Best "Small" Car Seats to Fit in Vehicle

Have you tried the Combi Connection? The newborn seats are really narrow. They sell them at Target.

One advice I can give is to consider getting a larger infant seat that holds babies up to 30 or 32 lbs for you new baby. My daughter was able to ride her infant seat for 15 months before she outgrew the strap lenght. She would still fit in it now if we wrestle her into the straps... That might be easier that fitting a booster and two convertibles.
As for a toddler seat, I have heard good things about the Maxi Cosi Priori in terms of slim fit in small cars.

I would suggest that you take the car to a place that sells the seats and try out which combination works for you.

My husband and I took the car seat safety class at Swedish Hospital and learned that you can't use LATCH with two seats next to each other (if you have two other seats with LATCH)...so you probably do need a center booster seat for your son. If he is normal height/size, your 4 1/2 year old is probably old enough to sit in a booster that uses the seatbelt across his chest, heck, most of us didn't have any seat past our infant ones! They have some that are more compact and space-saving than others.

You can contact your local AAA office and see if they do any car seat safety checks. Or ask at your pediatrican's.

It sounds like your 1year old still needs to be rear facing, which might give some room to your son until she faces front.

Check car-seat.org and see what kinds of recommendations/ratings will work for your vehicle.

Hi B.,

We found out too late with our Jeep Commander that NO small, rear facing car seats fit in there, because of the stadium seating...appears that this is a problem with a variety of SUVs - so much for the "family car" concept. We finally had to take the hit and trade it in for a Grand Cherokee...we decided that was better than my husband having his knees taken out if we were in a wreck, since we had to scoot our seats so far forward. If you google this issue, you'll find plenty of other people with our gripe. If you find a carseat that works, you may be one of the lucky few.

I tease that I am keeping my 3 year old in his britax until he is 8...but have recently been thinking about the same issue that you are asking about. I think that a Graco booster with a back is suitable for kids above 30 pounds, and the backless is for above 40...

I second the suggestion of the Radian 65 or Radian 80. They are the slimmest seats around. They fit 3 across in most cars...

Unless your husband's truck has a crew cab with the back seat, three car seats up front is illegal and unsafe. You would be using one seat belt for at least 2 occupants. 3 kids bring on new challenges for transportation. Your son, should at least, have a booster seat to meet most states' requirements for children's restraint devices as the normal car seat doesn't provide the protection or positioning necessary for the factory installed seatbelt to work with their smaller body structures and weights. Check with your local hospital or police department for suggestions on how to accomodate your needs in a truck legally.

i'm interested in the answers you receive for this one!

We have 2 convertible. The radian65 is spec designed to fit 3 across. Even 1 radian fits w/ 2 graco comfort sports in a Honda accord. We just got the true fit by learning curve. I think it will be a great seat, but it isn't as narrow as the radian and wouldn't work well for 3 across. However the head rest comes off for rear facing making it shorter.

The Radian 65 and Radian 80 by Sunshine Kids are super narrow. They would work for your 1 year old and possibly your 4 year old depending on how tall he is. I have been looking at the Bitax Frontier for my almost 4 year old and it seems narrower than other convertable booster combos. It is a 5 point harness that changes into a backless booster. We have the Graco Nautilis for her in Grandma's car, but it is wider.
We have the Britax Roundabout and have been happy with it, but there is no way we could get 3 across in our Suburu. Your truck might be wider. It is smaller than a Marathon.
Your son might be big enough to fit into a backless booster, but all the research that I have done says that until your child can sit still in the car facing forward and doesn't fall asleep in the car, they should be in a 5 point harness. I read that their spines are not fully developed until they are 7 years old and can be more easily injured in an accident if they are not sitting properly in the car. I know that my almost 4 year old still falls asleep in the car and is a monkey, so she will need to be in a 5 point until she is 7 years old, but your child may be better at sitting still than mine!

The Sunshine Kids Radian is the narrowest carseat that I know of. There are others that puzzle well next to eachother.

Check out car-seat.org for tons of great info and help in which seats fit in which cars.

It would probably be easiest to keep your son in a harnessed seat since buckling a booster seat next to another carseat can be difficult.

Check out www.cars-seat.org they have great info usually given by certified car seat techs.

