Anyone have 2 car seats in a Hyundai Santa Fe?

[thelilprincess]

DD is 4 years old and using a Britax Boulevard. DS is 5 months and using her maxi cosi mico (not expired).

But since they don't fit side by side, we basically lose out on the middle seat. So now I think it's time to get new car seats for both kids. My friend says she has the clek or foonf but she said that for rear facing for my DS, I may end up losing a lot if space. I originally had planned on just getting a new carseay/booster combo for DD and having DS use the Britax. But if I can somehow get the carseats side by side that would be awesome.

Any suggestions?

[Joolsplus2]

I would think putting a Radian in the center, either RF or FF depending on which kid fits best and what works for your situation, would work great to use up that narrow spot and and fit next to the other seat (like, center FF for your 4 yo so it's easier to plop the baby in by the door, then reach back from the front seat to finish getting the 4 yo buckled up). Another narrow choice for the center would be the Graco My Size, it's almost as narrow as the Radian, but might not fit next to another seat *quite* as well.
Either way, you could buy from Amazon (free returns), or Babies R Us (return to any BRU or TRU without return shipping annoyance) and try it out, if you can't find one locally anywhere (BRU has the MySize, at least, and they let you try floor models)

[thelilprincess]

Awesome info.

So do you think I should try a radian in the center for DD and keep the Britax behind the passenger seat? I may eve consider getting 2 radians in the Santa Fe and make DH use both Britax in his BMW since we mostly use the Santa Fe with the kids,

[thelilprincess]

i forgot to mention, i think DS is a big boy though he seems to fall in the 50 percentile. he's only 5 months and is 17lbs - he was just 15lbs at his 4 month check up!

so looking for a seat that will accomodate for rearfacing a hefty kid for 2 years and will work forward facing /boosting for later on.

[Joolsplus2]

Oops I've been gone a minute or two. All seats will easily accommodate even the biggest of kiddos to age 2 rearfacing, if you want to go beyond that and truly expect him to follow a big percentile curve, then the Radian is still about the best choice, new Britax click connects are super duper tall for RF. Don't worry about seats that become boosters later, most of them are annoyingly bulky as boosters you will be glad to get rid of it when kindergarten starts, lol.

[thelilprincess]

Ok so if I shouldn't worry about th convertible working as a booster, can I ask what would be you choice of the following?

Diono Rsdian RXT
Clek Foonf
Clek Fllo

I have 5.5 month old who's 17.5lbs - at 4 months he was 15 lbs and almost 25 inches.

I also have a 4 year old. She was 39 inches and 32 lbs back in July for her check up. Im sure her Britax boulevard cs70 works fine for us still.

But baby is growing fast - we feel like he's going to outgrow the maxi cosi soon. Our daughter was pretty tiny and stayed in the maxi cosi until 13 months.

I'll be honest - I kinda like the simple look of the cleks and I guess th free travel bags is what's kinda pushing me towards that direction, too, which shoukdnt be a deal breaker. Most important are safe, comfortable car seats that will last us. But I may be traveling with the kids by myself to meet DH so we haven't decided whether we are bringing car seats or renting when we reach our destination. I much prefer out own car seats.

[legaleagle]

I have very big kids and have radians for 4+ years now. Even with all the new seats on the market, they'd still be my first pick because having heavy kids be able to climb easily into their own seats is worth 8 zillion dollars to me. That said, if the fllo sits much farther down then the foonf I'd consider it, but the foonf is so ridiculously high up it's completely a no-go for me, even without the insane price tag.

But given your current seats, I'd just pass down the blvd to the baby and get her a combo seat. I was able to puzzle a ma70 next to a recaro performance sport pretty easily in my mom's altima (so not huge car but not tiny). Since she's pretty petite you'll be able to use whatever you end up with for a long long time. I'm guessing other combo seats would work well too.

[thelilprincess]

I have very big kids and have radians for 4+ years now. Even with all the new seats on the market, they'd still be my first pick because having heavy kids be able to climb easily into their own seats is worth 8 zillion dollars to me. That said, if the fllo sits much farther down then the foonf I'd consider it, but the foonf is so ridiculously high up it's completely a no-go for me, even without the insane price tag.

But given your current seats, I'd just pass down the blvd to the baby and get her a combo seat. I was able to puzzle a ma70 next to a recaro performance sport pretty easily in my mom's altima (so not huge car but not tiny). Since she's pretty petite you'll be able to use whatever you end up with for a long long time. I'm guessing other combo seats would work well too.

Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think about getting her a combo seat and handing down the Britax to the baby. Off to research some options.