Car Vs. Car Seat

Hi I'm 42 and a grandmother of 6. I have a mustang 1999 It doesn't work well. If I had to load the kids all the time I would sell the car. I wish I had good news for you.sorry
G. Day

I'm a mother of two boys, ages 8 and 10. We went through the car seat dilemma as well and even did our car purchase on determining which vehicle the seats would have a tether system when the boys were younger and then accessability when they were older. First of all, I'm sure you don't want to hear that it's best to not use the mustang as a vehicle for carrying an infant. Kids come first, not your car. Get yourself a safer vehicle even if it means that your husband can only use the mustang on his time away from your child. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but they do not make car seats depending on what kind of vehicle you drive.

When our older son was born, my husband had a small truck with a standard gear shift and the car seat would not fit...hence we sold the truck and we bought him a car with four doors suitable to use front and back seats. If you would like more assurance, go to your local vehicle inspection station and have them show you how to properly install a car seat in your or any vehicle. Good Luck!

A.,

We had this same issue with a Kia when our first was born, and we had to get a new car. And, let me suggest, get a van, if you do, as you will need it later on. If a new car is not possible, I would say placing it behind the passenger is the only safe option, and if a passenger needs to ride, it will have to be in the back seat. Best of luck and congradulations!

If you're in Pinellas, you can call 892-KIDS and they'll tell you where you can get a free car seat check / installation. They have locations in Palm Harbor, St. pete, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, Eastlake, Tarpon and Dunedin. I highly recommend doing this because 4/5 car seats are used incorrectly and these people have all gone to a 30+ hour training course! If there's a way to make it work safely, they'll know how to do it.

In general, any seat that's rear facing is going to take up a fair amount of space. A convertible is larger than an infant seat. The infant seat is definitely safest at the beginning because the baby fits better in there than in a convertible. (Adding stuff to the seat to pad the baby in can be unsafe.) The newest guidelines call for leaving the child rear facing for as long as the seat will allow (30 pounds with the convertible we're using). The center seat is the safest place, whether you use the seat belt or the LATCH system. most cars don't have the LATCH hooks in the center and it's *not* OK to use one latch from either side seat. Those are just a few things I've picked up along the way.

Ask your ob about being part of the Healthy Start program. It's a grant from the state that allows you to take classes at the local hospitals (birth, breast feeding, child care, infant CPR, etc.) and a car seat safety class all for free! There are no qualifications (financial, etc.) to be part of it - you just need your doctor's recommendation.

Congratulations on your miracle and Good Luck! I'll be interested in seeing how you compare puppy motherhood to human motherhood in a few months! ;-)

I am not sure where you live, but you really should check into having a certified car seat installer install the seat. They are at a lot of the local fire stations. You just have to call and ask.
Personally, we have gone to Kris at the Palm Harbor Fire Department located on West Lake Rd, south of Tampa Rd. The install is free and she knows everything about the seats and how they fit best. I had both of our Britax seats installed with one of the belts on backwards and didn't realize it. Plus, she determined that we couldn't put 2 seats next to each other in my car and have a good tight fit. I wouldn't have known that without her help. She also was nice enough to call Britax to see if we could install their seat against the head rest in hubby's truck (you can't!). Therefore, we also have a major seat adjustment for the front seat with the infant seat behind it.
Kris will give you good advice on that and you may find that you need to take the seat back and get a different one that fits better.
Just keep in mind that it's easy to have a seat installed incorrectly and you don't want to risk the safety of your baby.
Good luck!

There are a few web sites available where you can find recommendations... this is the only one I can recall, but at the time I was still needing car seats I was aware of a few more. GOOGLE is a lovely thing!

forum.carseatdata.org

My husband has an 05 Mustang GT and got both the infant seat and now the toddler seat in it. But I do have to say that any seat is going to affect a front passenger in that car! We had an Evenflo infant seat and he had to drive with the passenger seat forward. When our daughter turned one we switched to the Britax Marathon seat and it's been great. We could have actually used that from the beginning. With that seat forward facing you could get a passenger in the front, but again you'd have to have the seat pulled up or else it's right in the child's face!

I have a 4 door sedan so we use my car whenever we go all together, but my husband drops off my daughter at daycare in the morning and these seats have worked just fine for that!

Go to the Health Department or the car seat check spot at HeathPark. They will be able to tell you what would work. And if you need a new seat the Health Dept has them at a huge discount.

My husband and I had an 05 Chevy Cavalier (2 door) when our son was born. We used the Graco SnugRide car seat until he was about 7 months old then switched to the Graco Comfort Sport car seat. Due to being in a car accident with the other seat, we now have an Evenflo Triumph Advance LX, which is both front and rear facing, and it reclines back a lot for the rear facing. But from personal experience of owning a 2 door car, I found that using the Snug ride till he was able to hold his own head up and do well on his own, then we put him forward facing.

I have a 03 mustang and when ever I have to take my neice anywhere (she's 8 months)we fit the evenflo embrace infant car seat in there with little problem. You do have to adjust the front seat no matter what kind of car you have, just like you would if there was an adult passenger back there. Just like they would need leg room, you need room for the carseat to fit and for your baby to grow into. I think this one, the embrace infant style is a little more streamlined though than the ones I remember from when my son was in them. If you want to go to the Evenflo websites I am sure you can find the model to look at. Good luck and congratulations on your unexpected miracle BTW, what kind of tea were you drinking?

Also wanted to mention, I am offering free child safe ID kits to local mom's on here. If you wanted one so you were all set before the baby is born, email me here or at ____@____.com latest post kinda explains what it is.

I wanted to say that you can go to http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppcarseats and tell them your car and your child's size and what style you want (infant or convertible) and what price range and they will tell you what will work =)! Good Luck!

My daughter grew so fast she was too long for her infant carrier by the time she was 4 months and we had to shop for a convertible car seat so she would still be rear-facing. anyways, I wanted you to know Babies R Us allowed us to take the floor model we liked and try it in our vehicles in the parking lot before we bought one. (My husband had a pick up truck with a small extened cab and I had a 2 door civic)