Looking for an Infant Car Seat Recommendation for a non-SUV/ Non-mini Van Car

FYI the safest place in the car is the middle. I have a Dodge Neon and my carseat fit just fine in the middle. If you don't put it in the middle you should at least put it on the passenger side so you can reach and see the baby.

I had a Jaguar sedan with my baby and brought the Graco Snugride base to the polide department to install. The seats were slightly slanted so it made a difference having a professional do it for me.

You should put the infant car seat behind the passenger side, just so you can reach back and be able to give the baby her pacifier or bottle or even soothe the baby if she is crying. I have a 2 door cavalier and when I had my first one, putting her behing the passenger worked good and then when my second one came along, my older daughter was in a booster seat and she was fine behind me and her sister went in the baby car seat again behind the passenger side. I read somewhere that newborns should go behind the passenger seat b/c if you are the only one in the car, you can still reach back and access the baby is she needs something. After being in a car alone, it does make more sense to be able to reach across the car, then to try to reach around blindly behind you. I hope this was helpful!
M.

Hi,

We have a Graco SafeSeat and a Ford Taurus. It does fit in the middle (where it should be for only one infant). I swear I will break my neck one day as I'm getting her in and out, though. My husband has an okay time with it, but I'm very close to just leaving the thing in the car.

While it is fantastic that the seat will work for kids up to 30 lbs and 32 inches, it is a real hassle. It is almost too big for the car, it does not fit on 75% of all shopping carts, and it does not fit on the inverted highchairs in restaurants. On the plus side, the baby is comfortable in it, so even though I hate it, I won't buy a new one.

I don't have a solution for you but wanted to offer advice on the placement of the carseat. My mother recently went to driving school where they taught all sorts of car safety. The told her that the SAFEST place for the car seat is the center of the back seat. If this is not an option for you, the 2nd safest place is behind the passenger seat. This is based on statistics of car accidents & where impacts usually occur. The 3rd choice is behind the driver's seat. I know it's convenient to have your child on the driver's side, as I did that too, until I heard these recommendations. Since I moved my son to the center position, it's actually better because I can sit in the car on either side as I strap him in. Hope this helps.

We also had the snug ride infant carrier/carseat and it fit abosolutely fine in my volkswagen golf...a really small car. We upgraded to the Britax Roundabout (and it still fit in the volkswagen!) when my daughter was too big for the infant seat.

Good luck--and there really shouldn't be any reason to get a bigger car!

Hi.. congrats... and enjoy this preparation period.. its funs.. and peaceful! :)
Go with Britax! Its from a european design... When my oldests kids, were born, (only 7 and 8) I could only find these chairs in spec. shops.. now, i think they are even at Target! Really cute covers, and suuper safe.. they have one that is a "roudabout" which you can use, as an infant, backwards and then turn around when ready at 20 lbs..
My 3rd, who is now 3 has used the same chair...suuuper~and safe!
Good luck

Hi! I had the Peg Perego infant seat in my car. I placed it in the middle of the back seat and it fit great. The only trouble is the Peg Perego infant seat only goes to 18 Pounds. My baby hit that at 4 1/2 months (not the norm!)! Its a great, compact, light weight seat with high safety ratings but your baby might out grow it fast. I would recommend having the local fire station or police station install it. Most have a safety specialist on staff to do that. Congrats to you and good luck!

Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat

Hi C.,

Usually the seats will fit in the back middle which is where they should be (safest place with least chance of impact in a collision). Most of the seats with the handle down will not fit behind the driver's seat in a sedan.

I have an 2001 Acura CL, and I am having the same problem. There is NO middle seat in my car and it is a 2 door. Has anyone ever found one that fits AND still allows a passenger to ride comfortably in the front?

We used the Graco SnugRide in our 4dr sedan (Geo Prizm) and it was perfect. We put it in the center of the back seat, where they recommend you place it. It fit in the car, the front seats didn't have to be moved and we could fit 2 passengers in the back. It also mean that I could lean over and stroke my baby's hair when we were stuck in traffic to calm him if he was fussing. I strongly suggest you try the infant seats in the middle. The Grac SnugRide is apparently the most universal infant carseat available.

Best of luck,

R.

We have the Aura Elite Travel System by Evenflo. I love the infant car seat and the stroller.

Hi C.,

We have twins and a small car! We love our Combi Centre DX infant car seats - both seats fit well in our Saab 9-3, plus we can squeeze in an adult in the back too.
The seats work because they have a slightly smaller base than other brands. The height limit is 29" - more than the standard 26". They are very safe - I checked reviews extensively.
Let me know if you have any questions.

And congratulations on the new baby - I'm a first time mom too!

Yep, as everyone said, middle is best. We have a Cavalier and the Snugride fit fine in it in the middle, however, we did have to put a towel underneath to get the perfect fit. You can use a towel or a pool noodle to help adjust it. With being a new mom, I would def reccommend that you call up your local police station and ask them to help. Every one should have a child safety seat tech that you can make an appointment with and it is definetly worth it to make sure you have it installed correctly.

Britax are really good and safe, but pricey. I switched my son over to a Britax after he outgrew the infant seat (at 3 months lol). This particular Britax goes up to 65 pds so I don't have to buy another seat except for a simple booster. If you want the infant seat so you can carry them around in the seat, the Snugride is the best as far as price goes. Next time though I think I will go with a Britax from the get go and just carry my baby around in a sling as it is more comfy anyway.

