Infant Car Seat Recommendations for 1998 VW New Beetle

We don't have LATCH either but the Graco SnugRide fitted perfectly. It was part of a travel system and we loved it. I think they have replaced it with the Safeseat but I imagine it will fit just the same. If I needed another one, I'd get the snugride or safeseat. If you read BabyBargains, they tell you some websites where you can check to see which seat fits in which cars. I remember, we opted for the Graco for several reasons, one being that it was the most universal and would fit almost every car.

Now my little one is bigger (11 months), we use the Britax Roundabout which, again is excellent. I would be happy to use it with a newborn if we didn't have a travel system.

Good Luck,

R.

Hey Allison,
Whatever choice you make, you should have them inspected to make sure they are properly installed. They say that 80% of all car seats are put in the car incorrectly, making them useless.

Check out the following for a location:

http://www.seatcheck.net/

Congratulation on being a Mom!

I have been told that the Latch system as previously mentioned is only behind the drivers seat and the passenger seat and the safest place for the car seat is in the middle of the car.

We did not use our Latch system because when we went to have it installed by the police station, they said the safest place was in the middle and the benefits of that outweighed the benefits of the LATCH system. We had the GRACO travel system which is a good car seat, and should fit your car.

I would highly recommend getting the car seat checked by a professional. You can go to State Farm Insurance, Fire Station, or police station(Call First, some do not do it) to have it installed.

They had us install it first and then showed us how we did it wrong and how to do it correctly.

Especially if you have a small car without a latch system, you should get a Britax seat. They are very safe.
Amy

Congrats First Time Mama!

We have a 2005 VW Jetta and the Graco Travel System Base and seat worked well for us. Then, we switched to the Britax Roundabout. We positioned the seat in the center of the back seat and I don't think they were hooked up to the LATCH system. We have found that with our two cars, in order to use the LATCH the seat has to be postioned behind the drivers seat or passengers seat (per the fireman that installed them for us). We chose to put the seat in the center, which is supposed to be the safest.

Some tips:

When you go to get the seat at Babies R Us or Target or whereever...bring it out to your car and make sure it fits.

Try and install it yourself if you want, but I'd make an appointment with the closest police department or fire station and have them do it. I think, something like 75% of carseats are installed incorrectly.

Good luck.

T.

I believe the graco snugseat would fit. Check with the local VW dealer. I believe you can get a latch installation kit for older model cars.