Need new car seat now! Advice Please!

We are on vacation, visiting family, and I got sick. So my DH drove home alone to be at work. We were planning on my family driving me and our two kids about halfway home and meeting DH to drive the rest of the way. Well, DH left and took the baby's SnugRide with him! My in-laws have a seat for our 3 yo, but we have nothing for the baby.

The baby is about 17 lbs and 28 inches. I was thinking of getting a Graco SafeSeat for him b/c it would last him at least until February when I was already planning on getting him a Britax (when they are on sale). Plus, we plan on having another child who could use the SafeSeat.

I have a few questions though, that I am hoping can be answered here. We have an '03 Dodge Durango. Right now we can fit the SnugRide and a Britax Marathon next to each other, leaving one of the outboard seats open for a passenger. Will this still be possible if we buy the SafeSeat? Also, when we have a third child (hopefully) will we be able to fit two Marathons and the SafeSeat?

I am open to other suggestion. Any help or opinions would be great! Thanks!

The safeseat is a bit wider than the Snugride, so if your room is tight then I don't think the Snugride will work.

Can you find a Scenera? They're cheap, $50 or so, and at Walmart or Target. They're good for babies, make great spare seats, are lightweight and fairly narrow. They have 35 pound RFing limits, so as a spare seat between this baby and the next you'll likely get four or more good years out of it.

Is there a BRU near you? You can test out the Safeseat next to your current seat. Or in a pinch you can buy one, try it out at home, and return it immediately if it doesn't work.

Wendy

Do you know what part of the SS is wider? The SnugRide and the MA touch in our Durango, but only at one small spot. We have a little room to give everywhere but where they touch. Ohh I am soo mad at DH! I told him twice to get the baby's seat out, but the morning he left I was feeling too sick to even get out of bed so I didn't see that he hadn't done it!

I believe it's widest at the handle, but I'm not positive on it. Hopefully someone who knows them better than I will chime in. But the Safeseat is bigger, and I believe slightly wider all around.

Wendy

I have the SS1 and the widest part of the base it the head . By head I'm talking about the the opposite end from the where the belts and everything lock in the the car. I hope you understand what I mean.

Have you thought about buying the seat getting home and trying it and if it doesn't work then returning it or selling it. Also are you sure you aren't going to be getting a new car when you have the third baby? The SS1 is a really great seat!!

Here you got: In my experience, width wise at the handle there was not a huge difference. Its according to how tight a squeeze it is.

OK so I am a complete nimrod!!! What I told you is wrong
"I have the SS1 and the widest part of the base it the head . By head I'm talking about the the opposite end from the where the belts and everything lock in the the car. I hope you understand what I mean."

The widest part of the base is the part that the belts go through and touches the back of the seat. Sorry for my earlier post I am running on little sleep.

stjemmes said:

I have the SS1 and the widest part of the base it the head . By head I'm talking about the the opposite end from the where the belts and everything lock in the the car. I hope you understand what I mean.

Have you thought about buying the seat getting home and trying it and if it doesn't work then returning it or selling it. Also are you sure you aren't going to be getting a new car when you have the third baby? The SS1 is a really great seat!!

Click to expand...

I have thought about that. I might do that and if it does fit when I get home I will convince DH to keep it. If it doesn't fit I won't feel as bad about returning it.

stjemmes said:

OK so I am a complete nimrod!!! What I told you is wrong
"I have the SS1 and the widest part of the base it the head . By head I'm talking about the the opposite end from the where the belts and everything lock in the the car. I hope you understand what I mean."

The widest part of the base is the part that the belts go through and touches the back of the seat. Sorry for my earlier post I am running on little sleep.

Click to expand...

If that is the widest part and the rest is pretty similar then I'm pretty sure it would fit. Now getting my hand in there to deal with installing it is another story!

arly1983 said:

Here you got: In my experience, width wise at the handle there was not a huge difference. Its according to how tight a squeeze it is.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pics! If I am remembering right the two seats touch towards the bottom of the Snugride. On the part that is beside his legs. That part looks pretty similar in size for both seats. I'll check that out in the stores tomorrow when we go to buy a seat.

When my marathon and SS1 sit next to each other, they touch at the handle of the SS1 and the front wide area of the marathon. In order to see if they fit next to each other, we install the base (which fits next to anything) and then the seat on top. Sometimes it fits next to the marathon, sometimes not. THey aren't really conducive to sitting next to each other, unfortunately. HOwever, I would think the durango's back seat is larger than my buicks and I can get them next to each other in there, so you should be ok in the durango.

Hope that helps a bit.