Car too small for RF large carseats

Unregistered · Apr 13, 2008

We have a Geo Prizm and the only rearfacing seats that fit are the baby carriers without the base. We have an Evenflo Triumph 5 DLX for our 3 1/2 year old (35 lbs, 38 inches). Our 1 year old is nearing the weight limit for her RF carrier. She's 19 lbs. Any sugggestions on seats that might fit rearfacing? I just read all the info on trying to keep children rearfacing as long as possible, but I don't know if anything will work for our kids in our small car.
Thanks!
Kerry

CandCfam · Apr 13, 2008

Once a child has good head and neck control you can reduce the installation angle from the 45 degrees that is required for newborns and young babies, to up to 30 degrees. Doing so will open up a lot of room for the front passengers.

I would look at the new Evenflo Triumph Advance, which RF to 35 lbs, has a tall shell and a bit over 17" top slots.

Or the Britax Marathon, RF to 35 lbs (all post March 2008 models, 33 lbs for seats manufactured before then), FF to 65 lbs, 17 top slots, tall shell.

The new Compass TrueFit would be worth looking at too. It has a removable headrest for truly tight squeeze situations, but it must be reinstalled after child reaches a certain weight or height ( I can't recall which it is). It RF to 35 lbs, FF to 65, has 17 ish inch top slots. Only the bottom two slots can be used when RF though.

skaterbabs · Apr 13, 2008

You might be surprised, if your infant seat fits odds are a convertible will fit. This is because you don't need as much recline for an older child.

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

The Geo Prism only has one inch less than the Escort of rear leg room. I don't understand how you were not able to get a baby carrier with a base in. That seems odd to me because I could easily fit one in my car, especially in the center position. Unless you are tall, I don't foresee an issue with getting a seat rearfacing. I have and Escort and I can get an EB 3in1 RF in my car. I would go to the store and try different seats out. At this age she can be RF in a more upright position making it a little easier. The good news is that if you get the right seat it should take up less front to back room than the infant carrier as it is a little more upright.

What I would do is see if you can get the Evenflo in rearfacing for the baby and get a new higher weight harness seat for the 3 1/2 year old as she is nearing the 40 lb limit. The Britax Marathon is a great seat. The Radian is also nice. It's a little tricky to get in your car, but I've done it many times and could give you all my pointers.

Definately though, try your current evenflo rearfacing and let us know if it will fit either outboard or in the center.

unityco · Apr 13, 2008

You can often buy yourself a little extra room by putting the RF seat in the centre (it will be able to poke through the two front seats a bit.) I'm not sure you'll be able to do that with two carseats in the back though.

Good luck!

Unregistered · Apr 13, 2008

Thanks for the helpful responses! We did use the base when we had only one child and it fit in the middle. Unfortunately, with two seats, neither can be in the middle. We couldn't use the base on the side because it made us have to push the front seat too far up. I didn't realize that I could put a larger RF seat more upright for my 1 year old since she's no longer an infant. I will definitely try that. The Evenflo Triumph has four positions. Reclining, and then 2 middle ones, and the most upright. If I change my 3 1/2 year old to RF as well, can I use the most upright position RF? Thanks for the suggestions!
Kerry

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

unityco said:
You can often buy yourself a little extra room by putting the RF seat in the centre (it will be able to poke through the two front seats a bit.) I'm not sure you'll be able to do that with two carseats in the back though.

Good luck!

This does work with the right car seats in a Prizm. I'm confident that you can put your evenflo rf in the center and buy a radian to go ff outboard.

CandCfam · Apr 13, 2008

Unregistered said:
Thanks for the helpful responses! We did use the base when we had only one child and it fit in the middle. Unfortunately, with two seats, neither can be in the middle. We couldn't use the base on the side because it made us have to push the front seat too far up. I didn't realize that I could put a larger RF seat more upright for my 1 year old since she's no longer an infant. I will definitely try that. The Evenflo Triumph has four positions. Reclining, and then 2 middle ones, and the most upright. If I change my 3 1/2 year old to RF as well, can I use the most upright position RF? Thanks for the suggestions!
Kerry

It's been a while since I last used a Triumph 5 with the recline settings. Only use the ones that say they are for RF.
However, to reduce the angle, it's a matter of installing the seat differently. Pull the seat out from the vehicle seat bight by 1 to 2 inches and then install it.

One of the CPSTs can give you more info on how to do that.

Your 3.5 Y/O is too heavy to RF now.

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

At 35 pounds, your 3 1/2 year old is too heavy to rf anymore. All the rf seat limits I can think of top out at 35 pounds or less. But, the good news is, it should be able to piece together a ff convertible and a rf convertible than 2 ff seats or 2 rf seats. I still think I'd go with handing down the seat to the baby and buying your oldest a Radian.

