Best FF Seat?

We have a son who is only 7 months old and found out - SURPRISE - we are expecting a baby the end of August. My problem is this...our car has a horrible back seat. To fit the infant seat in the car it has to go behind the passenger seat because the seat has to be as far forward as it can go. My husband definitely couldn't drive with his seat like that! Me either for that matter, it's hard enough having my knees mashed against the dashboard. There is no way we can afford to get another car by the time this baby gets here so we won't be able to put another RF carseat in our car. Poor son will barely be 14 months old, I really don't want him FF already, but there appears to be no choice. Our car isn't worth anything to get a good trade-in for it. So - what is the best, safest FF seat for my what is going to be a little 14 month old boy?
I am so sad we can't protect him and keep him safer longer...we'll all have to grow up faster than we really wanted to.

May I ask which vehicle? You'd be surprised at how little space a rear-facing convertible seat can take. Remember you can have the seat more upright now that your ds is a little older. Which seat is he in right now?

Many convertibles actually take up less room than infant seats.

First, just wanted to mention, there really is no 'Safest Seat'. Any carseat that fits your child, fits your car and is installed properly and is used correctly every time will be safe, whether its a Cosco Scenera or a Britax.

That said, is your son in an Infant seat now? I ask because many Infant carseats will take up more space rear-facing than some Convertibles will. Mainly because of the use of the base on the infant seat but also because as your little one gets older, he won't need the seat reclined as much. I've had a rear-facing Britax Marathon in my small sedan without having to move the front seat up much. I think you'll be surprised at how well some of the convertibles fit rearfacing.

I would recommend that you go to a store where they will allow you to try seats out in your car, such as Babies R Us. I've heard that some Targets will also allow it, but not sure if thats common.

Please let us know what your budget is, and I know we can help you find a seat that will keep your little one rearfacing :thumbsup:

If you can fit an infant seat back there, you can fit a rear facing convertible.

This is because infant seats are longer front to back than convertible seats


There are a select few reasons that justify turnings a fourteen month old forward facing, when all other options are exhausted. Fortunately for your baby, there are plenty of options here

The Britax Marathon is an excellent choice in terms of being able to install it quite upright while still leaving a comfortable amount of room for the older rearfacing child.

Yes, please share what vehicle you have..we might even have pics of seats installed in it to show you...but we definitely have expertise to be able to help you find a safe solution.

I guess I left out some important information.
My son is currently in a Chicco Keyfit 30 - strapped into the back of a Suzuki Grand Vitara.
I have budgeted probably around $300 for a FF seat - I figured that would be enough (My babies safety is worth any amount of money. That does not include thousands for pretty fabric, that, I will never understand) I want one that he can grow with for quite a while. Or, hold up that it can be handed down to this next baby and I can move older child into a booster or something. Still not quite sure how all this works.
Thank You so much in advance. My hubby doesn't understand why I am so worried and bugged about this - his thought is that our son will be over a year old! No matter how many times I share internal decapitation stories with him...sigh, some men just don't understand. He says he read all about it on lots of websights...well, people are getting smarter now and realizing the 1 year and 20 pound rule is dumb. Unfortunately half the pediatricians and "child experts" didn't get the memo. I will change my husbands wrong thoughts

I know a Scenera for sure will take up less space rear-facing than a Keyfit. The Scenera fits rear-facing behind my dh's seat, but not the Keyfit. I'm sure there are other seats as well that would take up less space than a Keyfit. You just need to be able to try it out Have you ever tried the Keyfit in the center of the backseat? That might give you a little more space. When baby comes I would probably try the Keyfit in the center and a rear-facing convertible behind the passenger.

I definitely think we can find a solution to keep both of your babies RFing.

I would put the infant seat in the center and then see if you can find a convertible that will fit beside it. Your car has a pretty wide backseat so width shouldn't be a huge issue. I would see if you can fit a Marathon or a True Fit next to the Keyfit. The Avenue is an inexpensive, yet nice seat that is quite narrow. It will likely take some trial and error.

A GRAND VITARA is your "really small car"??????

LOL..you have LOTS of options.

Our "small car" is a geo metro!

You can keep your 7 mos old rearfacing AND still fit in your car.

My thoughts:

Put baby number 1 in either a SK Radian or a Safety First Avenue in the center and baby number 2 in the Keyfit on the passenger side

OR

Put baby number 1 in a First Years True Fit or an Evenflo Triumph Advance behind the driver and baby number 2 in the Keyfit on the passenger side

The SK Radian takes up a bit of room front to back, but it's really narrow and will fit b/t your two front seats if it comes up close to them, plus it sits low on the seat, so it won't go up as high as some others while still allowing for a lot of growth. The SF Avenue also sits low on the seat and is narrow, but it costs less than half of the SK Radian.

The True Fit and the EFTA are both wide, but they're shape allows them to take up less room front to back (giving the person in front of them more room). I sit in front of an EFTA in dh's Passat, and my seat is pretty much exactly where I normally would have it (and I'm tall). DH can also sit in front of it. The True Fit also has a removeable head rest up to 22 lbs that makes it fit better.

hths and Congrats!

henrietta

If you have a budget of $300 for the seat, you really have endless options!! If you're looking for a seat to "grow" with him and last a long time, I second what a PP said and try the SK Radian. Go for the XT with the SIP, since it's in your budget. This can potentially keep him RF'ing up to 35 lbs and then FF'ing in a harness up to 80 lbs. It has the highest harness slots, so the chances of him outgrowing it by height are less than other harness seats. It's narrow, so it may very well fit in the middle of the backseat with the top in between the two front seats. Plus, it can be installed more upright than the infant seat, as other PP's have said. And you should easily be able to fit the KF outboard next to it.

