Best car seat for a smaller car?

babynugget · February 2012

I was wondering if any of you ladies could recommend a car seat that would be good for a smaller car (I have a 2003 Toyota Corolla).

I was thinking about getting one of those car seats that can grow with your child (convertible car seat???) but was wondering if it might be too big to fit in my back seat.

For those of you who have similar size cars as mine, what kind of seat did you use? I feel overwhelmed with picking the right seat--there are so many!!

Thanks for your help!! )

elizxu · February 2012

I'd see if Toyota has any reccomendations or consumer reports. I have a civic and am using the Chicco KeyFit. It fits well. But you're looking for a convertable car seat, so that's not much help for you.

carolinaem · February 2012

The diono makes a very narrow convertible seat that I have read others fit rear facing in the middle without sacrificing all the leg space for the driver or passenger. Might be worth checking out. I know Buy Buy Baby carries the seat, not sure about BRU, Target does not.

greengirl0909 · February 2012

I think sometimes stores will let you take the display model to your car and try it out.

92405bride · February 2012

You'll need a convertible seat at some point regardless, so you'll have to find one that can fit in your car. The advantage of waiting until a bit later to use them is that when you use a convertible seat rear-facing with a toddler, you don't have to recline it as much, so it fits better in a small car.

We fit a Graco Snugride 32 and First Year's True Fit convertible rear facing (at separate times) just fine in a VW Jetta. Now that we'll have 2 carseats, the True Fit will be forward facing behind the driver and the snugride will be behind the passenger.

med380 · February 2012

I used to drive a Scion xA, which is a very small car. We had the Graco Sungride 32 and it fit fine rear-facing in the middle of the back seat. I don't think it would have fit well on one side. When we switched him to a bigger car seat, we got an Evenflo (Titan I think), which fit on the rear passenger side, but the front passenger seat did have to be kind of far foward when the car seat was rear-facing. Since this was not our primary car, we went for the cheaper (but still well-reviewed) car seat.

twirlerbride · February 2012

I have a Britax Roundabout in my Ford Focus. It is in the middle seat. That was one of the only convertible seats I found (actually infant seats didn't work either) that would actually fit in our car.

You can bring your car to the store and ask the employees if you can bring a seat out and see if it fits in your car. The employees at my store were happy to bring one out so we could test it in the car before we bought it.

jcsntms06 · February 2012

We have a 2 door honda accord coupe and we have the chicco keyfit 30 and a cosco convertible car seat in our car. It's a tight fit, with both seats, but we are making it work for now.

Christina_Diane · February 2012

I have the Britax B-Safe in my GLK. Even though it is an SUV, it is a small one and it has the same frame as the C-class sedan, which is a compact car.

It fits well.

silvercamaro77 · February 2012

We have a maxi cosi pria 70 in my 4 door Saturn ion. Rear facing it fits fine behind me (I'm 5'3") but it doesn't fit behind DH (6'1").

karleegirl · February 2012

I have a 09 corolla. Baby trend flex loc and graco snugride 22 and30 fit behind the passenger seat but the front seat has to be kind of far up. I couldn't get either to sit snuggly in the middle. I would take pp advice and go to BRU and try out some in your car.

raceyrae · February 2012

I don't recommend starting with a convertible carseat. It's hard positioning the baby since it's more a seated position vs. reclined. Plus you can't take the baby in and out while asleep without removing your LO from the seat itself (vs. removing the infant seat while baby keeps sleeping).

We had a Honda Fit when DD#1 was born. I used a Graco Snugride and then switched to a Britax Roundabout around 7 mo. old. We're using the same carseats now also (even though we have much bigger cars now) since we were so happy with them.

zubenescamali · February 2012

add the combi corcoro to your list of convertible seats to check out. we used it in our 2 door hyundai tiburon. if it will fit in that car, sure it will fit in a corolla. plus it's really lightweight, i swear it's lighter than our chicco keyfit carrier.

MsCatra · February 2012

I drive a Mustang and DH and I tried out a bunch of seats at BRU and found the Chicco Keyfit 30 to be the best fit. It's a shorter length. There's no way that I'd be able to fit a convertible back there in an infant recline position. But if you have a middle seat available (I don't) your options might be broader. BRU lets you take anything you want outside to try it. We did the same thing with stollers to judge which would fit best in my car of the ones we liked. Just ask permission and leave ID at the CS desk.

kris_kelsey · February 2012

when DS was born we had a 2000 corolla and we used a Chicco in the middle (for safety), and then used a Radian 65 rear then later forward facing (in the middle as well). Now they make a radian 80, but whatever. The radian is a taller carseat so it would only fit in the middle, but it was known for being more narrow and easier to adjust the belts while in rearfacing, so that is why we got it. oh and it is FAA approved (so you can use it to fly on airplanes whereas some others you can't). I don't regret either carseat and will be using them for DC#2 in my 2010 corolla and hubby's 2006 civic.

sleeping5beauty · February 2012

zubenescamali:

add the combi corcoro to your list of convertible seats to check out. we used it in our 2 door hyundai tiburon. if it will fit in that car, sure it will fit in a corolla. plus it's really lightweight, i swear it's lighter than our chicco keyfit carrier.

My husband has a mustang. This is the only carseat that would fit rear facing in his car and a passenger still being able to sit in the front seat. We went to BRU and took different car seats out to his car. Nothing else would fit if you ever wanted anyone else to sit in the car

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