car seat doesn't fit behind front seats!

JocelynP

My DH and I just tried installing our car seat in my Honda Civic (which I thought had a decent-sized back seat) and when the handle is in the position it's supposed to be in for transport, it doesn't fit behind the front seats, not even behind me when I drive, and I'm only 5"5'! We tried it in the middle and on both sides and it won't work. The only solution is to have the car seat go behind the passenger seat. When I drive, DH would have to sit behind me (because the passenger seat would be too far forward for him) or DH has to drive and I can sit in the passenger seat crunched up (or in the back). It fits a little easier if the handle is either in the carrying position or the standing (lowest) position, both of which I don't think are allowed for safety reasons (correct me if I'm wrong). This is a big bummer. Any thoughts? Anyone else have this problem?

mrs.beauprez

Oh no, what a PIA. Don't feel too bad we have a grand jeep and just installed ours passenger side back and it forces the front seat passenger all the way w/ their knees in the dashboard. These darn carseats are HUGE! We are going to move it to the center back now.  It'll be harder for me to reach in and grab outta center and put in b/c I am short but we don't know what else to do. We still want to tot passengers in our car comfortably. 

Do you have a base and carseat? The fireman showed us how to install without the base too and it seemed to take up less room that way? Or maybe I am just imagining it that way now?

penguingrrl

We have the same problem since we drive a Beetle.  You can put the handle in the lowest position, just not in the carrying position (as per my car seat inspection tech).  We will have the RF seat behind the passenger, which means DH will be scunched up a bit, but there's not much choice (DD1 will be in the other back seat so he can't sit back there).  GL!

izzybella

1. Get it installed by the fire department. They will likely tighten it up and give you and extra inch.

2. Check the owner's manual to see if your seat can be used with the handle in the top position. The inspector I met with said that some companies are doing this now b/c it creates a roll bar effect for the seat.

I have a Honda Fit and the seat fits (barely) behind the driver's side (DD is on passenger side). DH won't be able to drive my car, but when we go out together we usually take his anyway.?

julygal

We have a snugride.  I am certain the handle has two positions it can be in for driving.  I think one position was all the way up in the carrying position and the other was all the way down in back with the middle settings off limits.  However, it has been 2 years and I haven't rechecked my manual yet to refresh my memory. 

afg

Is your car a 2door or 4door?

I drive the 2 door Civic and my car seat fits just fine in the back middle...Maybe look at getting the car seat switched for another one?

Aliliv

That sucks and is the reason we are selling our car - but we can't fit two carseat in it!!!  I've always been told from carseat tech installers to never put the handle up while driving with ANY carseat because it can break and cause debree to injure baby in the event of crash - I guess you have three options:  1. sell car:) 2. use without base - it's easy to install with the seatbelt:) or 3.  find a smaller carseat to fit your car!  Which carseat do you have?

Aliliv

My carseat is a Snugride as well, and the carseat techs took photocopies of the owners manual in order to complain to the company for their "wrong" info.  in hopes that Graco would change it.   It does make sense to me about the handle in the up position being a hazard - I wouldn't want that plastic to break and splinter over my baby, but that's the only reason I buy their explanation.   Usually, I always follow instruction manuals.

JocelynP

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have an Evenflo (not sure which model). There are only three positions for the handle. Up in the carrying position (I agree about it seeming dangerous there), in the back just behind baby's head (diagram calls this "car position") and low in the back (called "stand position"). It seems like the stand position would be fine in the car because it's not going to break off in an accident and it does give me about two more inches behind the passenger seat. I have a 4-door Civic. It does have LATCH (it's a 2001), so it worked okay in the middle of the backseat (which I have heard is the safest place for babies to ride, due to more protection from side impacts). However, there isn't any more room for putting seats back further when it's in the middle, so it doesn't help. I haven't tried installing it without the base, it seems less safe. But, if I do that, I will be sure to get it inspected to be sure we did it right. What a pain. We can't afford a different car and my husband's car isn't great for long trips because his MPG is so poor compared to mine. *sigh* like I need one more thing to stress me out now!

JARbaby

If you have the SnugRide the handle can be either all the way up or all the way down to be safe. Fits in ours just fine and I am 5'9" and we also have a Britax Marathon in there as well.

