Infant seat for 2008 Mustang

[markag]

My wife is 18 weeks pregnant and I am starting to look into car seats for our child. My wife drives a car with a decent sized rear seat, but I have a 2008 mustang with not a lot of room in the back. We are trying to find a seat that will fit in the mustang, because we figure if it fits my car, then it will fit in hers without a problem. The back seat of the mustang is set up kind of like 2 bucket seats in the back. There is a hump between the two rear seats sort of seperates them and keeps them from being one bench in the back. I've taken a couple of measurements, and flat part of the seat is about 12.5 inches wide, and from the back of the rear seat, to the front seat is about 20 inches with the front seat in the furthest back position and at a comfortable seating angle. I realize this doesn't give a lot of room to work with.

I've asked around on some Mustang forums, and have had a few suggestions. A few people have used the Graco SnugRide with the 22lb capacity installed without the base. Others have used that same seat installed on the hump in the middle with a base using the latch points from the two side seats (I don't know how safe that is). They would put some noodles or towels under the seat to provide a nice flat surface for the seat to sit on.

Are there any mustang owners, or small car owners that can point me towards a good seat to have that might fit in my Mustang? Selling the car is not an option. We just bought it, knowing we were pregnant. My wife is going to stay at home to raise our child, and her car will not be a problem with a car seat, but we just want to make sure whatever we get can be stuffed into the Mustang and still leave enough room for my wife and I.

Thanks for the help.

 

[EmmaCPST]

Your center "seat" isn't an actual seating position, right - there's no seat belt? So you definitely can't install a car seat there. Technicially Ford does allow borrowing of the inside LATCH anchors in some of their vehicles, but definitely not in one where there isn't an actual seating position.

You can, however, use an infant seat baseless and they tend to fit pretty nicely in those scooped out bucket style seats, so I would probably consider that route.

The Chicco Keyfit is a great infant seat for ease of use and installation, and it also is pretty short front to back (and using it without the base will shrink the front to back depth even more). You don't even need to buy an extra base, because it'll fit better without. Babies R Us carries them and will let you try it in your car, I would definitely do that.

Another option to consider would be purchasing a convertible seat for your car - the Combi Coccoro is one of the smallest front to back, so you could purchase a convertible and just have it live in your car. The Keyfit will probably be outgrown around 1 year old, while the Coccoro will more than likely get your child to a safe forward facing age (a minimum of age 2, hopefully closer to 3).

 

[Baylor]

I have an evenflo tribute and a 2008 mustang I can try for you and see how it works.

auto correct hates me

 

[markag]

Thanks for the tips. The center seat is not a seating position, and I can't say I'm a fan of the idea of putting a seat on the hump in the middle. It was just something someone said they did, but I'm not a big fan of that idea.

We are tossing around the idea of a convertible seat. I imagine it might be a little less convenient, but the idea of not having to switch seats once they outgrow an infant seat is appealing. If we went with a convertible seat, we might still want to get an infant seat for my wife's car to act as a carrier. My only other worry about a convertible seat is the safety for small children. I know they have to meet safety requirements, but it is hard to imagine a seat made for a 40+ lb child would properly support an infant. And it would be harder to put the child in the seat because you can't really do it outside of the car.

 

[EmmaCPST]

The convenience of an infant seat is great, I do like them a lot. As long as the convertible seat properly fits the newborn and is at a proper angle for a newborn without any head/neck control, it's perfectly safe. The Coccoro is one that fits newborns superbly - it's actually a really great seat for preemies because of how well it fits small babies, so it's great for infants.

And truly - this car is going to be a pain in the butt, no matter what you do. Either you're going to be strapping a baby in an infant seat, then trying to finagle it through to the backseat and snap it in a base or install it properly baseless, or you're going to be climbing back there with the baby to strap them in. Neither one is going to be super convenient. I would probably do the Coccoro myself, just because you're going to be in this same position when the baby is outgrowing the infant seat, and the Coccoro is the easiest seat to use in a tiny backseat. Plus it makes an awesome travel seat too.

