WTF (baby gear)

[harlowjune1984]

So we went to BRU today, because they originally said online that they weren't going to be doing a Trade In event, and then people kept asking and asking, and they eventually decided to change their minds. Currently the Trade In event has started for TRU members, and although they didn't have the fabric in the carseat that I wanted, I knew the savings was good enough that I needed to just give up the fabric that I wanted and just go with what they had in store. This is the carseat that will be going into MH's 4-door GMC Sierra 2500, so I wanted to bring the truck down there and put the carseats in the truck to see how well they fit before purchasing. Low and behold....pretty much nothing fits in the truck (when it comes to rear-facing convertible seats). Even the one that we wanted, when we didn't recline it all of the way back, we still couldn't get it in there with the rear-facing bubble within range. We aren't even tall people (I am 5'6'' and he is 5'8"), so it isn't like our seats are back far. Carseats keep getting bigger and bigger, and apparently back seats are getting smaller and smaller.....because this truck has a normal sized back seat, with ample foot room. 

So my PSA......make sure that you go somewhere where you can try out the carseat in your vehicle before you purchase it. Even if you think that it will fit, it might not. And even if you aren't planning on getting it from that store, it would save you the hassle of having to ship something back or drag something back to the store if it doesn't fit. We tried around 6 carseats (convertible) and none of them fit behind the drivers seat. We ended up going with the one that we originally wanted (because we will be using it for newborn and up, and it has the best recline and is highly rated for newborns), but it will have to go in the center, where there isn't any LATCH, and where we will be fighting just to get it installed because DD's seat will be smashed right along side it.  

[rungirlrun]

Yeah I need to make a decision about what to do about the car seat situation. I don't think I can fit a rear facing convertible seat behind the driver or passenger seat. I want to keep DS rear facing as long as possible. So I can a) buy a new car (not an expense I want right now), b) put the infant seat on the side which will be really close to DS's seat in the middle (not even sure if it will fit), c) push the passenger seat further forward to fit a rear facing convertible seat behind it (uncomfortable if I have a passenger in my car), or d) turn DS around (would rather keep him safer and not do that). I've been putting off trying to figure out what will work best. I obviously will use car seats, but they are so annoying!

[Ray]

Huh. Now I want to dig the travel system we bought out of the basement and make sure it fits. I just assumed they'd all fit

#FTMfail

[cabbagecabbage]

I ended up buying a new car when my daughter was 5 months old. But I was driving a Hyundai Accent hatchback. It was comically tiny. My husband had to ride behind me when we went car shopping because the infant seat required the passenger seat to be all the way up and folded down to fit.

[TheTuna15]

This is the only reason why DD is still in a bucket seat. A convertible seat rear facing takes up too much room when both parents have coupes.

[melody330]

Oh no! This just happened to a best friend. She has a 20 month old and a 3 month old. Both car seats don't fit rear facing. She was so upset.

I love my car seat so much, and it's fit in every car. We have the Diono Radian and the Rx. They are very slim and you can buy a foam piece made by the company to put under the seat for less of a tilt when they are older.

[lostinfaith225]

We are thankfully getting a Honda CR-V in a few months. I have a civic right now and not sure how both seats would fit! I want ds to be rear facing as long as possible!

[melody330]

Jan 31, 2016 10:24:47 GMT -5 lostinfaith225 said:

We are thankfully getting a Honda CR-V in a few months. I have a civic right now and not sure how both seats would fit! I want ds to be rear facing as long as possible!

I have a CR-V and I love it. Both seats for RF with no issues.

[lostinfaith225]

Jan 31, 2016 10:41:54 GMT -5 melody330 said:

Jan 31, 2016 10:24:47 GMT -5 lostinfaith225 said:

We are thankfully getting a Honda CR-V in a few months. I have a civic right now and not sure how both seats would fit! I want ds to be rear facing as long as possible!

I have a CR-V and I love it. Both seats for RF with no issues.

My mom is on her second one. Love them!

[sarcaztic10]

We will be buying a larger SUV probably right before the baby comes and will be hoping that everything fits. Our other car is a Chevy Impala and I would be very surprised if any rear facing car seat didn't fit in the back seat, it's very roomy. I will definitely try the car seat out beforehand though in the impala and in any new car we might buy.

[harlowjune1984]

Jan 31, 2016 8:38:55 GMT -5 melody330 said:

Oh no! This just happened to a best friend. She has a 20 month old and a 3 month old. Both car seats don't fit rear facing. She was so upset.

I love my car seat so much, and it's fit in every car. We have the Diono Radian and the Rx. They are very slim and you can buy a foam piece made by the company to put under the seat for less of a tilt when they are older.

I have the Diono Rainier (which is just a little wider, but just as tall) in both of our vehicles currently, and those suckers are TALL. Rear-facing in my Cadillac CTS (mid sized sedan), the back was touching my passenger headrest, even with the little foam thingy.....and they aren't supposed to rest against the seat in front of them. Same with in my husbands truck, there just wasnt enough space, so we switched to forward facing in there (sooner than we did in the car). But she was already 3 by that point, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I would have been kind of screwed if she was younger. We purposely didn't get it for this baby, because the recline on it for a newborn is horrible. I love it as a forward facing carseat, and I love that it has higher weight limits for extended rear-facing. And I totally recommend them to anyone that has to put three kids in, since they are so slim. 

We are (thank goodness!), getting rid of the Cadillac and getting something else, because we actually can't fit an infant seat behind the two front seats, and it wont fit in the center with DD's carseat on the side. When it was just her, we had the infant seat in the center, so it fit, but that wont work this time. We had a list of mid-sized SUV's that we are going to check out, and the first thing that we will do is install one of our larger carseats. That will be the make it or break it point for each vehicle. We wont even bother test driving something if the carseat wont fit. 