Good luck!

Congrats!

We had a similar problem when we first started shopping for carseats. We have a VW Passat and while it's roomy for grownups, it's not for carseats. We had a Evenflo travel system at the time and we got it to work, but we had to move the passenger seat up a pretty good amount. It sucked since my daughter is little like me and grew slowly so it was a little over a year before we could turn the carseat around. Once we did, it fit much, much better.

Here's a couple things you should know though.
1) The middle is the safest, but double check the manual for your car. Ours stated the middle was where we should place the car seat UNLESS we had a fold down arm rest, which we did. That made it less safe apparently so we ended up placing the carseat behind the passenger seat.

2) Make sure you read the car manual again to find out if you have the locking seat belts. These will lock once you pull the seat belt out all the way. This is important. Most new cars have this.

3) If your backseat slants, you'll probably need a seat positioner -- a wedge that sits under the carseat. You can use one of those pool noodles and just cut it to size. Several people suggested that to me but it didn't work too well with our setup. I bought the one from BRU. It's pretty much the same but has a slightly different shape that worked well. In addition, we also used 1 or 2 rolled up towels.

4) I think most car seats have some type of indicator for leveling it correctly. When done correctly, you'll need to move your front seat up even more...but it's safer.

5) If you have leather seats, be sure to get some type of protective mat for your seats. You'll be sorry if you don't.

Sorry I don't have any specific advice on carseat makes that will fit. I really wish they made them safe and to fit smaller cars. Once we got a minivan, this was not as big of a deal -- but you might be surprised to know that we still had to move the front seat up a bit. And it's a pretty big minivan!

Good luck.
-Jen

Congratulations on your (almost) first baby. We have a 2003 TL and a 2006 MDX, the graco snugride fit in both (although it is a few years older (my first child was born in 2003.) When our first daughter was born, we put her seat in the middle, insead of behind either seat, which worked better. With our second daughter, we put her seat behind the passenger seat, instead of the driver seat, and put the forward facing car seat behind the driver seat. Not a recommendation, but at least a thought... Good luck with your new baby!

I don't have any advice on a particular seat- we have a Graco Snugride and it works well in our Kia.

I wanted to say that at Babies-R-Us they have a fake seat and I think you can try out the model seats. Maybe you could take a look there and see what would fit. I also second the PP that the safest place is in the middle of the backseat.

Hi and CONGRATS on becoming a new mom!

We have a VW Jetta and the Graco Travel Systm Base/carry seat fit fine in the back seat, but the base had to be in the middle of the back seat (which is safer, from what I read). When it was time to stop using the carrier, we purchased the Britax Roundabout and love it so much, we got it for both cars.

Good luck.

Cherly, We had a Ford Focus and had to put the seat behind the passenger seat and push the passenger seat up for it to fit. Have you tried using non-carrier type of seats? Convertable carseats fit most newborns and maybe those may fit?
K.

I would definitely say go with the Britax RoundAbout. We had two of them for our boys.. and they fit fine in our cars, BMW 3 series (small) and my Plymouth neon (small) and in my Nissan Maxima. They are great because they go up to 40lbs and you won't outgrow them till they need the boosters. I actually have the two that I don't need and just need new covers (sun wear), if you are interested let me know.

And definitely since you will have just one, the middle seat in the back is the best. If you need a positioner, they have those at babies'R us. I believe my husband's bmw needed it because of the slant in the backseat!

I would echo what Courtney and Charlela have already mentioned; the safest place for a carseat is in the center of the backseat. I have a Toyota Corolla (a small sedan in anyone's opinion) and the Graco Snugride seat fit just fine. My husband and I researched safety ratings like crazy and for the money there aren't many that can compare. Good luck and congrats!

N.

I also have a small 4door sedan. I used the Graco and we had no choice but to move one of our seats up to less than comfortable position.

C.,
We have the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat which fits perfectly in our Camry. Plenty of room in between the car seat and the back of the front seats. We are expecting number 2 in September as well and will have both the Peg Perego and a Britax Roundabout in the backseat.
Best of luck,
L.

Hi C.,

I have a 2001 Nissan Maxima and we have a Peg Perego. The car seat is rather pricy (we got it has a gift) but it can be used with or without the base which is a nice feature. It fits in our backseat fine but our backseat is roomy. We have to tilt it a little to get it through the doorframe (4-door). We also have a Toyota Tundra and believe it or not we have used the car seat in there. It was a snug fit and we had to use it in the middle of the back seat.

I hope this helps!

D.

What about putting the car seat in the center of the back seat? My friends have the one of the Graco car seats & own a Nissan Sentra (small car) & did this & it works for them. The center is probably also a safer spot (from a possible side crash perspective - heaven forbid) than one side or another as long as it's an option. Good luck!

I love my Peg Perego. I have used one for both my kids. It fits behind the seats too. I have a Grand Prix so you are not the only mom who doesnt have an suv or mini-van. Congrats to you. I hope this helped.

We also have the Acura TL---we used the Peg Perego car seat when Ethan was an infant and now use the Britax Roundabout. Both of them fit just fine for us. But we put the car seat either in the middle or behind the passenger seat. I thought you weren't supposed to put the car seat behind the driver. Either way, when installing both, we had it checked at the local firestation.