My twins are fast outgrowing their infant seats. I am looking for the next car seat which I guess are the convertible seats. I have a Jeep Liberty and am concerned about these convert seats being too big to fit in the back seat. As it is, the infant seats take up so much room that the driver and passenger seats cannot move back too much. Luckily, I am short and have the driver seat far enough where it does not hit the infant seat. But DH is having a hard time of it when he has to drive my car. Does anyone know of a convertible car seat that is not overly large and can fit two in the back of a small car?
I have a Sunshine Kids and not only is it one of the best seats in impact ratings but it is also one of the narrowest car seats out there. It makes it a lot easier to fit two in the back of a car. Good luck!
I'm assuming by your question that your twins are still rear-facing. Older babies can be a little more upright, I believe up to 30 degrees instead of the 45 degree infant angle. This should help with the space issue. Check with a Certified Passenger Safety Technician for the correct angle. Also they will be able to give you an idea of the smallest seats front to back. I found that my Marathon at a slightly more upright angle does not take up any more room front to back than my infant seat did with the base. And I know that there are smaller seats out there. We went with the Marathon because baby would be in it for longer heightwise. I found the more upright angle made a huge difference with space. There are several CPS Techs on this site, who will probably answer your question better than I can. Just make sure you try the seats in your car before purchasing, b/c not all seats will install properly in all cars.
I'd look at where the latch system on the back seat of the car is. I had a 2008 Ford Taurus that had a HUGE backseat, but the latches to secure the car seat were really close together making 2 car seats really close together. My husband was driving a Chevy Impala for work, and his latches were much further apart such that he could possibly get 3 car seats in.
So, I'd recommend checking that first before making a purchase. The width of the latches will really be the most important factor in my opinion from our experiences with company cars and different latch systems.
Both of my kids are in a Britax Marathon and I've been nothing but pleased with them. They both fit in my parent's Honda CRV but no room for anyone in the middle seat. In my larger SUV, there is enough room for someone to sit in the middle. They are really easy to install and move around too. As long as it's rear facing, it's going to be a tight squeeze, I assure you! I think this is the case with any rear facing convertible. However, I felt like the bucket seats where just as bad! They are very long. The Marathon sits up high so they can see out of the windows well and you can use them up to 65 lbs. My son is 5 and a half and still in his Marathon. We've gotten our monies worth. Go up to Babies R Us and see if they'll let you install some of their display seats in your car.
congratulations for your twins!!!!
i have a twins tooo boy and girl 1 year old!!!!!!
i have a edie bauer convertible car seat and my son love it also it doesn't take a lot of space. for my girl i have the apha omega and it takes not to much space ad is confortable you can find it at sams cheap than other stores
We use the Cosco Scenera (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Scenera-5-Point-Convertib.... My husband drives a Saturn Vue, and we are able to get this carseat and two booster seats in the backseat of his car.
I drive a Jeep Liberty too and we have a Britax Boulevard. It's a fantastic car seat, but we have it rear facing on the passenger side and when I ride up front so my husband can drive, it is terribly uncomfortable and my knees are in the dash. So try for a smaller one if you will be keeping your Jeep for a while! Remember to not use two car seats on one latch. And the safest is to keep them rear facing up to 35lbs if your carseat allows it.
As long as they're rear-facing, you'll end up scrunched in the front seat. We found it didn't matter whether it was Graco or Britax ... even in our Odyssey, crunched knees in the dashboard. It was a mighty happy day when we could go forward facing! We always put the rear facing seats on the passenger side, so it wouldn't affect driving ability ... the passenger was just uncomfortable.
for us the convertible seat actually fit better b/c it's not as reclined so its not a big of a problem
I'm in your exact same situation! I've started looking into it, and I've heard that the Sunshine Radian is good and fits in small cars. I've also heard that a lot of places will let you "test drive" the seats to see if they fit well in your car. Consumer Reports reviews car seats, and I also found this link
http://www.consumersearch.com/car-seats
Good luck!
We are ordering a Combi Coccoro Convertible Car Seat. They are supposed to be slim and be able to fit 3 across if needed. Go up to 40 lbs. (When they can switch to a booster).
I've read reviews on the Radian-65. Its supposed to be the slimmest carseat out there.
we have a Jetta and the evelflo titan fits just fine. i would think with a jeep you would have plenty of room for the convertible seats though. they are shaped a bit different from infant carriers. i have the graco my ride in my honda odessy still rear facing and it leaves plenty of room between front seat and car seat.
