Convert rec for big boy and small car

[cnk4]

My son is 4 months old, 20 lbs, and 26.25 inches, i.e., > 95% weight and 90% height. We have him in a Keyfit 30 now, but it won't be long before we need to move him to a convertible. What would you recommend for a big boy and a small car (and tall parents)? We drive a Mazda3 Hatchback with a small back seat. We would like more front seat room than is offered by the keyfit. Also, we would like to think about having another child at some point, so we would like the option of having two adults in the front seat (currently this is very difficult).

I have heard good things about the Britax Roundabout and Marathon, the Evenflo Tribute, the Coccoro, and the Scenara. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!

By the way, I love that there are so many car seat junkies! I like to think of myself as a stroller junkie, but maybe I will have to come to your side. :hug5:

[Joolsplus2]

Hi and welcome!

I don't know if we can work you out much more room than the Key Fit (are you leaving the handle up? That can make things easier, if you do, and it's allowed), but we can find something that won't take up any more room, at least.
My first thought is any Britax 70 or Roundabout 55, they tend to fit even smaller cars very well, and offer plenty of space to get even larger kids to age 2-3 rearfacing. Another option would be the Graco My Ride, though the quality won't be the same as what you're used to with the KF, and it's a little bulkier (but when you're working with a tight situation, you have to use whatever works!). The Tribute is a very small seat, but for the price, you might not mind it lasting only a couple years, and if it's truly all that fits, then really it's quite a nice, basic seat, you'll just need to move to something with a taller harness forward facing later, like the Nautilus or Frontier or Radian, but that's 2-3 years down the road.

[BabyBearsMom]

My advice is to go to a B&M store and try the seats in your car to see what fits. I used to have a car with a teeny tiny back seat and the only seat that would fit (and this was with 0 leg room for the front passenger seat) was the True Fit Premier, which is a great seat for a big kid. I really wanted a Radian but it would not even come close to fitting, so I had to get over that. This was before the new Britaxes came out. I now have an old school Boulevard and an MA70 (the true fit had to get thrown out because it was in an accident) now and the MA70 does not take up nearly as much room as the Old School Blvd (although I LOVE the Blvd for other reasons), so it probably would have fit in the tiny car.

[cnk4]

Thanks for these suggestions! I'll have to check out the seats at a store and see what might fit.

[cnk4]

I wanted to report back on my findings.

We went to a couple of stores and tried out the Britax seats in our Mazda 3 hatchback. It was an ok fit, but still tight. We also checked out the Cosco Scenera.

We couldn't find a local store that had the Combi Coccoro, so we bought it online to try it out. It came and after a little bit of work to get the install tight, we are in business.

It will allow us to keep our small car for another couple years at least. We figure this is more important than having to buy another car seat once baby outgrows the Cocorro.

The Coccoro has a cushy feel for baby, smooth adjusting harness, and it seems like it will be a great fit for us.

[Joolsplus2]

Cool! Glad you found something that works, and thanks for reporting back. I've never installed a Coccoro, so I rarely think about it to mention it!

[cnk4]

Just wanted to update...baby is still big at 9 months...over 26 lbs and about 31 inches tall (95% weight/ over 95% height). He is pretty long in the torso, so he is almost reaching the limit for his Cocorro already due to being close to 1" from top of the shell.

We decided that having a smaller seat that won't eat up as much of the back seat (front seat too) is really our priority over having to get a seat that will last him forever. So...we are going to get a Blvd 70.

If you would have told me that I would go through 3 car seats before baby turned 1, I wouldn't have believed it. But...I think each of the seats have been good seats for what we were looking for at the time. The Cocorro was really great for giving us our car back in that we can use every seat. I am waiting for the Blvd. 70 to arrive, so we'll see how the install goes, but I have a good feeling that it won't take up too much more room. We'll see. :)

Thanks to all of those who post on this forum. I find the information very useful!

[Simon]

Don't forget that you can install the seats fairly upright now and that might help give you more room (front to back) and will also give your kiddo more growing time in a seat. Ditto for the recline setting you are using. Last, you might also try latch vs. seatbelt to see if one or the other give a more upright install.

Good luck with the Blvd. If you are stilling thinking of fitting two kids in your backseat, you might want to check out your Keyfit and Coccoro next to the Blvd to see how the work!