 

[yetanotherjen]

The convenience of an infant seat is great, I do like them a lot. As long as the convertible seat properly fits the newborn and is at a proper angle for a newborn without any head/neck control, it's perfectly safe. The Coccoro is one that fits newborns superbly - it's actually a really great seat for preemies because of how well it fits small babies, so it's great for infants.

And truly - this car is going to be a pain in the butt, no matter what you do. Either you're going to be strapping a baby in an infant seat, then trying to finagle it through to the backseat and snap it in a base or install it properly baseless, or you're going to be climbing back there with the baby to strap them in. Neither one is going to be super convenient. I would probably do the Coccoro myself, just because you're going to be in this same position when the baby is outgrowing the infant seat, and the Coccoro is the easiest seat to use in a tiny backseat. Plus it makes an awesome travel seat too.

I agree 100%
You will be losing the convenience of the infant seat with your car because you will have to install every time if you cannot use a base, that means buckling it in, making sure it is tight, making sure the angle is correct, and I'm sure after awhile you'd be able to do it quickly but *I* think it would be easier to climb in strap in baby and go. And I don't know how you feel about babywearing but it is great for baby and great for you!

 

[Syllieann]

Does anyone need to sit in the front passenger seat? That will greatly affect your choices.

 

[Baylor]

Now you have me curious so Im going to go tomorrow and put my tribute in the Mustang.
I had my Frontier 85 in that in an emergency one day. So installing a seat daily would be a pain in the butt.

Let me do this and take pictures for you.

 

[EmmaCPST]

Also just as an aside - out of curiosity I googled and found a few of the car seat threads from the allfordmustangs.com forums. Pleeeease don't listen to anything they say about car seats over there! In addition to things like you mentioned with using the center as a seating position, there are folks talking about filling the sculpted space with pool noodles for a forward facing seat and other things that are not safe and not going to hold up in a crash. You have to find a seat that fits with what you're working with in terms of space and the sculpted seats, not make it work by adding things to it or modifying the car seat. There are certain places you can use things like a pool noodle or a towel to adjust recline, but definitely not to fill in seat space with an oddly shaped seat. There was also a comment I saw from someone who says they are a technician that just tells the OP to buy a Britax because they're the best seats and nothing else is good - which is totally untrue. There is a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation floating around over there, so I'm glad you found your way here!

 

[markag]

Also just as an aside - out of curiosity I googled and found a few of the car seat threads from the allfordmustangs.com forums. Pleeeease don't listen to anything they say about car seats over there! In addition to things like you mentioned with using the center as a seating position, there are folks talking about filling the sculpted space with pool noodles for a forward facing seat and other things that are not safe and not going to hold up in a crash. You have to find a seat that fits with what you're working with in terms of space and the sculpted seats, not make it work by adding things to it or modifying the car seat. There are certain places you can use things like a pool noodle or a towel to adjust recline, but definitely not to fill in seat space with an oddly shaped seat. There was also a comment I saw from someone who says they are a technician that just tells the OP to buy a Britax because they're the best seats and nothing else is good - which is totally untrue. There is a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation floating around over there, so I'm glad you found your way here!

I actually have a thread on allfordmustangs.com, but so far, I haven't received too much bad information. My thread is http://www.allfordmustangs.com/foru...ing-infant-seat-s197-mustang-2005-2009-a.html

I did have one guy tell me that as soon as they were a little bigger, to turn them around forward facing. I know that is silly information. And I don't really trust what they were saying for putting a seat in the middle. I mainly just wanted to know what seats other mustang owners have used in the past, and I'm filtering out the bad information.

I will need to have a passenger in the car. My wife is 5'8" and I'm 6'1". If the seat is on the passenger rear seat, then my wife can scoot her seat forward to make room. I don't know exactly how far forward she could comfortably sit though. I'm hoping to find out when we go to Babies R Us to test fit some seats.

 

[EmmaCPST]

I actually have a thread on allfordmustangs.com, but so far, I haven't received too much bad information. My thread is http://www.allfordmustangs.com/foru...ing-infant-seat-s197-mustang-2005-2009-a.html

I did have one guy tell me that as soon as they were a little bigger, to turn them around forward facing. I know that is silly information. And I don't really trust what they were saying for putting a seat in the middle. I mainly just wanted to know what seats other mustang owners have used in the past, and I'm filtering out the bad information.

