Help selecting seats for twins that will fit smaller vehicles

Following what has been said on this thread so far, I have a few questions.

First for background we have Subaru Imprezas, an Outback Sport and an RS sedan. Second we are expecting twins so the seat in the center of the back seat solution is a no go.

Do any of the infant car seats, the ones that snap in and out of the bases then in and out of strollers fit in small cars like ours? We tried a Graco Snugride out at Babies r' Us and it was a joke, driver's seat crammed up against the steering column. Others out there like the one from Baby Trend look to be a couple of inches smaller but we have yet to try them out physically.

We were considering the Radian line from Sunshine Kids but the points about it taking up a lot of space rear facing stated earlier in this thread are worrisome. How much depth are we actually talking about here in the rear facing vs. forward facing position. The website mentioned a depth of 16" but is this the forward facing depth? As a reference point the Graco Snugride was 26.7" and the infant car seat from Baby Trend is supposedly 25".

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thank you,
Sally

Hmmm. I honestly don't have a great answer, but didn't want you to think no one was paying attention to your post

Are you near a big store that will let you try seats out, like BRU? I am thinking you will probably want to try and get infant seats, since twins generally run smaller and sometimes it's hard to get them to fit correctly in a convertible seat that is RFing.

So ... that's it. No help. but didn't want you to feel ignored :thumbsup:

I had a WRX. I didn't have the best car seats at the time. I had a Safety 1st designer 22 and it fit just fine, but it's not the greatest seat. I also had the original (shorter shell) Evenflo Triumph and it fit behind the passenger's seat with the passenger's seat moved forward some. I am quite short, so it wasn't a problem (unless I drove and my dh was the passenger, as he's 6'2").

Try out the babytrend seat that you mentioned, and also the chicco keyfit. The Peg Perego infant seats (not the brand new one that goes to 30#, but the other model that goes to 22# and has SIP) might work too, but are very expensive. I recently had to find an infant seat for my friend's Toyota access cab pickup, and these three seats all fit quite well in the very small back seat. I'm not sure why, but they seemed to have a little bit different design in the back so they didn't take up as much "front to back" room.

As far as convertible seats, I have a feeling that there is no way the Radian would work back there. It takes up A LOT of front to back room. There are a lot of tricks you can do to make it sit more upright, but they are hard and the seat itself is harder to install. Britax Roundabouts may work, but they are rather expensive and don't last very long at all because of their short shell.

I might be buying a Subaru STI here in the next few weeks, which would have the same dimensions of the RS, so check back on the forum then. If I buy the one I'm looking at, I will experiment with installing a scenera, radian, marathon, and my parents have an Evenflo Triumph Advance (the bigger, newer, and better Triumph) that I'll try when visiting mother's day weekend.

You definatly want to make sure to get a seat where you can leave the handle up. You can't do that with the BabyTrend seat---if I'm remembering correctly.

Have you considered the Chicco KeyFit? Then see how far you can move your seat back?

Susan

Also, are your front seats reclined? I commonly get calls that a rear facing seat doesn't fit because of the front seats and the first thing I try to to put the front seats completely upright. It gives a TON more room for the baby's seat, and is MUCH safer for the front seat passenger.

Weka said:

.....
We were considering the Radian line from Sunshine Kids but the points about it taking up a lot of space rear facing stated earlier in this thread are worrisome. How much depth are we actually talking about here in the rear facing vs. forward facing position. The website mentioned a depth of 16" but is this the forward facing depth? As a reference point the Graco Snugride was 26.7" and the infant car seat from Baby Trend is supposedly 25".

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thank you,
Sally

Click to expand...

In general, I would say that if the Snugride didn't seem to fit, the Radian REALLY won't fit. I had a Snugride outboard in my '96 Corolla, and it did just fit behind the driver's seat (driver's seat is a bit further forward than I would ideally like, but OK). Our Radian is impossible to install RF outboard in the same vehicle -- even if I run the front seat all the way forward on its track, the Radian still doesn't have enough space. I do have the Radian RF in the Corolla, but it will only fit in the center, sort of sticking forward between the front vehicle seats a bit.

As far as seats that take up relatively little space front-to-back when installed RF, I think the EFTA (Evenflo Triumph Advance) is reported to be pretty good in that department, for a convertible seat, and it has a lot of other good features also. I am not familiar enough with the infant seats to know which ones take up the least space (I have only used a Snugride myself).

Katrin

No help with infant seats, but for a convertible when the time comes, the Compass TrueFit would be a good option.
It has removable head wings, which makes the seat shorter. Then when babe has good head and neck control, you can reduce the RF angle to more upright and when you have to add the head wings back on, you'll have more front to back room to have it fit.

Thank you for all your great replies filled with useful information. We found a BRU with the Babytrend infant car seats in the store today and tried it out. It fits! The point about not reclining the driver's and passenger's seats (in our case) is a big one but also the depth was nearly 2 inches less than the Graco Snugride so that made all the difference.

The other great advantage for us with twins on the way is that both infant car seats pop into the double snap and go stroller also by Baby Trend, which is highly recommended by some mothers of twins hearabouts. So two car seats and a stroller all for under $200 with good safety ratings to boot.

A little lost on the handle up point so further clarification would be great. Is it safe to drive with it in that position? I take it that with the handle up it is easier to extract the child within the carseat from the car? We looked in the Babytrend online manual and it suggests placing the handle in the mid storage or non rocking as opposed to the upright carry position when in the car.

Also the input about the convertible car seats will start us on our next search.

Once again thank you very much!

- Sally

The allowed handle position in the car varies depending on the infant seat model and whether or not the handle is reinforced to withstand a crash in the carrying position. Models that allow the handle to be up in the carrying position typically take up a bit less room behind the front seat, and can be advantageous in more compact cars.

The Baby Trend infant seats do not allow you to leave the handle up in the carrying position in the car, only down in the positions indicated in the manual. The current Graco Snugride models do allow the handle to be in the carrying position (anyone with an older Snugride from 2004 or a bit earlier would need to double check their manual, though, because older Snugrides didn't allow the handle to be up in the car). If the Baby Trend seats do fit properly in your car with the handle lowered in the allowed position(s), then you're good to go.