So my wife and I are expecting in about 6 weeks. At this point we are getting all of our ducks in a row before the little one gets here and one of those things is checking the fitment of the car seat. We have opted to go with a base system car seat so that we each have a base in our cars and then the child carrier just pops in and out.

Here comes my dilemma. After reading through the manual it would appear that when using the LATCH system it is recommended to use the outer seats, not the center seat. When I install everything on the passenger side, it looks like basically no one over 5 foot tall will be able to ride in the front seat. Are you guys seeing that? Is there a way to combat it? I don't particularly want to trade in my '12 Fit, but this is the vehicle we use on most trips because of all the room it has, not to mention I will be the one taking the child too and from daycare each day.

Im looking for insight on what direction to move and maybe some pictures of your car seat setup.

Edit: This is all for a rear facing car seat.

TIA.

 

Sorry, I dont have pics at the moment. Right now I have the car seat for my 3.5 yr old in the rear seat directly behind the front passenger seat. It's set up as forward facing and i've got no problems with clearance. I just had a relative sit in the front seat and he's 6' 250lbs. You might have to slide the seat forward a bit but there should be enough space. I'm assuming with a newborn you are trying to fit the seat as rearward facing? With that type of seat, the base usually has a toggle to tilt the carrier. Try a different tilt angle. Or is it the carry handle on the carrier that is causing the blockage? The handle on the carrier I have has a switch to turn it so that it doesnt interfere with the front seat. Last thing I can think of is that the base should latch down snugly, it should be visibly depress the car seat cushion down and shouldn't move.

 

Chicco base system will fit fine behind either seat and in the center. The childseat will touch the back of the seat but it did not cramp me.

 

Yes I am trying to fit a rear facing seat, sorry I meant to put that in the original post. The one we have now is a Graco Snugride Classic, I am trying to find someone around me with a Chicco Keyfit to try it out.

 

When I was using the keyfit system, I had it in the center seat using the belt. Latch isn't safer than using the seatbelt, just easier. With those drop in carriers, it's not too bad to do the install of the base once, even using the seatbelt.

The main downside of the center possition is that you lose the ability to use the magic seats.

 

Also, if you want to see how different seats fit in the car, babies r us will let you take the display models out to your car to check how everything fits.

 

Thank you I didn't know that! Thanks for the advice on the center position as well. I didn't try it with the belt yet, but when I tried it with the latch in the center the front position closest to the front seats seemed to raise up more than I would expect.

 

I found with the belt, I was able to get the base to compress more into the seat cushion than with the latch.

 

When you do the center mount, are you putting half of te base on the short seat and half on the long seat, or are you putting it all on the long seat? It seems like center is actually more of all long seat no short seat (when I say long and short I mean the different lengths of the bench where it splits)

 

I'm 6' tall using a graco snug ride system. It has to go behind the passenger seat. Even in the middle it blocks the drivers seat from going back far enough for me to drive the car. The passenger seat is OK for someone shorter, but for anyone taller than say 5'10, it would be a bit uncomfortable on a long trip.

 

We had the Maxi Cosi car seat with base system in my 09. You are right about the middle. With just about any car seat the infant car seats do not work well in the middle unless both of you are planning to sit pretty close to the dash with very limited leg room. Your best bet is to use the passenger side and while you are going to have to move the seat forward, its not far enough to prevent a six foot tall person from riding comfortably. When you can upgrade to a toddler seat i would seriously recommend getting a Diono. We have the Diono Radian Convertable in red and while it is top rated in safety it is also a pretty slim and sweet looking car seat (in comparison to others). My last bit of advice is to not go cheap. Make sure you get a brand that has been well tested. Thats why we got the brands we did. But those both worked out really well for us. Good luck and congrats.

 

We have the safety 1st Guide 65 convertible seat(same as eddie bauer xrs)rear facing in the center of the rear seat for my son. I will try to get photos up.