I have been to 7 intallations and they all confirm the SnugRide is fine in the carry position as the new modles act as a roll bar.

Poplin2007

I have a Civic and the car seat fits.  Get it inspected, maybe they can help...

Sharra711

I have a 4 door 07 Civic and it's a TIGHT fit.

There is no way we can put it in the middle. I'm 5' 8" and can't drive with my seat far enough up to fit it in the middle.

We are putting it on the pass side, with the seat slid more forward, and you loose a lot of room in the front.

A different carseat CAN make a difference. I measured a Baby Trend seat, and when installed it was 35" from front to back, but the Chicco we ended up getting was only 27"- Made a big difference (and the Chicco's carrying handle can be left in the up position while driving.... giving more room).

JocelynP

Sharra711:

I have a 4 door 07 Civic and it's a TIGHT fit.

There is no way we can put it in the middle. I'm 5' 8" and can't drive with my seat far enough up to fit it in the middle.

We are putting it on the pass side, with the seat slid more forward, and you loose a lot of room in the front.

A different carseat CAN make a difference. I measured a Baby Trend seat, and when installed it was 35" from front to back, but the Chicco we ended up getting was only 27"- Made a big difference (and the Chicco's carrying handle can be left in the up position while driving.... giving more room).

 good to know. thanks for the advice sharra! perhaps we'll try a different seat

Sharra711

I actually took a measuring tape with me into the stores (forget what they say online) to check because I was stresses out!

I mean.... it's a 4 door Civic!!!!! It SHOULD fit a seat! LOL!!!

It sucks if you had a "favorite" seat in mind... but at least you can sit in the front of the car!

GL!!

jolis_petits_bijoux

Yep!  We sure did, and we ended up buying a new vehicle last month because of it.

DH drives a big ol' truck (Silverado), it has no extended cab, so that was not going to work for baby.  I drove a Jeep Cherokee, which I incorrectly assumed would fit the rear-facing infant seat.  Wrong.  When our travel system came, I'm glad I tried to install the carseat right away.  It would only fit with both front seats almost all the way forward!  Plus, it just didn't look safe to me (Jeep's backseat is so shallow that a good 5" of the baby seat was just hanging off the seat).  We had it looked at by our childbirth class instructor, and as predicted, she recommended that we start vehicle shopping.  I suppose it would have worked to have the baby behind me with my seat pushed up all the way (when it was the three of us), but I don't feel 100% comfortable with baby in the outboard position.

So, we started test driving vehicles, and to my great dismay, many of the ones I was interested in (Nissan Xterra and Pathfinder, for example) simply didn't have a roomy enough backseat to fit the baby seat with the front seats put all the way back.  I can suffer with my seat pushed forward, but this is not an option for DH (6'3 250#), his seat has to be rolled back as far as possible, then, he has to recline the top of the seat a bit as well, so his head won't hit the top... in almost any vehicle.

We ended up buying a 2007 Buick Rendezvous  last month.  Not the coolest vehicle on the road, that's definite, but it's pretty roomy, comfy, has lots of cargo space, and most importantly... it fits the baby seat while both front seats are all the way back, with a little room to spare! 

I think you'll feel better if you car shop and trade in the Civic for something with more room.  It sounds like keeping it would be a big PITA with all of the seat-shuffling that'd have to go on. 

JocelynP

Ugh. My DH drives a Jeep Cherokee We didn't even try it in his car yet, but it sounds like it's not going to work very well. Dang. He lost his job recently so there's really no way we can afford to change either car - they're both paid off. I think I might be better off seeing if there's another car seat that will fit better first or just deal with the crowdedness.

almostanO

We had the problem and we have a mazda tribute...I think it may be because we bought the snugride 32 and dh and I are both tall. (me 5'11" and dh is 6'7")  I can fit in the passenger seat if the carseat it behind it but my knees touch the dash...we can't put it in the middle because then oth seats will need to be forward.  So our solution is that DH will always have to drive or sit in the backseat.

techsan1298

I had the same problem with my Jeep Liberty. With two car seats in the back, I have to have each car seat behind a seat. We got another car.