Question 2 rear-facing in a small car.... :-/

Jonathan L

New member
Hello,

My boy is 9.5 months old but is huge : a little over 25 pounds, a litle over 75 cm.

I already had a stage-1-only car seat.

But we already have a 2nd baby coming. In 3 months. So when 2nd baby will come, our first will only be 12.5 months old.

I bough a Evenflo Symphony LX seat. My goal is to sit my older one in the Evenflo Symphony LX seat.

Here's the problem though : I have a rather small car. Toyota Matrix. We are.... VERY tight to fit 2 "rear facing" seats. I was hoping to use a rear facing seat for our new born(behind passenger seat) and stick our older one in a front-facing Symphony LX, behind the driver's seat, as soon as the 2nd baby comes.

Our older is ALREADY meeting the weight and height requirements... but is not 2 years old as recommended.
At birth of our second one, our first baby will be well above weight/height requirement, but obviously still won't be 2 years old.

.... would I be putting my son in danger ? Will I really need to drive with my knees touching my steering wheel ?




Thanks
 
ADS

Jonathan L

New member
I wouldn't have minded smaller... but my situation is a little... well, complicated. Choices to make. You know...

Plans were always to have our babies as close as possible..... but we never even considered the possibility that my wife would get pregnant 3 months after giving birth.

My actual car is old. I do have plans to buy somehting much bigger, as soon as possible. Minivan. Either a Dodge Caravan or a Toyota Siena.

But, I also have an heavy debt sticking to me for another 2.5 years following heavy renovations on the house.

So I struggle with a few ideas related to the car :

- Buy older, used minivan... ASAP.
- Buy a new one in 0.5 years and try to fix my debt early (before then).
- Keep my Matrix as long as humanly possible to be financially more at ease when I buy.

I bough this car seat because it'll last a long time and it has generally very good security reports, and I was able to afford it.

I also did not notice, when I bough it, the 3rd crieteria for "Front Facing". (front-facing fits super-well in my car...)

Internet sites were clear on weight/height... but not on age. Maybe it's something I should have known but... meh. I'm still a new parent. :eek:

I did, just now, go outside (despite our actual -35'C + snow storm ! :mad:). I seem to be able to fit my new one behind my wife (she has to move forward a little... she's not really comfortable... but she can live with it.). Leaving the older one in the middle position is probably too tight(both seats are pushing each others slightly out of their perfect position), but I was able to fit it behind the driver seat and remain in a relatively acceptably comfortable position to drive.

So I should be able to make do untill I change car.


I would stilll be curious to have general opinions about sitting the kid "front facing". It would definetly make things easier. I'm sure we will spend summer and fall with both "rear facing". With lighter clothing, it'll make things a little easier at least.

But I would really consider, when our older one gets to about 1.5 years old (just before next winter), turning him "front facing".
Again : this kid was born in the 98 percentile for his height and around 90 for weight. So a big one.
How would that sound ? (All of this in a scenario where I still drive my old Matrix)
 

jjordan

Moderator
Honestly we don't know how much safer rear facing is than forward facing, and a properly used forward facing seat is still safe - just not *as* safe as rear facing. Unfortunately in Canada car seats are quite expensive so I understand that it could be cost-prohibitive to buy a different seat. You could consider selling then Symphony though and using the funds to purchase something that takes up less front-back space. I'm not sure what the pricing is in Canada but it would be less out of pocket if you can get some money from selling the Symphony.
 

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