2000 Civic & 2000 Subaru Outback Wagon - Need 2 rear-facing convertible carseats

[Mama Llama]

I will soon need to purchase a convertible seat for my daughter (nearly 11 months, 17 pounds, 27") and replace my son's convertible seat due to it's age (he is 3 years old, 27 pounds, 36"). I would like to turn him back to rear-facing, due to the newer safety recommendations to keep children rear-facing as long as possible.

Does anyone have recommendations for seats that may fit rear-facing in our 2000 Civic and 2000 Subaru Outback wagons? Since we don't have Latch in either car, rear-facing becomes extra challenging for a proper install. Our son was rear-facing in a Britax Marathon in the center seat, but I wouldn't have any legroom up front with the same seat on the outside.

We will buy a set of seats for each car, so whatever will fit properly in either car will work. We don't need to use the same seats for both cars.

Thanks for any input you may have!

[SnuggleBuggles]

You might still be able to make a Marathon work, rf'ing, behind one of the seats. We have a 1999 Civic and used a Marathon rf'ing behind the passenger seat. When ds2 was close to a year, we made the carseat more upright and that gave the passenger a bit more leg room in the front seat. Not the most helpful of replies but just letting you know from another older Civic owner what worked for us.

Beth

[legaleagle]

The new britax are *tiny* front to back when they're more upright, so I think they'd be a good bet for both cars. Your 3 year old is about the same size as my giant 18 month old and he still has several inches above his head in the marathon 70. They have the built in lockoffs like the old britax models so easy to do seatbelt installs. They're on the wider side so you are unlikely to fit another person back there, if that's an issue. You should double check, but you should be able to forcefully brace against the front seats as well with 2000 cars.

You might also consider the diono radians - they just came out with a new "angle adjuster" to make it more upright/save room front-to-back, they can also be forcefully braced, and it may be narrow enough to go in between the front seats. I don't believe they play well with subarus though. It would definitely keep your DS rf'ing for another few years - they are very tall. I think they also puzzle well with britax, so you would probably be able to squeeze a 3rd person back there as well.

These are both on the pricier side of recommendations, sorry!