Mommy2Marcus · Apr 13, 2008

I happen to have experience in this perticular area, well not the Geo Prizm, but the smaller cars area. I & DH both own small 2 door cars! I have an 18 month old DS that is RF still, so I might be able to help you out! I have a Britax Marathon RF in the back of my DH's 01 2 door Chevy Cavalier. It is in the center, but I know it would fit behind the driver or passenger. I have also fit my Evenflo Triumph Advance RF in the back seat of my 2 door Subaru Impreza, tiny car, with plenty of room to spare. It is very possible to get a more upright install if your child is old enough & as good head controll. It can be anywhere from 30-45 degrees as long as when the child falls asleep their head does not flop forward. You can also go to like Babies R Us, Toys R Us & possibly Target to try the seats out in your car! I know for a fact that Babies R Us does. I would suggest trying them in your car before buying so you know how they fit. Here is a picture of my Marathon in my DH's Cavalier!

henrietta · Apr 13, 2008

The Triumph can only be used in the most reclined *position* rearfacing--the other positions are all for forward facing. I'd use it for the baby rearfacing, b/c it's small and will fit well in an outboard position, esp if you install it at a more upright angle. I'd buy a new seat for your older dd, such as the Graco Nautilus, b/c it forward faces to 65 lbs and then switches to a high back booster AND later, a backless booster! It has really tall top harness slots, just a bit shorter than the Britax Regent (and taller than the SK Radian!). ($150)

Later, when your younger ds outgrows the older Triumph rearfacing (b/c it is outgrown rearfacing really early--like 12-18 mos b/c of it's short shell), or it expires (whichever comes first!), I'd replace it w/the newer Evenflo Triumph Advance, which fits well rearfacing in tight places, has really tall top harness slots (as tall as the Britax MA), and a rearfacing wt. limit of 35 lbs. It goes to 50 lbs forward facing, so chances are your younger dd will fit in it until she can go into a plain high back booster (she could then be switched into the older dd's Nautilus and older dd by then may only need a plain backless booster). Thei new Triumph runs about $130+.

Those are my thoughts.

hths

henrietta

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

Anyone that has read many of my posts will have caught on that I'm a big fan of the Radian. With that said, I didn't care for the Nautilus in my tiny car. It didn't allow for putting two seats side by side and in general I just did not feel like it was as quality of a seat as the Radian.

Defrost · Apr 13, 2008

BW1426 said:
Anyone that has read many of my posts will have caught on that I'm a big fan of the Radian. With that said, I didn't care for the Nautilus in my tiny car. It didn't allow for putting two seats side by side and in general I just did not feel like it was as quality of a seat as the Radian.

The Radian might be a good option for her forward-facing child, but it's not easy to get it more upright. I've tried it in several vehicles and have had some luck, but even when I do get it as upright as I can, I could still get a Marathon or EFTA even more upright in that location.

When I tried the Radian RF in my Golf, I could get enough legroom for me to drive, but it wasn't much, and it was pretty tricky. With the Marathon, I could get it upright enough for the front seat to be all the way back.

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

Defrost said:
The Radian might be a good option for her forward-facing child, but it's not easy to get it more upright. I've tried it in several vehicles and have had some luck, but even when I do get it as upright as I can, I could still get a Marathon or EFTA even more upright in that location.

I agree that the Radian is difficult to fit RF in smaller vehicles. That's why I said to give the Evenflo to the baby and buy a Radian for the 3 1/2 year old as she's too heavy to RF anyways.

Defrost · Apr 13, 2008

BW1426 said:
I agree that the Radian is difficult to fit RF in smaller vehicles. That's why I said to give the Evenflo to the baby and buy a Radian for the 3 1/2 year old as she's too heavy to RF anyways.

Ah, I missed that part - just saw your most recent post and wasn't sure what you meant.

jka1217 · Apr 13, 2008

In our Chevy Aveo, I was able to get a Scenera RF on the passenger side. It was pretty upright, but DD is older, so it's not a problem. I bet you would be able to get your Triumph RF on one side, and then get a seat like the Nautilus or Radian for your older daughter FF for the other side.

Someone previously suggested putting the 2 seats next to each other, one outboard, one in the center, and I'm wondering if that is even allowed in the Prism? In our Aveo, you can have one child restraint in the center but no child restraints outboard or a child restraint outboard on each side but not in the middle. There's just not enough room to get child restraints next to each other.

CandCfam · Apr 13, 2008

jka1217 said:
Someone previously suggested putting the 2 seats next to each other, one outboard, one in the center, and I'm wondering if that is even allowed in the Prism? In our Aveo, you can have one child restraint in the center but no child restraints outboard or a child restraint outboard on each side but not in the middle. There's just not enough room to get child restraints next to each other.

You are likely referring a LATCH restriction, but I can't imagine that there would be a seat belt installation restriction for having restraints installed next to each other.

SusanMae · Apr 13, 2008

The Geo Prism is the same car as a Toyota Corolla. I had a 1990 one as my first car.

I was able to get 2 carseats in the back seat...a Century infant seat and a FisherPrice T-Sheild. And put another child in the back as well.(mind you I was 17 and it was 19961997)

Susan

jka1217 · Apr 13, 2008

CandCfam said:
You are likely referring a LATCH restriction, but I can't imagine that there would be a seat belt installation restriction for having restraints installed next to each other.

According to the manual for our 2006 Chevy Aveo, maximum is two child restraints in the back seat and to install two, they have to be in the outboard seating positions, either using LATCH or seat belt, and no occupant is allowed in the center, child seat or not. Looks like the same is still true for newer models, go to http://www.chevrolet.com/safety/during/latch/ and in the last drop down box choose Aveo. It will show you the seating arrangements allowed for both LATCH and the seat belts.

BW1426 · Apr 13, 2008

jka1217 said:
According to the manual for our 2006 Chevy Aveo, maximum is two child restraints in the back seat and to install two, they have to be in the outboard seating positions, either using LATCH or seat belt, and no occupant is allowed, child seat or not. Looks like the same is still true for newer models, go to http://www.chevrolet.com/safety/during/latch/ and in the last drop down box choose Aveo. It will show you the seating arrangements allowed for both LATCH and the seat belts.

This is an odd trait of the Aveo. I have not heard of another vehicle with this. Even the Chevy Cobalt (another small car) doesn't have this restriction.

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