Babies: 0 - 3 Months
fourtsixand2
member
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New babies and driving sports cars?
fourtsixand2
member
Good morning ladies,
I wasn't sure where to post this question, so I went for the 0-3 months thread.
I'm expecting in 2016 and have a 2-door sports car I love dearly. As much as I don't want to get rid of it, I keep being told "you won't want that car when you have a baby - it'll be a pain!"
For those of you with sports cars/2-door cars and infants, have you found it to be unbearable with loading/unloading the car seat and such?
I initially thought I'd just give it a try and see how I like it, but I've also been told I should just bit the bullet and trade it in for a 4-door car/SUV ahead of time because I'm going to get frustrated.
I'd love honest opinions from those with experience. Thanks!
Re: New babies and driving sports cars?
One of my girlfriends has a coupe as her vehicle - her husband takes their primary vehicle, a Subaru outback, to work during the week, so when she needs to bring her son somewhere she puts him in the 2-door civic (they live in a walkable part of a major city, so they only take the car when their location is more than walking distance). It isn't easy, and she said she wouldn't want that to be their primary means of transportation, but for the small amount that they use it, like 2-3 times a week, she said it's fine. Do note though that a rear facing carseat takes up a lot of space, so the passenger seat is almost worthless when she has her kid in the car. Fine for just the two of them, but the family cannot take that car together anywhere (and they don't need to).
A lot of this is perspective...if you're expecting it to be a light annoyance to get LO into the car, you'll adapt. If you're going to be in and out of the car with LO several times a day though, you might prefer a 4-door vehicle. Doesn't have to be a minivan or SUV, a standard sedan is more than sufficient for one baby (I drive a Jetta Sportswagen currently and it has plenty of space).
That's a good point. I'm 5'3" and DH is 5'9". In the Jetta I am perfectly comfortable in the passenger seat with the infant seat behind it but DH is a little uncomfortable when I am driving.
Another thing to consider is the size of the car seats - there are a variety of sizes so you can always get a smaller one. Also, typically, convertible car seats take up less space than a separate infant seat, so if you don't want the convenience of the infant seat as a carrier, you can jump right to a convertible seat to save space.