Question Twins! And a toddler! In a car!

Hi,
I drive a 2012 Nissan Leaf. I love it, and would really like to keep it, especially given the extremely low cost of keeping it on the road (under $200 in electricity for 15,000 km driven in a year). I have a large toddler who is currently rear facing in a Britax Boulevard, behind the passenger seat. My husband and I are both tall and need the front seats placed all the way back. I do think the passenger seat had to be clicked forward a notch or two to accommodate the Britax. We had a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio infant car seat in the middle seat previously.

But I'm expecting twins! I've seen posts and picture of the Leaf with three forward facing Radians, but where should we start with rear facing? I'm not sure a rear facing Radian will fit with the front seats where they need to be to safely accommodate the adults. I think we tried one when we bought the Britax. And I do wonder if by the time the twins arrive in the spring my toddler will have grown too tall or heavy to be rear facing. He will be over 2 years old by then, but I'd like to keep him rear facing as long as possible.

I'd like to do infant seats because the twins are likely to be smaller and use those seats longer, plus the convenience of snapping the seat in and out of the car and on to the stroller or carrying a sleeping baby in to the house.

Any suggestions for a starting place for a toddler (both RF and FF) and two infants? And then, in a year or so, two RF toddlers and a FF preschooler?

PS. I'm in Canada and the car has LATCH on the two outboard seats.

Hi there! Congrats on the twin pregnancy!

I have never been in a Leaf, but that's great you are trying to make it all work with a zero emission vehicle. There's an article here that I'm not sure if you've read but seems like it would be very helpful: http://carseatblog.com/8364/the-nissan-leaf-review-–-family-vehicle-of-the-near-future/

The keyfit is a great infant bucket seat - I would try that out in your car and see if it works. Radians are a good narrow infant/child seat but they takes up a lot of room rear facing for infants. Once they are older (with total head control and can sit up unassisted) you can use an angle adjuster to make the Radian more upright, so perhaps consider these for after they outgrow the Keyfit, and possibly for your toddler once the twins are born. The Clek Foonf/Fllo are also narrow and have high harness slots and high rear facing weight limits, so perhaps consider those also.

Sometimes in a tight 3 across, it's easier to use seatbelt installation for all three, as this enables you to push the outboard seats a little further toward the doors, in order to get you a few extra cms for the middle seat.

Good luck!

I agree that it would be worth trying out KeyFits. The KeyFit is around 16.5-17" wide, which is one of the narrowest infant seats available. The KeyFits with a Radian for your toddler would be a good combination to try.

I also agree that installing all three seats with seatbelts is the way to go.



Congrats on your upcoming arrivals!

Congratulations! I think it's awesome that you want to keep your Leaf.

The Leaf looks like it has decent hip room, for a small car, at 50". I agree with the suggestion of 2 Keyfits outboard and a Radian facing either direction (with an angle adjuster while it's RF) in the center. Definitely seatbelt installs for all. The KeyFit has nice lockoffs that make belt installs fairly easy.

When your oldest outgrows the Radian, if that's what you get, you could try having a FF Sureride in the center flanked by two RF Radians (with angle adjusters). The Sureride has tall top slots, and should puzzle nicely next to the Radians. You can pass the Radian down and only have to buy one more, plus a Sureride. (If you're not planning on more children after the twins, you can probably sell the KeyFits to recoup some money).

When you get into booster territory, around age 6, you may want to reevaluate your vehicle situation, but you should be good for quite a while with harnessed seats