Convertible seat for my 2009 Jetta ??

[lady bug]

I'm looking for a convertible seat for my 2009 Jetta. My son is almost 7 months and 28 inches long. We currently have the Graco Snugfit which he is getting close to out growing in the center position. I'm having trouble finding info on convertible seats in the rear facing position that fit well in the 09 Jetta. Also to add a crimp into it my husband is 6'2" and has to have the seat almost all the way back.

Any suggestions? or point me somewhere I can find that info. carseat.org doesn't have the 09 Jetta.

Thanks

[AnnieW625]

Unfortunately because of the push to have higher weight limit rear facing seats there aren't too many small seats on the market these days. It's a huge bummer for those of us who are tall and want to drive smaller economic cars! We have an 01 Corolla so I totally feel your pain (we used an Evenflo Triumph 5, which has now been discontinued, and replaced by the EFTA, and we'd love a Jetta Wagon TDI for our next car too so we'll most likely be in the same position as you in a couple of years).

There are only three really good options for small footprint seats that will rear face easily in small cars, the Britax Roundabout (not the 50; that's basically a Marathon and it won't fit RFing), Britax Diplomat, and the Combi Cocorro. Combi has some great install videos and the seat has gotten some really nice reviews over on Car-seat.org (just do a search). Both seats should get you to about 3 years old (DD just outgrew the Triumph 5 at 39") or at least 2 rear facing. You will have to buy another convertable (BLVD, EFTA, Radian, True Fit, etc) or harnessed booster (Frontier, Nautilus, or Evenflo Generations 2, etc), but once the child is forward facing almost any convertable/harnessed booster in a small car will do just fine (but the Radian will have the smallest footprint width wise).

Britax Roundabout, http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/roundabout/fabric-options
Britax Diplomat, http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/diplomat/fabric-options
Combi Cocorro, http://www.combi-intl.com/Products/Item.aspx?Item=12

[jjordan]

At 7 months old, you can install a RF convertible at a more upright angle than you would need for a newborn. When I put Britax convertibles in my car (RF), they didn't actually take up any more front-back space than my snugride. So I think you can fit pretty much any convertible there as long as you have it in the middle. That gives it some space to stick out between the two front seats.

Check your car's manual to see if it's okay to have the carseats pushing against the front seats. That might be a complicating factor...

Otherwise, just check seats at BRU, they let you take them out to the car to try. I think you'll be able to fit most any convertible back there, possibly not a Radian since they are quite long front-to-back and are hard to install at a more upright angle.

[Snow mom]

I have a RF MA in my 2001 Jetta. It's currently behind the driver seat and that works fine for me. I'm only 5'6" so certainly not in your husbands range but I think you could install in the center and move the seat most of the way back. I agree with PP that you'd be surprised how little space a convertible takes up. The MA looked huge when I bought it but doesn't take up any more space than the snugride did. Trying out seats at BRU is a good option.

[MontrealMum]

I am assuming you mean the Graco Snugride? If you can fit that RFing in your Jetta, you should be fine with a MA in the center position. In fact, we were able to move the seats back further (to the full, all the way back position) when we switched out our Snugride for the MA in our '98 Jetta.

[k_null81]

We have 2 RF light blue Coccoro's in the back of our 2008 Jetta. My husband couldn't drive with the infant seat behind the drivers seat and he's only 5ft 10 so we put these in. So far we are really happy with the seats. They are very plush and the colors they come in are fun. But long term those light colored car seats will start showing their wear a lot sooner then a darker seat cover.