[littlesthobo]

We have a GMC Terrain, and put DS's car seat behind the passenger side because I had enough space up front. But no way a RF car seat would fit on the drivers side with DH driving. Now DS is FF so we'll shift the seats around.

We went minivan shopping this weekend to replace our Jeep Patriot, so the van will become our main car.

[rungirlrun]

Jan 31, 2016 10:24:47 GMT -5 lostinfaith225 said:

We are thankfully getting a Honda CR-V in a few months. I have a civic right now and not sure how both seats would fit! I want ds to be rear facing as long as possible!

Yep I have a Civic too. I'm going to play around with things to see if I can get a convertible rear facing. My car is totally fine so I don't want to get a new car, but we will see. I do like the CRV, but I love my little Civic!

[harlowjune1984]

Jan 31, 2016 13:00:04 GMT -5 littlesthobo said:

We have a GMC Terrain, and put DS's car seat behind the passenger side because I had enough space up front. But no way a RF car seat would fit on the drivers side with DH driving. Now DS is FF so we'll shift the seats around.

We went minivan shopping this weekend to replace our Jeep Patriot, so the van will become our main car.

littlesthobo, how do you like the Terrain? It is one of our top contenders for when we get a new vehicle soon, because I love the amount of space in the back and the fact that the back seat can slide back and forth to give more carseat room when need be. With the back seat slid back, do you feel that it gives you a good chunk of space for carseats that would be RF? I know you said one wouldn't fit well RFing behind your husband, my husband and I are both under 5'8", so we aren't exactly tall. I wonder if an infant carseat would fit behind one of the seats well?

Our other top contender was the new Jeep Cherokee (which also has the sliding back seat), but I have been reading lot of people complaining about the engine technology. One of the things it does, is shuts off when you are at a stop and then re-starts when you go. I was worried about it maybe not starting again, and now that I am reading more reviews about it, there are a lot of people complaining about that exact thing happening. Many people are managing to file lemon law claims against it. So I had to scratch that one off of the list. 

[littlesthobo]

Feb 1, 2016 16:00:08 GMT -5 harlowjune1984 said:

Jan 31, 2016 13:00:04 GMT -5 littlesthobo said:

We have a GMC Terrain, and put DS's car seat behind the passenger side because I had enough space up front. But no way a RF car seat would fit on the drivers side with DH driving. Now DS is FF so we'll shift the seats around.

We went minivan shopping this weekend to replace our Jeep Patriot, so the van will become our main car.

littlesthobo, how do you like the Terrain? It is one of our top contenders for when we get a new vehicle soon, because I love the amount of space in the back and the fact that the back seat can slide back and forth to give more carseat room when need be. With the back seat slid back, do you feel that it gives you a good chunk of space for carseats that would be RF? I know you said one wouldn't fit well RFing behind your husband, my husband and I are both under 5'8", so we aren't exactly tall. I wonder if an infant carseat would fit behind one of the seats well?

Our other top contender was the new Jeep Cherokee (which also has the sliding back seat), but I have been reading lot of people complaining about the engine technology. One of the things it does, is shuts off when you are at a stop and then re-starts when you go. I was worried about it maybe not starting again, and now that I am reading more reviews about it, there are a lot of people complaining about that exact thing happening. Many people are managing to file lemon law claims against it. So I had to scratch that one off of the list. 

We love our Terrain! DH is 6'4" so needs all the space in order to drive. A RF bucket or convertible with the backseat slid back wouldn't fit with DH in the front. But me at 5'4", no problem at all! We bought it new in 2013 and have had zero issues with it except for normal wear and tear. We have to get a minivan because the dog crate takes up most of the trunk space and with two kids, that leaves little space for our gear when we travel (which is every weekend in the summer when we go to the cottage).

I would steer clear of the Jeep Cherokee if you're hearing about problems. We have had so many issues with our Jeep Patriot and I can't wait to dump it. Like putting $300-500 worth of work into it per month. They don't seem to last, ours is a 2009. I had a Dodge for awhile there and it was the same thing. I'm done with the Dodge/jeep/Chrysler brand.

[harlowjune1984]

littlesthobo, thanks for the info! It seems to be the one I keep going back to. Part of me wants third row, and MH doesnt really like the look of it, so he wants to get the Acadia. We already own a GMC (my husbands truck), and really like the overall quality of it, and have had zero issues. I think that we are almost at the point of test driving them, and seeing which one we like better. My top for five passenger is the Terrain, and my top for one with 3rd row is the Acura MDX. He only really likes the Acadia. But thank you for mentioning the dog! I totally forgot about possibly needing space for our dog back there. We do take a lot of road trips, and if we take the SUV and the dog, we would need to factor in space for him as well. We do take a lot of trips to the lake in the summer, and the dog would come, but we would be taking MH's truck, as we would be pulling a boat and taking a lot of camping gear. Any other trip though (where no boat was involved) we would end up taking my vehicle, so we would need space for the dog and all of our gear.

Trying to pick out a vehicle is hard! I did contemplate a van, just because of the automatic doors, space, etc....but MH said "Absolutely not!" HAHA!

[littlesthobo]

harlowjune1984 it is hard! I hate vehicle shopping and researching. I was anti-van too, but they're just so damn convenient

[allison7]

I have a VW Jetta SportWagen (that is part of the diesel scandal) and DDs convertible is in the middle and fits fine...but I am worried about when she gets moved to the outside. DD will be behind the passenger seat and DD2 will be behind me, but both seats will be a tight fit. And it isn't like the back seat is tiny (more room than a regular Jetta because it is a wagon). As much as I like my car, part of me hopes that the recall will result in a buyback so I can get a new to me Acura RDX. When I got the SportWagen I never thought we would have more than one kid.