We are expecting twins in Feb 2010 and realize none of our cars will fit two car seats and still have room for dad to drive who is 6'1"". It is even a super tight fit for me who is 5'4". The car seats we have are the Graco brand. Are there smaller seats? Or does everyone just get bigger cars? We can't afford to but another car. Any suggestions out there?
Check out this website. http://www.carseatdata.org/ You can enter they type of car you have and it gives you good options for the car based on size and stuff. We did it when my husband had a mustang and it was great.
Hi S.,
Congrats on your twins!
We have a small car, Subaru Impreza. We found that the Graco Snugride was the best fit for our car, but then we only have one infant seat. Depending on the shape of your front seats you may get more room if you can use the infant seats without the base. I noticed that without the base our infant seat didn't take up as much space and the front seat could go back farther. If you have the latch connectors in your car then using the car seats without a base may be an option for you. Of course if you have just regular seat belts it may be too much work to buckle the seats in and out every time. Especially with twins LOL.
Another option would be to go to a baby store with parking lot access and just try different seats in your car and see what fits. We did this and were surprised that the small Britax (which appears smaller than the Graco Snugride) actually did not fit in our car! Britax has since come out with a new small model so it could be a smaller format now. Also, haven't tried the Combi as no one sold it locally.
Good luck to you,
K.
What kind of car do you have? I had a Nissan Altima and had 2 carseats plus a booster seat on the back seat. Yes it was very tight but we did it. Both the carseats and the booster seat were all Graco.
S.,
Congratulations on your twins~ Combi is a smaller infant carseat-- I would look into that brand-very safe!
Good luck!
Molly
We have had several different cars since our son was born 3 years ago. Both my husband and I were in sales positions and rotated cars frequently. Even some larger cars can have small backseats making car seats difficult. My husband had an Impala, and leg room was an issue for the kids. I had an '08 Ford Taurus with amazing legroom, but the car seat latches made the seats really close to one another.
In addition to the other recommendation, I'd go based upon safety ratings. Britax car seats are always rated well. Even if they're not ideal for your car's size, I'd personally choose safety over convenience/comfort.
Hope that helps.
S.,
Do you mean the car seats won't it in the back seat?
I just wanted to say it's not worth getting a bigger car. We have a Honda Odyssey and when our daughter's seat was rear faced, it still meant the front passenger had his/her knees in the dashboard if the person wasn't petite. Rear facing car seats can be a real pain (literally) in many cars, not just small ones. It's a happy day when you can go forward facing!
I second the idea of going to the car seat board mentioned below and getting ideas based on your specific model of car. Good luck!
