Our primary car is a BMW i3 -- great little car, but the suicide doors and small-ish back seat make child seats a bit more complicated. We got by fine with just one child, but now that we have two, I need a little guidance! Our 4.5yo daughter is 41" and 36lbs. She's currently forward-facing in a Britax Advocate ClickTight seat, which she also used rear-facing in the car (but getting her in/out was easiest when getting in the other back seat and taking her out the opposite side she sat on). Our 1yo daughter is ready to transition out of her Mesa and into a RF convertible.
I did a bunch of research the first time around on what seats has short front-to-back lengths to fit in the i3, and the Britax was the winner. Last weekend, I took a trip to buybuybaby to look at some other options (Chicco NextFit, Cybex Sirona, Baby Jogger City View), and basically found the Britax was still the best option. So, I'm leaning towards another Advocate for her to use RF. (Side question: is the Nanotex option worth it, if I went for the Boulevard instead?)
The challenge, as I mentioned earlier, is due to the door design of the i3 and the high head shell of the Britax, getting her in and out on the side the seat is installed is very difficult, and requires some manuevering of the child to get her body/head in the car and then into the seat. I'd prefer to slide myself in to the other rear seat and then put my daughter in her seat from there. With a FF Advocate on the other side, that becomes difficult. So, I was intrigued by the idea of moving my 4.5yo into a harness booster, which might afford a little more space to make it easier getting the 1yo in and out. It seems like the Britax Frontier ClickTight is a great option that they will be able to use for a long time (given the high weight limits, conversion options, and long expiration). However, I hesitate a little based on the recent Consumer Reports testing. I know that their tests are using a dummy near the upper limit of the harness, at which point they probably should be using the regular belt, but it still is a concern that the seat might not be as effective in a crash.
Any other seats I'm missing that would be either good RF options for small cars or FF harness boosters? We did buy an IMMI GO last year to use for travel, and we do use it in our other car locally, but my daughter doesn't sleep as well in that (and it doesn't seem to have as much padding/structure as the Britax). Thanks for your suggestions!
I did a bunch of research the first time around on what seats has short front-to-back lengths to fit in the i3, and the Britax was the winner. Last weekend, I took a trip to buybuybaby to look at some other options (Chicco NextFit, Cybex Sirona, Baby Jogger City View), and basically found the Britax was still the best option. So, I'm leaning towards another Advocate for her to use RF. (Side question: is the Nanotex option worth it, if I went for the Boulevard instead?)
The challenge, as I mentioned earlier, is due to the door design of the i3 and the high head shell of the Britax, getting her in and out on the side the seat is installed is very difficult, and requires some manuevering of the child to get her body/head in the car and then into the seat. I'd prefer to slide myself in to the other rear seat and then put my daughter in her seat from there. With a FF Advocate on the other side, that becomes difficult. So, I was intrigued by the idea of moving my 4.5yo into a harness booster, which might afford a little more space to make it easier getting the 1yo in and out. It seems like the Britax Frontier ClickTight is a great option that they will be able to use for a long time (given the high weight limits, conversion options, and long expiration). However, I hesitate a little based on the recent Consumer Reports testing. I know that their tests are using a dummy near the upper limit of the harness, at which point they probably should be using the regular belt, but it still is a concern that the seat might not be as effective in a crash.
Any other seats I'm missing that would be either good RF options for small cars or FF harness boosters? We did buy an IMMI GO last year to use for travel, and we do use it in our other car locally, but my daughter doesn't sleep as well in that (and it doesn't seem to have as much padding/structure as the Britax). Thanks for your suggestions!