here's the 09: http://www.edmunds.com/hyundai/elantra/2009/features-specs.html Unless there's a typo, it's 54" hip room, so bigger than your Mazda3, my old Protege, and almost as big as an Impala!! Seatbelt configuration and contours obviously play into it too, but I think 3-across with an adult should be possible.

So they made it smaller in future years. Interesting. 2014 Elantra is 52.7. My Mazda3 is 53.5 so I'm not sure how much more room .5" actually provides. LOL

Edmunds incorrectly has my mazda3 at 53.8. I don't know if errors are common with that site though.
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
So they made it smaller in future years. Interesting. 2014 is 52.7. My Mazda3 is 53.8 so I'm not sure now much more room .4" actually provides. LOL

LOL Yeah, it's not much, but better than being smaller. I've put 3-across lots of times in the old protege. I was just surprised by 54" in what I always thought was a really small car. I'm going to measure the Sureride + infant seat and see what I get.

You quoted me before I corrected myself LOL. I knew my uncle had a 54" back seat (I measured it myself) but mixed up his old Impala & "new" Buick.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Since it's used (do you know the history & trust the seller?), VERY WIDE, and not all that tall, I don't think it's a good choice. What's your budget?

Would it be possible for you to get a shoulder height measurement for your daughter? Floor to shoulder while sitting on the floor. That would help us figure out how tall her torso is. That is generally the determining factor for how long forward-facing harnessed seats will last.

You have a wide back seat. I think 2 seats side-by-side can work.
She's about 14.5in seat to shoulder. I measured without her knowing so may be out by .5in or so. The cheaper the better I guess. Not sure what our budget is but currently no one is working and we just moved from Australia 8 months ago. I do trust the seller. Only reason I asked here. Sure wish there were more places to find safe used seats. :/
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
The top harness height of the Advocate is 16", so you'd probably need another seat in a year or so.

I put my Sureride beside my Keyfit. I got 33" total. So that should theoretically leave you with about 20" of room for an adult.

(I'm NOT recommending the Keyfit. You don't need to spend that much on an infant seat. It's just the only thing I have on hand to measure right now.)

I *think* that an Onboard might get you more room than the Keyfit because of the position of the handle. It's farther towards the front of the vehicle and therefore probably won't hit the widest part of the Sureride the way the Keyfit does. The Onboard often goes on sale at Canadian Tire & Sears. You don't need to go with the "air". It's more expensive than the regular Onboard. That would be the first seat I would try.

You could also try a Comfy Carry Elite from Walmart (make sure it's the FRONT ADJUST version!!). It's narrow & inexpensive.

Snugride 30 is a good option too, but a bit more expensive.

If you go about 1" bigger, you can get a re-branded (Snugli) Evenflo Embrace 35 for $85. http://www.shop.ca/c/snugli-infant-car-seat-30711365C-23351101
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Walmart says titan 65 discontinued!!! Is this true?? I didn't really want to pay $40 more for the sureride but is that my best option? Wish I would have bought it 2 weeks ago! Argh!
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Bumping as we are planning to buy our infant seat in the next week or so. Finally!!!

Any other options besides the ones below or are they still our best options?

Thanks everyone! Love your knowledge! :)

I *think* that an Onboard might get you more room than the Keyfit because of the position of the handle. It's farther towards the front of the vehicle and therefore probably won't hit the widest part of the Sureride the way the Keyfit does. The Onboard often goes on sale at Canadian Tire & Sears. You don't need to go with the "air". It's more expensive than the regular Onboard. That would be the first seat I would try.

You could also try a Comfy Carry Elite from Walmart (make sure it's the FRONT ADJUST version!!). It's narrow & inexpensive.

Snugride 30 is a good option too, but a bit more expensive.

If you go about 1" bigger, you can get a re-branded (Snugli) Evenflo Embrace 35 for $85. http://www.shop.ca/c/snugli-infant-car-seat-30711365C-23351101
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Which of the recommended car seats for our infant will last us the longest?
 

Chila88

New member
Since your first DD is so tall I would go with the infant seat that gives you the most space in your backseat, and has the highest height limit, as it's likely this baby will be tall too. Of the ones listed above the Onboard and Comfy Carry have a 29" height limit, and the Snugride 30 and the Evenflo/snugli both have a 30" height limit.

For $85 that Evenflo will give you the highest height and weight limits for your money. If it will work well next to the Sureride/Titan (can you try a floor model somewhere before buying the $85 one online?) Then I'd probably go that route.
 

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