I will need to have a passenger in the car. My wife is 5'8" and I'm 6'1". If the seat is on the passenger rear seat, then my wife can scoot her seat forward to make room. I don't know exactly how far forward she could comfortably sit though. I'm hoping to find out when we go to Babies R Us to test fit some seats.

Your responses are awesome - I'm glad you're on the rear facing train - exactly like you said, 12-24 month olds are five times safer rear facing so you and your wife get parent points for doing your research already and being willing to figure this out!

Since you mentioned it there - just FYI Wal Mart will not let you try seats in your vehicle, and they have a minuscule selection anyway. Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby if you have them are your best bet for trying seats out - I definitely think a small convertible or a baseless infant seat are going to be the easiest options.

Congrats on your upcoming little Mustang lover!

 

[Syllieann]

I'm 5'6" and I have just barely enough room to sit in front of a rf next gen britax in our mustang. The next gen have an insert that make them more of a newborn angle while still allowing the seat to be more upright. Aside from the next gen britax seats, the only thing that would take less room is the coccoro. Unfortunately, the coccoro is shorter so it won't rf as long. I've never used an infant seat in ours but I know that my 30* britax takes up less front to back than most infant seats so I'm kind of thinking you might want to go straight to a convertible. You might try the cybex aton though if you are really wanting to have an infant seat.

 

[markag]

I'm starting to think we probably are going to want to have two car seats. An infant seat/carrier that my wife can use for her car in day to day use, and then a convertible seat that stays in the Mustang all the time. That doesn't seem like too bad of a solution, other then cost, but if you go with an infant seat to begin with, then you would have to get a bigger seat at some point in time. When that time comes, the convertible seat can take that role.

As far as convertible seats, I'm torn between the Coccoro Combi convertible and the Britax Roundabout 55. I found this cars.com article about carseats in a 2012 boss 302 (http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/02/2012-ford-mustang-boss-302-car-seat-check.html). Based on what they found, the Britax fits rear facing in the Boss Mustang, but they said they had to move the front seat forward. Now, the Boss Mustang has different front seats from my car. The rear seats are basically the same, except for the head rests area on the Boss. Seeing this gives me hope that the Britax roundabout 55 will fit. The Coccoro convertible looks nice and compact, but it doesn't have the upper size range of the Britax. Dimensionally, the Britax and Coccoro have the same front to back size, but the britax has a base type bottom, and the Coccoro doesn't, so it may be able to fit down in the seat a little better. I don't know, it's all driving me crazy now I keep going back and forth between the two.

We went to Babies R Us today, but we didn't test fit any seats. We really liked the KeyFit 30 seat. Comparing it directly to the Graco SnugRide 30, it seemed like they keyfit was much more solid, sturdy, and better constructed. For an infant seat for my wife's car, I think we are leaning towards the keyfit. I just don't know if it will fit in the Mustang or not. Unfortunately, Babies R Us doesn't have the Coccoro or the Britax Roundabout 55 in the stores, so I won't be able to test them out. I'll probably just have to buy one and see how it fits. If it doesn't fit, then I can return it.

Any of you other Mustang owners have any pictures of your car seats? I would really like to see how they fit back there.

 

[featherhead]

I don't know if you would be able to fit the Roundabout55 in there at a newborn angle. Your best bet is really the Coccoro. Once the Coccoro is outgrown your child should be able to be much more upright, so you can do a bigger convertible rear-facing at that time.

 

[Syllieann]

Here is out boulevard 70 (same shell as the roundabout 55) in our 05 gt. It's installed at 30*. For reference, the driver seat in this pic is all the way back. I could sit in the passenger seat with this setup. In fact, if I put the vehicle seat more upright, I would have had a bit more legroom but I didn't feel comfortable being any closer to the airbag.

 

[markag]

Here is out boulevard 70 (same shell as the roundabout 55) in our 05 gt. It's installed at 30*. For reference, the driver seat in this pic is all the way back. I could sit in the passenger seat with this setup. In fact, if I put the vehicle seat more upright, I would have had a bit more legroom but I didn't feel comfortable being any closer to the airbag.