With that said we have a Radian 65 for our 5yr old (most people say not to bother with the Radian 80 that is good up to 80lbs because it has the same slot heights as the 65 and most kids outgrow the seat by height first). 2 yrs ago when we purchased it, it was (and still is to my knowledge) the most narrow one on the market. At 5yrs old my daughter is very proportionate and in the 50th percentile for weight and height and is at the top slots. So, I'm not sure what I'd be getting if I were to have to buy her one now at 5yrs old even though I'd like to keep her in a 5pt as long as I can. I've heard great things about the Nautilus (Graco) and it converts to a booster.

HTH
E.

Hi, B.--

Not sure where you live, but if you can get over to Segals in Beaverton, they can advise you. They can take a look at your car and see what will fit safely in there. Your son may be able to move to a booster, but you would have to ask. The technicians there even installed our car seats for us and helped us learn how to install them ourselves. They know all about the laws regarding car seats, boosters, etc.

Good luck!

Hi B.,

We went through the same thing - there are a few slim ones that don't have cup holders and all that but you really have to look. And you had better buy whatever it is you do find before February 10 - there's a new law that is not being covered very well in our media that will make your choices VERY FEW coming up - you can watch my You Tube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY00aOkeKeQ) and go to my blog (where I have an action plan any citizen can take to fight CPSIA - http://www.tristansepinion.blogspot.com). Originally it also impacted thrift stores and it STILL DOES - they don't have to pay for all of the expensive tests but they ARE liable and can be fined to the tune of $100,000 per violation - if you want to read the most clear article on this that I've ever found, click on the picture of Walter Olson (right side of my blog) - it puts even our libraries in the position of having to figure out now - will they have to ban children from the library or dump the children's books? Long story short - not only will people be liable if the sell you stuff but they can't GIVE it away if it hasn't undergone expensive testing and been certified.

If this sounds crazy - it is. But it is a law that has been passed and unless everyone in Whoville here speaks - even the SMALLEST VOICE matters - we've got an economic nightmare on our hands coming up... It's nothing short of amazing how any law that is now taking a nation by shock could have made out of the will of we, the people. And parents should be extra concerned - apparently, the legislators have more "caringness" than we do over our own children - and, after Feb. 10, more authority, too.

Anyway - if you are interested, I've got a carseat or two in nice conditon that you can have if you want - but you have to collect before Feb. 10 or no deal. I can take a photo and email separately, if interested. (oh, and yes - this impacts sellers on ebay, amazon, craigslist, you name it!).

Warmest Regards,
T. B.

When I put the infant carseat in the king cab, I put a milk crate underneath the part that hangs over the narrow seat. It works really well.

Hey B. - We went through this last year when our third came along. Thankfully we have a Taurus wagon, which is a bit wider than a regular sedan, but it's still tight! My sister in law had to have her boys (3 across in a Lumina) hold their hands up straight in the air when she closed the back door so that she didn't pinch any fingers between the seats!!

My husband went into Babies R Us and pulled down all the seats and stripped them to the plastic (yes, a bit embarrassing!). But it was helpful, because he found that Graco and some Evenflo seats must use the same mold, because they are about 2 inches narrower than all the others. Of course, depending on the model some pack on more padding than others. We ended up with an Evenflo Big Kid Deluxe booster for my 6 year old, an Evenflo convertible, and a Graco Snug Ride infant seat. Then when my baby outgrew the infant seat we got an Evenflo Big Kid booster for my middle daughter and moved baby into the convertible. I had my girls sit in all kinds of boosters, and though the Graco Turbo boosters are cheap and cute prints, the girls found them most uncomfortable and, even after driving to MN and back this past summer, still love their Evenflo boosters.

As a side note, I have information about moving children to front facing too soon that is very scary, so try to avoid serious injury by keeping your daughter rear facing for as long as possible!

Good luck!
js

Hi B.- We have a Cosco Scenara (Scenera?) for our toddler in the front seat of our Tacoma. (We have a Britax Marathon in our Saturn, but went with a less expensive seat for the 2nd vehicle.)

We used our Graco Snugride in the back seat first (with the truck's little shelf/cupholder thing extended), but I'm pretty sure that we couldn't have had both carseats in the truck at the same time because the passenger seat has to tip pretty far back to fit the Scenara. I don't know if it's possible to get more than one car seat into a Tacoma at the same time? Unless the baby seat was behind the driver's seat (and the driver was short and could have their seat close to the steering wheel!)

I would second what another poster said - find a good store (like Segals in Beaverton) and talk with one of their techs for advice specific to your vehicle.