tall seats in a small car

tall seats in a small car *updated with pics*

i have a scenera for dd (3 weeks old) and really want to get her something a lil nicer. maybe with more padding and foam and stuff. problem is, the scenera is installed outboard behind the passenger seat, which is all the way up, my mom, who is 5'5" JUST fits in there, and its a tight fit, so my 6"2" dh cannot ride in my car. i would like to get something that is no taller than the scenera, but has some nicer features. i dont have a big budget, like around 130. and i dont want an infant bucket. i want to stick with a convertible. and def want 35 lbs rf if i can. we are taller ppl, so higher top slots would be great. whats taller than the scenera , but that wont make me have to push up the front seat anymore?

does this question even make sense.... lol

what car do you have? (make, model, year)

lol that would help!! i have a 4 door "02 elantra.

the britax and recaro convertibles BOTH take up less front-back room in my car than a scenera. no joke. but they both cost more than $130. you may still find a FPSVD for around $130, which would fit like a britax, since it is essentially a britax.

EDIT: now that i see you have an elantra, then definitely a FPSVD would fit well and take up less front seat room than a scenera. we had an 02 elantra, and it had more rear seat room than our current car, and the britaxes and recaros fit fine in my current car (i'm 6'1").

are the top slots higher on the fpsvd? dd1 outgrew her touriva by height LONG before weight. in fact, shes 6 now and is only 42 lbs, and she's 44 inches, with a 16 inch torso height (she rides in an apex btw) dd2 is taking right after her big sister. she was born at 21 inches... lol.

FPSVD has 17" top slots, same as a MA or DC.

Honestly a EFTA takes up less room front to back RF than a MA or a FPSVD does and it will be a lot more padded for a newborn plus it RF to 35lbs. I would definately suggest that. Plus it fits a newborn much better than any of the Britax convertibles do. Plus the cost is much lower and you also benefit from the high weight and high slots at 17" and 50lbs

Is there a reason you haven't attempted to install it in the center? That's not THAT small of a car. How reclined is the front seat? That's a common issue I've seen. The front seat is reclined for the front seat passenger, and then putting a RF seat behind it becomes a struggle. Put the front seat fully upright. This will allow you to push it further back from the dash and still allow room for the RF seat behind it.


Just remember, your child does need the full newborn recline still, so that may mean your other passengers must ride in the back seat until she's older if it causes problems.

I do agree with the others - the Triumph Advance is a good seat for a small baby.

its not in the center b/c it doesnt fit next to dd1's apex. the front seat is reclined about the same as the driver seat, so pretty upright. i could put the seat back maybe one more click, but i dont see where that is gonna get the passenger much more room, much less accomodate dh. lol. im gonna have to take pics in the am.

I briefly owned a Scenera, and was quite surprised at how much front-to-back space it took up, especially at the newborn recline angle. It honestly wasn't much better than our Radian, which is a particularly 'long' and troublesome seat in that regard. The big Britax seats (Marathon, etc.) are better, but really only because they can be installed more upright... which is not what you need at the moment with a new baby. The seats we've tried at newborn recline angle, in our '96 Corolla (i.e. a small car) are Cosco/Dorel Alpha Omega, Britax Wizard, Radian, and the Scenera. The Wizard was a no-go at that angle, although it fits fine now installed outboard RF, but more upright, for my 3 y.o. The Radian only fits RF in the center of our vehicle. I'll mention that our Alpha Omega (WITHOUT the base) definitely does take up less space RF than the other seats we've tried at newborn recline angle. The AO is a decent RF seat (goes to 35 pounds), but I hesitate to recommend it otherwise (doesn't go very tall at all FF, and makes a lousy booster). You can find the basic version of this seat for under $100.

Hopefully the Triumph Advance may work for you; I haven't tried that seat myself, but it has a lot of good features, and is not too expensive. Another thing to consider might be a Radian in the center, where it could sort of protrude between the front vehicle seat backrests. You say you haven't been able to fit the Scenera there next to the Apex, but the Radian is a particularly narrow seat, and sits down lower on the vehicle seat than the Scenera, so it's possible that it may fit better. I'm not familiar with the Apex, so can't guess how the Radian might fit next to it. I have a Radian RF in the center of our Corolla, currently with a Wizard outboard (and the Corolla definitely is a pretty small car). I cannot put the Radian RF behind either front seat (it's so tall that it pushes the vehicle WAY too far forward), but it fits fine in the center. The Radian fits small babies pretty well (for a convertible), and it also has high top slots (probably getting most kids to at least age 6).

ETA: There's also the Compass True-Fit coming up (currently scheduled for mid-January, I think), which looks like a nice higher-child-weight, higher-harness-height seat. One of its features is a removable top portion, which makes it shorter when installed RF for an infant -- this sounds great for people having trouble fitting tall convertible seats RF in small cars. If you can consider waiting that long, and IF the seat actually comes out when predicted, it might be something to keep in mind....

Katrin

here are the pics. i grabbed a 12" ruler from dd1's stash for a visual aid, so forgive the snoopy ruler... lol
front dash. i have concerns not only with the passenger comfor, but the airbag too... seems awful close to the airbag...


here's how upright the pass. seat is


here's why the seat is outboard to begin with


and here's how much room i gave the scenera to the back of the passenger seat

The front seat can actually touch the Scenera, that's fine. It looks like you have about an inch there. Just make sure you have the full newborn recline. Go ahead and move the seat another click upright as well, that should give you the ability to move the seat back one click.

You may need to replace the Apex with a more narrow seat, it's pretty wide. How old and what size is the child in the Apex?

dd1 in the apex is 6, 42 lbs, 16 inch torso height, 44 inches overall. she fits beautifully in it, about an inch to go. and i was planning on using it for dd2 (in the scenera now) when she outgrows the scenera. i just got it, so it should last the full 6 years with both girls. dh will kill me if i get rid of that seat, it took me an hour in the store to talk him into it. otherwist dd1 has to sit in a booster, and shes just sooo little yet.

What about the Uptown? Does it take up more space than the Scenara?

The Uptown has a taller shell than the Scenera does.


Your 6 year old more than meets the requirements for a BPB, even though she is small. Plus, the Apex will be outgrown (in harness mode) by her long before your infant is ready to be forward facing. As a tech I would rather see your 6 yo in a BPB than see your newborn too upright because the only place to install it is in the passenger seat due to the width of your older child's seat.

i did end up getting the TA for the baby. i just got home with it a lil bit ago, so i have to go play and get it in really good, but i have a turbobooster for dd1 in dh's (bigger) car, and i tried it next to the scenera in my car b4 the baby was born, and it didnt fit. the armrest got in the way. they are next to each other in dh's car tho, and its tight for him to get his big manly hands in there but it is possible.
i just really want dd1 harnessed as long as possible. the TA fits better in my car, both with the passenger seat issue, and if you look in the installation section, i have a huge thread going on in there as to why the scenera wasnt working in my car. so it just wasnt gonna work no matter what i did, i got p*ssed off with the scenera, and got the TA. i'm not having any more kids anytime soon, need a house first, so its ok the way it is now. i just have to see a local tech to get the TA inspected, then both girls will be super safe. i dont really care i lost a passenger spot in the back, nobody rides in it anyway but the girls and my mom once in a blue moon.

I saw that; it looks like the Triumph is a better fit for you.