RF recommendation for Forester

jenni4 · Sep 16, 2014

Hi. I am starting to research and try seats for when DS outgrows his infant seat. I need something that will fit rf in a 2008 Subaru Forester and allow erf. DS is 10 months old. He weighs about 17lbs and is about 70cm (so on the smaller side. However, he has a large head (especially from front to back) so can't have anything that will push his head forward. He also has low muscle tone in his neck and at 10 months is still working on head control (so nowhere near sitting unassisted).

My DD (4) uses a True Fit and a Guide 65 so, could pass those down and get her something new. However, the Guide 65 is not desirable due to the design of the headrest.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

BananaBoat · Sep 16, 2014

The True Fit fit shockingly well when we had a 2003 Forester. I'd try that first to see if it works for your DS. I also really have liked the Britax Roundabout for smaller RFing kids in tighter spaces. My best friend's DS has low tone and uses a Britax Marathon that loves for him. The Roundabout is very similar but ever so slightly more compact. My 29 lbs & 37" three year old is still happily RFing in her Roundabout with a good amount of space left

akcowgirl · Sep 21, 2014

I have used both a britax boulevard and a graco mysize 70 in my 2006 forester (same body style I think) and both have worked well for my small statured child and I've been able to get a good install with both. I like and britax better personally for ease of install but that is because I have to move my seats around a lot.

kaitlyn · Sep 21, 2014

akcowgirl said:
I have used both a britax boulevard and a graco mysize 70 in my 2006 forester (same body style I think) and both have worked well for my small statured child and I've been able to get a good install with both. I like and britax better personally for ease of install but that is because I have to move my seats around a lot.

One thing to note that since this is in the Canadian and International section it seems likely the OP is in Canada and we don't have the MySize here

Lemonade · Sep 21, 2014

You may want to look at the Chicco NextFit. It's fairly compact and has 9 recline options so that may help. If you went with one of the more upright RF options you could probably snug it up to the back seat well. I have no experience with the trufit but if you've already got it, by all means try it first

We had a 2003 Forrester for 11 years...I feel your pain. We were fine with only one child as his seat could puzzle between the two front seats (older britax seats did this well) but with two needing to be outboard...um no. DD just got turned early (after a year, but before we wanted to) and we only used his car in emergencies until she was older.

kaitlyn · Sep 21, 2014

Lemonade said:
You may want to look at the Chicco NextFit. It's fairly compact and has 9 recline options so that may help. If you went with one of the more upright RF options you could probably snug it up to the back seat well. I have no experience with the trufit but if you've already got it, by all means try it first

We had a 2003 Forrester for 11 years...I feel your pain. We were fine with only one child as his seat could puzzle between the two front seats (older britax seats did this well) but with two needing to be outboard...um no. DD just got turned early (after a year, but before we wanted to) and we only used his car in emergencies until she was older.

The NextFit is also not available in Canada.

kaitlyn · Sep 21, 2014

I will say I'm not 100% familiar with the Forrester, but it's my understanding that the back seat is pretty cramped for leg room. The Britax convertibles are pretty compact, although a bit expensive. The current G4 Britax seats are short lived for some kids, but the new CT versions coming out soon are said to be much better that way. Some seats can be made more compact by installing more upright, but it sounds like the recline is needed in this case. You may want to try a Graco MyRide, it's not super compact but it's a decent size and has plenty of recline, even when the seat is placed more upright.

SixteenFeet · Sep 23, 2014

The seats we used in our 2005 Forester are discontinued I think, but hoping that a tech can chime in on similar seats.

We have twins, so they had to be outboard, and wanted to erf. We used 2 Safety 1st Avenues, installed as upright as we could get it using LATCH, with my knee and as much of my weight as possible to press it into the seat bight while DH pulled the strap to tighten. One trick I learned here - thread the excess harness strap back THROUGH the belt path and then pull to tighten (so you will want to install it such that you can stand outside the car and pull on that strap vs trying to pull on it inside the car) - it's the path of least resistance so I could always get it in tighter (and therefore more upright) that way. I felt they were plenty reclined, but in this car if you have to install outboard you're going to be pretty severely limited.

These seats had a 35 lb RF limit, and 40 lb FF limit...but it was enough to get our smallish twins to 3 years old RF in that dang car. I am 5'6'' and DH is 5'11"...we weren't able to have our own seats back as far as desired...but were able to get them far enough back to be comfortable and safe for driving. The tops of the Avenues did *touch* the headrests on the front seats. But at that point I gave up and made an executive decision that it was fine. They weren't pressing hard on the front headrests, but they were definitely touching.

I could see the Roundabout working well but since you already have a TrueFit, try that out first!

Good luck! We are currently in the "find a booster that works" struggle with this car

Lemonade · Sep 23, 2014

SixteenFeet said:
The seats we used in our 2005 Forester are discontinued I think, but hoping that a tech can chime in on similar seats.

We have twins, so they had to be outboard, and wanted to erf. We used 2 Safety 1st Avenues, installed as upright as we could get it using LATCH, with my knee and as much of my weight as possible to press it into the seat bight while DH pulled the strap to tighten. One trick I learned here - thread the excess harness strap back THROUGH the belt path and then pull to tighten (so you will want to install it such that you can stand outside the car and pull on that strap vs trying to pull on it inside the car) - it's the path of least resistance so I could always get it in tighter (and therefore more upright) that way. I felt they were plenty reclined, but in this car if you have to install outboard you're going to be pretty severely limited.

These seats had a 35 lb RF limit, and 40 lb FF limit...but it was enough to get our smallish twins to 3 years old RF in that dang car. I am 5'6'' and DH is 5'11"...we weren't able to have our own seats back as far as desired...but were able to get them far enough back to be comfortable and safe for driving. The tops of the Avenues did *touch* the headrests on the front seats. But at that point I gave up and made an executive decision that it was fine. They weren't pressing hard on the front headrests, but they were definitely touching.

I could see the Roundabout working well but since you already have a TrueFit, try that out first!

Good luck! We are currently in the "find a booster that works" struggle with this car

We had booster issues too in the 03 Forrester as the shoulder belt would not retract because of the way it got caught in most shoulder belt guides. I finally found a diono monterey with the replacement headrest worked. Supposedly the diono monterey is making a return soon. It's our primary seat for both kids now in my minivan and definitely one of my favorite boosters.

SixteenFeet · Sep 24, 2014

Lemonade said:
We had booster issues too in the 03 Forrester as the shoulder belt would not retract because of the way it got caught in most shoulder belt guides. I finally found a diono monterey with the replacement headrest worked. Supposedly the diono monterey is making a return soon. It's our primary seat for both kids now in my minivan and definitely one of my favorite boosters.

So the Recaro performance booster I ordered works, without a child in it anyway. I need to try it with the kids in the seats to make sure the belt retracts smoothly but I have high hopes!

RF recommendation for Forester

jenni4

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BananaBoat

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kaitlyn

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