Help me fit huge baby into small car!

[philyre]

Right now, my toddler is in a Sunshine Radian and my 4-month-old infant is in a Graco Safeseat (now the Snugride 32). We'd been hoping that the Safeseat would take DS2 further into his first year, but he's huuuuge and it looks like he has another inch or two to go until his head exceeds the top of the seat. (He's currently 22 lbs and around 29 inches... and more so than that length restriction, it's relevant that he has a really long torso and tiny little Corgi legs, so he's going to outgrow the seat before he actually hits the official height limit.)

The other issue is that we have a 1996 Honda Civic. Right now we have the Safeseat in the middle, and the Radian forward-facing behind the driver's seat. This installation has been checked by techs and JUST works in the existing space - the seats just puzzle together perfectly with one another, and the Safeseat just fits in the space between the two front seats without touching them. (The driver and passenger seats both need to be pretty far back because both parents are tall.)

I'm wondering if there's any seats out there that we could use to rearface our enormous second child in the Honda Civic, without interfering with the position of the front seats. The driver's seat often needs to be all the way back, and while there's a little more wiggle room on the passenger side, it's not much, since we need to not have the adult sitting in front of it touching the dash with their knees for reasons of airbag safety.

I'm having a hard time envisioning this working, since the Safeseat seems like the biggest seat we could accomodate, and I don't see how we can get a seat that will rearface our gargantuan child that doesn't take up more space, but I thought I'd ask for advice for seats to try out.

We do plan on a few more kids and thus there is a minivan in our future, but we were hoping that could wait another year or two until a third child arrives, as right now the Civic is meeting all of our needs beautifully.

[MontrealMum]

A convertible seat will often take up less space than an infant bucket because it doesn't have to be reclined as much.

Have you tried to place your Radian in the middle, RFing, just to see what happens? I have a huge child as well - 90% for weight, 95% for height - and he fit in a RN XTSL in our Corolla (middle) until he was 4 years old. In our Subaru as well, though that's a much larger car, I know. We also have an older MA, which fits well in the middle of both those cars and can fit nicely over the adjacent carseat (it's got a higher base than the RN or TF, for example), as well as the front seats. The only reason my DS outgrew it is that it's an older model with a shorter shell and lower weight limit.

I've got friend with Civics and I know that the great front legroom (much better than in our Toyota or our old Jetta) comes at a cost to the backseat riders, but I think that you should be able to RF to at least 2 - even with a tall child.

[philyre]

MontrealMum - there's JUST not enough room for RFing a Radian in the middle, unfortunately. It's very scant, but it just barely reclines too much to avoid touching the front seats. I think it works on the newer model Civics that have just a hair more room, or it would work with shorter parents.

And we tried installing a Britax Marathon on a visit to BRU back when we just had one kid that we were looking to place, and it didn't work well enough for us to buy it, though I don't remember exactly what the issue was. I think it didn't RF, either, but perhaps we need to try it out again.

I totally agree on the "we should be able to RF until at least 2" issue!

[Smillow]

An angle adjuster may help RF the Radian either outboard or in the center. I used it to RF my DS in a 2000 Honda Accord outboard and was able to slide the passenger seat all the way back.

[philyre]

That is perfect -- I really think that should buy us the tiny bit of room we need for the Radian!!!

[Joolsplus2]

An angle adjuster may help RF the Radian either outboard or in the center. I used it to RF my DS in a 2000 Honda Accord outboard and was able to slide the passenger seat all the way back.

[o_mom]

An angle adjuster may help RF the Radian either outboard or in the center. I used it to RF my DS in a 2000 Honda Accord outboard and was able to slide the passenger seat all the way back.

That is perfect -- I really think that should buy us the tiny bit of room we need for the Radian!!!

Just an FYI, the angle adjuster is labeled for babies over 1 yr. Hopefully you have more time than you think in the Snugride, but at 4 mos, the baby still needs to be pretty reclined. Usually it isn't until 6-8 months or more when you can make them a bit more upright.

I would also consider trying out the new Britax convertibles. They are very compact front to back and often fit in places you wouldn't think. The other thing to look at is not just how far back the passenger seat is, but how upright. Many times, just making the seat more upright will give you the room you need for a convertible.

Anyway, keep an eye on where his head is. The Snugride is outgrown when his head is one inch from the top of the hard shell.

[philyre]

[AAQUOTE=o_mom;3448367]Just an FYI, the angle adjuster is labeled for babies over 1 yr. '
[/QUOTE]

Oh, bummer! That was really going to solve it for us!!! I would be comfortable with going off label but I think you are right that I wouldn't want to take a 4 month old and put him in an airway position more suitable for 6+ or 8+ months.

Hopefully you have more time than you think in the Snugride,

Unfortunately, we do not. Son's head is about an inch and a half from the top of the carseat, and he's been gaining a lb a week over the past two weeks, and we've had to break out the 24 month clothing... so I don't have any illusions about his growth rate suddenly slowing down.

I would also consider trying out the new Britax convertibles. They are very compact front to back and often fit in places you wouldn't think.

We'll try this. Which particular models should we be sure to look at?

After talking to the spouse we think that the MA might work behind the passenger seat - when we'd tried it out a long time ago, we'd vetoed it on the grounds that it didn't sit next to the Safeseat in the middle, but I do think we were able to get it in behind the passenger seat, though I remember it was non-ideal and I don't know if it RFed or not.

The other thing to look at is not just how far back the passenger seat is, but how upright. Many times, just making the seat more upright will give you the room you need for a convertible.

This is a great idea, except that they're both already in the most upright position possible - we like to have good posture!

Anyway, keep an eye on where his head is. The Snugride is outgrown when his head is one inch from the top of the hard shell.

Yeah... it's totally time for us to get a new carseat VERY VERY soon. And er, possibly a new car.

[legaleagle]

Seconding the britaxes - all of them take up the same amount of room front-to-back. The advocate is wider because of the airbag things. Pretty sure you'll have to have them both outboard though. That said, it's ok for the radian to touch the front seats - both diono/SKJP and britax allow bracing and you don't have advanced airbags in a car that old.

[Joolsplus2]

Whoopsie, didn't know about the 1 year thing on the angle adjuster