Thanks for the picture! You said you were 5'6", right? Would you be comfortable riding in that position for, say, 5 hours? We live a long way from both my parents and my wife parents and have 5-6 hour car rides to visit.

Based on that picture, it seems like the Coccoro might be a better fit, although the roundabout looks like it might be doable for us.

 

[EmmaCPST]

I think the Roundabout might be do-able, but like someone else alluded to, probably not until your baby is around 4-5 months old and they have adequate head control. The first few months you'll need a full 45 degree recline and that's going to be a challenge to do and have your passenger seat usable.

You could potentially use the Keyfit or whatever you get baseless until the baby has that head control though, and the start using the Roundabout, so that's an option.

Also, keep in mind that there is a passenger side frontal airbag, so comfort is important for your wife, but safety is paramount and sitting too close to that airbag isn't a good idea either.

My best friend's husband has a Mustang - I have no idea what year it is (I know it's a Bullitt if that helps you know the year at all) but the body style looks the same as when I googled 2008 Mustang. It lives somewhere else though so it's not often at their house... I'll ask if he's going to be driving it this weekend when I'll be over there though, if so I'd be happy to take my Coccoro and give it a try and snap a couple pictures.

 

[markag]

I think the Roundabout might be do-able, but like someone else alluded to, probably not until your baby is around 4-5 months old and they have adequate head control. The first few months you'll need a full 45 degree recline and that's going to be a challenge to do and have your passenger seat usable.

You could potentially use the Keyfit or whatever you get baseless until the baby has that head control though, and the start using the Roundabout, so that's an option.

Also, keep in mind that there is a passenger side frontal airbag, so comfort is important for your wife, but safety is paramount and sitting too close to that airbag isn't a good idea either.

My best friend's husband has a Mustang - I have no idea what year it is (I know it's a Bullitt if that helps you know the year at all) but the body style looks the same as when I googled 2008 Mustang. It lives somewhere else though so it's not often at their house... I'll ask if he's going to be driving it this weekend when I'll be over there though, if so I'd be happy to take my Coccoro and give it a try and snap a couple pictures.

That would be awesome. The Bullitt is a 2008 (they made one back in the early 2000's too but it was a different body style). The rear seat is the same in all 2005-2010 mustangs. In 2011, Ford changed the rear seat slightly to include head rests, but the rest of the seat is still the same. Your husband's friend's Bullitt would share the same seat as my 2008.

As it is right now, I think we are looking at getting a keyfit 30 for my wife's car, and a Coccoro for the Mustang. The more we look at it, the more that seems to make the most sense.

 

[Syllieann]

Thanks for the picture! You said you were 5'6", right? Would you be comfortable riding in that position for, say, 5 hours? We live a long way from both my parents and my wife parents and have 5-6 hour car rides to visit.

Based on that picture, it seems like the Coccoro might be a better fit, although the roundabout looks like it might be doable for us.

Yes, 5'6" but a little on the longer torso/shorter leg side. I could probably do a 2hr drive without much grumbling but I think 5-6 would be pushing it. The infant insert for the britax seats will recline the baby somewhat inside of the shell so the angle of the seat itself would need to be more than 30* but not the full 45*. Since you need to do longer drives I would get a coccoro for now-it will also fit a preemie just in case that happens and serves as a great travel seat. When baby gets closer to outgrowing the coccoro you could reevaluate. The britax would probably get another 1-1.5 yrs rf over the coccoro but there may be other seat choices on the market then or your vehicle and needs may change. Check out the shopping section. I saw something about coccoros being a killer price at kohls.

 

[christineka]

The cybex aton is the smallest seat front to back. On the base it takes up 24 inches front to back. It may work for you. You might also consider the combi zeus 360. It's expensive, but convenient for a door car because it turns. It is a seat that will last longer rear-facing than forward facing due to the shell height being considerably higher than the harness slots. It's last about as long as the tallest infant seat. If you have a shorter baby, it'll last longer for you.