Help me fit huge baby into small car!

[philyre]

We just tried out a friend's Britax Marathon and it DOES fit outboard, but just barely - it definitely does touch the headrest of the front passenger seat a good bit. How much touching is okay? When we had our seats checked by a tech at the local hospital, she'd said that the Safeseat needed to have an cm to an inch of clearance or so for with the front seat, and the implication was that this was true for other RF seats as well... but I'm seeing that this doesn't seem to be the consensus opinion of the techs on here?

[legaleagle]

Only a few brands allow bracing, but fortunately britax is among them (graco is not). For bracing, it can be quite forcefully touching, I believe the main constraint is the entire base of the carseat must remain in contact with the seat. How upright was your trial install?

[philyre]

We had the Britax in the most reclined position... since our son is just 4 months old, we were thinking it should be still most reclined for all the RF-allowable options.

Only the top of the carseat (very outer edge of the marathon) was touching the headrest. Is that okay? (And is there anywhere that all the parameters for what touching is/isn't okay are mentioned? The Britax manual didn't seem to say anything about it either way when I leafed through our friend's copy.)

[o_mom]

Very generally, touching is OK unless specifically not allowed, bracing is not OK unless specifically allowed. With the infant seat, if it is touching, you can have issues with the seat not clicking all the way in the base or getting your hand in to release it. For those reasons, I generally encourage parents to leave a slight gap. For a convertible seat, those don't apply, so you go back to the manufacturers' rules for the seat and the vehicle. Evenflo is the only one I know of that had rules around not even touching and required even a large gap. Some vehicles have warnings in the manuals about pressing on the front seats with cargo (usually in the 'cargo' or airbag section, not the child safety section), but it's doubtful that a 1996 vehicle would have this as it is usually tied to airbag sensors in the advanced airbags.

If you can fit something, even a piece of paper, in the gap, that is obviously not touching. Touching, I would consider either not deforming the fabric/leather at all or just barely deforming. It's hard to give a written definition - usually I run my hand between the seat and the vehicle headrest and if I can get it through without hurting myself, just smooshing the foam a little, that's "touching". I know, not very scientific, lol. Bracing would be pressing on it and not able to even squeeze something between them.

[philyre]

So it seems like the Marathon is the way to go for us for all the Britax seats, and safe for us to install -- thanks for that clarification, o_mom, that makes sense - it's definitely touching but not braced, so it seems like we're okay. The Roundabout also sounds appealing (I understand it's smaller as well as cheaper) but given how remarkably off-the-charts our kid is, I think we're probably well-advised to get the one that is going to work for longer for him.

The MA we tried out is at least 3 years old. Is the newer MA70 any different in terms of how much space it takes up? If not, then we'd like to have the higher limits as we are likely to use this with our chunk of a baby if he keeps putting on a lb a week as he has recently been doing.

I just had a look at our copy of Baby Bargains and noticed the First Years True Fit is listed as a better fit for small cars... I don't know anyone that has this seat, so it's not as easy for us to go try it out. (Heading to BRU to check it out costs us a ferry ride to the mainland and thus eats into potential savings.) Does anyone have any advice between it and the Britax line? It would be theoretically very nice to have a little more room - the MA means that if I'm the passenger, I really have absolutely minimal space in the front seat... but it seems like the headrest-removed installation doesn't actually work for larger babies so it perhaps doesn't save us any space at all?

[o_mom]

So it seems like the Marathon is the way to go for us for all the Britax seats, and safe for us to install -- thanks for that clarification, o_mom, that makes sense - it's definitely touching but not braced, so it seems like we're okay. The Roundabout also sounds appealing (I understand it's smaller as well as cheaper) but given how remarkably off-the-charts our kid is, I think we're probably well-advised to get the one that is going to work for longer for him.

The MA we tried out is at least 3 years old. Is the newer MA70 any different in terms of how much space it takes up? If not, then we'd like to have the higher limits as we are likely to use this with our chunk of a baby if he keeps putting on a lb a week as he has recently been doing.

I just had a look at our copy of Baby Bargains and noticed the First Years True Fit is listed as a better fit for small cars... I don't know anyone that has this seat, so it's not as easy for us to go try it out. (Heading to BRU to check it out costs us a ferry ride to the mainland and thus eats into potential savings.) Does anyone have any advice between it and the Britax line? It would be theoretically very nice to have a little more room - the MA means that if I'm the passenger, I really have absolutely minimal space in the front seat... but it seems like the headrest-removed installation doesn't actually work for larger babies so it perhaps doesn't save us any space at all?

The new style Britax convertibles actually fit more compactly. They tend to take up less room front to back than the old ones but still fit kids just as long. If you can get something shipped with free returns (Amazon?) that would be best, but otherwise I would say in general if you fit an older MA in, the new ones will fit and may give you even more room.

The small Roundabout (40 lbs) is no longer sold. The new ones are just as large as the Marathon. So, not going to work either. If you wanted to do a 40 lb seat, the Evenflo Tribute is a smaller seat. The downsides are a slightly more difficult install (not horrible) and it will likely be outgrown much sooner, so you would probably be back to buying the Britax or another Radian in 6-12 months with the size of your baby.

The True Fit is listed as fitting small cars because it has a removable headrest for small babies. However, you must put it back on at 22 lbs so you would not be able to use that option. With the headrest, it is going to be larger.

[legaleagle]

In my car, the new britax are significantly smaller front-to-back than the old, so if you can squeeze in an old one, a new one should definitely fit!

[philyre]

In my car, the new britax are significantly smaller front-to-back than the old, so if you can squeeze in an old one, a new one should definitely fit!

You all are AWESOME. We are totally going to get a new MA70... now just off to find the best deal online!