Carseats for Small Cars
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
- General Information
- Carseat that fits in a Jetta
- Carseat for 2-door Toyota Tercel
- Carseat/booster for preschooler in Toyota Corolla
- Car seat for small backseat in Acura Integra
- More advice about installing carseats
General Information
May 2005Theres a growing database on which car seats fit your car... go check here - and while you're at it, add your experience to help the next parents!! www.carseatdata.org/ new mom
We just had a similar situation to deal with and ended up getting the Britax Roundabout. We put it behind the passenger seat in a 2 door VW Fox. It required that we pull the seat all the way forward. When I got in the passenger seat, my knees touched the dashboard (I'm 5'4'') and my husband couldn't sit in the passenger seat. It was very difficult to get the baby in and out of the car, but we made it work for a while. It was irritating enough though that we ended up buying a new car. Wendy
Try this site: http://www.carseatdata.org They have useful info about carseats and compatibility with different cars. Good luck! Cristina
I read somewhere that the stores have to let you take the carseats out to your car to try to fit it before any purchase. I'd recommend this. I have a Britax Roundabout, which is slightly smaller than the Marathon, but it's really big! I happen to love it and feel really safe with my son in it, but it's big! IT's super easy to install, but it's big! Get my drift. I'd really recommend going to a store, like Babies R Us or anywhere with car seats and trying them in your car. Then you can try to purchase it online. I found that Babies R Us had a sale and I couldn't beat the price online, so I bought the seat there. Jodi
Try Safety 1st Air. Very narrow. Can fit three across forwarding facing in some cars. Personally, I think they are very hard to install though especially backward facing. I saw that a few safety first models were recalled so might want to double check.
I'm not sure how you define small. For reference, we have an old Toyota Corolla which is relatively narrow by today's standards. I like our Britax Essentials seat. We use it alongside a Chicco KetFitNext which I would probably not buy again because it is huge (even though I loved the KeyFit30 infant seat).
For the nanny's car we have a Cosco seat (a brand...not Costco the wholesale store). It is narrow and lightweight making it easy to carry around an airport when flying (not that we're doing much of it these days...)
If your main concern is not losing front seat legroom (which was my concern), I’m really happy with the Nuna Rava after doing a lot of research into something safe that wouldn’t be a legroom hog.
We loved the Diono Radian. Super pricey but WORTH it. I might even have an extra one to sell... Since our two littles are FINALLY OUT of CAR SEATS!!! Hallelujah!!!
(I need to check our pile of stuff-to-sell that we have stored in our garage... So much kid stuff! Contact me if you need one.)
~Mailisha
Clek fllo is very narrow and comfortable. Clek foonf is the higher price model and should have the same footprint.
Agree with the Nuna Rava recommendation. It was pricey but a lot cheaper than buying a new car. More passenger seat leg room than we had with the infant car seat. Bought it at Tot Tank in Alameda which also does free professional installations.