small safe infant car seat

DH and I bought two Graco snugride infant car seats for our twins (due next week). When we installed them in our Chevy Traverse they are so big the front seats cannot go back far enough for DH to sit comfortably in either the driver or passenger seat. Are there car seats that have a smaller footprint that would give us a bit more room - even a couple inches would help.

tia

 

The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio infant seat is pretty small. I think ours was 17 or 17.5 inches wide. They're very highly rated too. They do have a weight limit of 20 lbs. though I think. HTH

 

I think the snugride's are one of the smallest ones. Have you tried installing it without the base? It's a bigger pain because everytime you take it out and put it in you have to readjust the seatbelt, but it should make it a few inches smaller for you!

 

If you have a Babies R Us go there and compare the length of some of the carseats. They have a pretty wide selection so you can see a few different types.

 

I feel your husbands pain. I am 6'1 so i have to fit the seat around the car seat in order for me to drive. I have to sit more sitting up so that i can get the seat back far enough for my legs to fit... :blink: That was one thing that I didnt' realize we were going to have an issue with. But in answer to your question, i don't have a whole lot of suggestions. Without the base will probably be a good bet like the PP said it will probably give him a few extra inches..

 

One thing to keep in mind too, is that once they outgrow the carriers, the convertable seats take up MORE room rear facing. Just something to think about for the long run. My boys were in convertable seats by 5 months, since one was too tall for the carrier at that point, even though he was only 16 lbs.

 

Thanks for all your responses - I didn't even know that without the base was an option - is it safe to do that?

Also - thanks for the heads up about the convertible seats - not sure what we will do then. This is a new car so trading it in is not an option.

 

It wasn't that long ago that bases weren't even in existence, yes it's perfectly safe without. You just have to be sure that EVERY time you put the seat in you tighten that seatbelt down so the carseat doesn't move more than in inch in each direction. Course you can always just leave the seat in all the time and take baby out, but with two babies that's very difficult to do! But yes, it's fine to use the seat without the base!

 

QUOTE(ColleenJ @ May 3 2009, 10:14 PM) [snapback]1298911[/snapback]
DH and I bought two Graco snugride infant car seats for our twins (due next week). When we installed them in our Chevy Traverse they are so big the front seats cannot go back far enough for DH to sit comfortably in either the driver or passenger seat. Are there car seats that have a smaller footprint that would give us a bit more room - even a couple inches would help.

tia


We had the exact same problem. We have a Chevy Traverse & also purchased the Graco Snugrides. We had to utilize all 3 rows, as we have a 4 yr. old & a 7 yr. old too. We wanted the twins in the 2nd row, and they wouldn't fit---the handle couldn't go all the way down---due to the front seat not having enough room to go back as far as we needed it too. I returned the Snugrides & purchased the Baby Trend Flex-Loc seats. They are more narrow (as is the base) & my husband is 6' 2" and he can comfortably put his seat back far enough & still have room for the handle to go down like it should. Also, we can now place them side by side---and free the passenger side backseat to slide forward & allow my older girls to get in the 3rd row. Good luck! I hope that made sense......I'm going on a long day w/out a lot of sleep!

 

My husband has the same situation. Luckily, we were in the position of almost needing a new car -- so we took the plunge and got an Equinox. The rear seat moves back. My husband can put the seat all the way back without an issue.

It's a challenge, that's for sure! I'd try it without the base. I've heard people say once you get the hang of it, it's not a big deal to secure it that way.

Good luck!