The radian is a great seat but its going to take up more space rf so I would actually steer away from it. I would look at the Evenflo Triumph Advance, True fit or Avenue

Hey Kristen!
Sorry I didn't reply to you earlier, I had my phone on silent and just now got your text, but it looks like you got some great advice already!

Yes, it is the Radian that I have, and if it would fit in your car right, I think it would be a good choice because it's narrow enough that I think it should be able to fit fine right next to your keyfit, and as long as you could RF it in the center with no problems, I think it would work great.

In our car, a Toyota Camry, I can't really put much of anything RF behind the driver's seat, because dh needs his seat so far back that car seats get in the way. The radian is quite tall, and I can't put it behind the passenger RF either, even though I don't need as much room as dh, but it fits great RF in the center because it kind of goes inbetween the 2 front seats.
I think I saw a post recently where the new Radian XT was put in more upright than the older radians would allow, I think it has something to do with the new RF boot on it.

Anyway, If it would fit RF in the center in your car, I think it would be a good choice because it's narrow enough that your keyfit should fit next to it. I can pretty much get anything I've tried to fit next to my Radian (including my keyfit), and since it's so narrow, an adult can even sit next to it comfortably. It's also nice because the new model, the XT has headwings, which is good for side impact protection, and sleeping, and the Radian has tall harness slots, so you could keep him harnessed probably long enough to get him to booster age. Hannah is probably going to be about 6 when she outgrows it by height.
If you are coming out here anytime before your baby is due, you can try my Radian out in your car, or you can order it from somewhere like Target and try it out, and return it to the store if it doesnt work out. I don't know if they have the XT or not though, but even if not, the 65 is great, thats what I have.

I think the Marathon would also be a good choice too, it sits more upright than an infant seat. I have the Fisher Price model that was made by Britax, same seat shell and everything, just a different weight limit (It even has a marathon cover on it right now). It would fit even better RF in the center than my Radian would. I even got it upright behind the drivers seat once, and thats all but impossible to fit a RF seat there. It's a great, very comfy seat, I love all the padding and the cute covers, and it's so easy to install, I hear it's even easier when it's an actual Marathon, because they have lock off's too and mine doesn't. Hannah will probably make it to 5 in that seat, maybe longer.

I haven't tried out the Evenflo Triumph Advance or True Fit in my car, but those are also great seats if they would fit.

I think I'd try out the Radian and the Marathon first, I bet one of those would work.

Oh, and as far as your dh saying FF is ok because he'll be over a year, have him watch the video from this site: http://www.joelsjourney.org/index.html It's a true story that happened to someone's grandson.
I'm all for RFing, as you know already. Abby is only FF now because she is too near the RF weight limit for the seats we have. I'm happy she's at least 2 though, but longer would have been better. I turned Hannah back around to RF at 2, and she did until she was 1 month away from turning 3.

Thank you everyone so much for your advice. I'm excited to try things out and see how they fit. I'm worried about a carseat in the middle fitting since we tried that with the Chicco and it didn't work, you had to scoot both seats all the way forward. I'll just have to find a store that will let me try out seats. Last time I went to BRU no one would help me, they told me I couldn't try out the seat unless I bought it. I think I'll see how a Radian fits in the middle, hope I can get to UT to try out Holly's before I need to make the big purchase.

Hmmm.... how reclined are your front seats? I commonly see the front seats reclined four or five clicks down from completely upright, which makes it more comfortable for the front seat passengers, but can make it difficult for a RF seat to fit without moving the front seats forward. If you put them upright, you can actually move the front seats further back and still have room for the RF seats. Also, check your vehicle owner's manual: unless it's specifically forbidden by Suzuki, it's absolutely OK for the RF seats to rest against the front seats. This should allow you a little more room as well.

My sister had an 06 Grand Vitara and I can try a Marathon/Safeseat combo this weekend if you need me to. My sisters BF practically rides in the back seat since his seat is so far back, so will see what fits. Let me know if you want me to try.

longstocking said:

Thank you everyone so much for your advice. I'm excited to try things out and see how they fit. I'm worried about a carseat in the middle fitting since we tried that with the Chicco and it didn't work, you had to scoot both seats all the way forward.

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The convertibles wont take up as much room as the keyfit , becasue they sit up higher, and are more upright. If the gap between the front seats isn't big enough for a radian to kind of rest between, I think a Marathon would fit really nice there. They are up on a base and don't get in the way of the front seats much. The seat can be touching the front seats, thats ok.

When my fisher price seat (basically a Marathon) is behind the passenger, I have tons more room up front than I do now that my keyfit is behind me, it takes up more room because it's reclined more than the convertible seat needs to be. I think it would fit even better in the center of my car than the radian can. I'd see if one of your friends has a Marathon you can try out too, if babies r us wont let you.

well, what about the learning curve truefit??

not only for your current baby, but for your new one, instead of the infant seat.

it fits newborns well, and with the removeable headrest (thinking more of the new baby), and then that it can be more upright for older ones (when the headrest is on) it actually fits smaller cars very well.

target tends to carry it, and other high end baby stores may, too.

if anything would fit in the center, I'd bet on the Radian, because it is so narrow.