Two car seats ... recommendations?

[JenChaffee]

So, here is my story. We don't have an SUV or a mini-van, and don't plan to get one. Our big car is a 4-door Kia Optima. We will need to be able to have two infants rear-facing and still be able to drive the car. Neither my husband nor I are particularly short people, so we can't move the driver's seat too far forward. (The small car is a 4-door 1999 Nissan Sentra. It would be nice to be able to use it sometimes, but I don't have high expectations, here.)

I am hoping to use convertible car-seats as they seem more all-purpose, and I don't see myself taking advantage of the removable seats with handles when I have two of them to lug around.

Anyone have thoughts on types of carseats that
a) would fit two in the back seat rear-facing?
b) would be safe and comfortable for newborns?

I would welcome any other thoughts, too!

[Valerieg]

I wish I had advice. It seems the convertible seats I've tried have been even larger rear-facing than the infant carriers have been. They just have to be reclined soooo much and are so tall to accommodate larger children.

Just don't go with Costco Alpha Omega Elite. That's the first one we tried rear-facing in our SUV (BMW X5). Terrible fit! Right now we have two Sunshine Kids Radians and they're quite tall so I didn't even attempt them rear-facing even in the minivan. We just used the Costco Alpha Omega Elite until I felt comfortable switching DS (which was recently, I don't have the upper body strength to turn and situate him at nearly 30 lbs and PG with twins).

[mamaeliz]

I would personally opt for the infant seats. But we got a lot of mileage out of them (16 months or more as my girls are tiny). If you have any friends who could pass theirs on to you that would be great. Otherwise, buying used ones from a reliable source would be cheap. Personally, we are always happy to pass on our things for free to others, so hopefully you could find that situation by you.
We had a Camry, and we had intended on keeping that, but it died, so we ended up with a minivan. Convertible seats are big, but if you got those expensive narrow seats, you could put them possibly in the middle and behind the passenger seat. Radian..... I think that's the name of the narrow seat. Good luck!

[Julia'sMom]

Originally Posted by mamaeliz

We had a Camry, and we had intended on keeping that, but it died, so we ended up with a minivan. Convertible seats are big, but if you got those expensive narrow seats, you could put them possibly in the middle and behind the passenger seat. Radian..... I think that's the name of the narrow seat. Good luck!

We have a Radian rear-facing in the middle seat of a Camry. It allows the drivers seat to move as far back as possible. I believe there's enough room for a 2nd one to go on the passenger seat, since they are so narrow. However, this means the passenger would have to scrunch up their legs. The infant seats really are much smaller as far as space needed.

[Nanasi]

We have a mid-size 4-door car (Subaru WRX) and found that the convertible seats just didn't fit rear facing. We ended up with two Graco Snugride 22s in the middle and behind the passenger seat. The Chicco Keyfit also worked in our car, but we were able to get the Snugrides used from a trusted friend. I would rather have bought convertible carseats to save money, but the cost of two carseats is nothing compared to the cost of a new car. Good luck finding something that works for you. I think your best bet is going to a store like Babies'R'Us and putting a couple seats in your car to see how they fit. Then you can try to find them cheaper elsewhere.

[ApplePieBaby]

We have Chicco Keyfit 30's. I doubt we'll use them to 30 lbs, but I wanted them because they go down to 4 lbs and I knew our boys would be early

[JenChaffee]

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I will break down and get the infant seats to start with. I'll talk to DH about it tonight (We are going on a date tonight!) Then, perhaps I will head to Babies'R'us this weekend.

[aja-belly]

the tru fit would be nice. part of the shell is removeable so it is shorter when you need it reclined all the way for a newborn. when the babies get bigger and you need the top part they will probably be old enough to have it more upright. http://www.learningcurve.com/thefirs...e_TFYgear_body from what i hear newborns fit well in them, too.

[nummies]

We are doing infant seats first. Just easier with winter time babies I think.

[verycozy]

We have a teeny tiny Volkswagen Golf. We now have two infant seats for my five week old twins and a forward facing toddler seat for my two year old. It is *really* crowded but manageable. We had bought two compact convertible seats (sunshine kids radian, the narrowest available) but it turned out that the twins were WAY too tiny, even though the seat claimed to accomodate babies as small as five pounds. We then bought the smallest infant seats we could find and jammed them in there. Good luck!

[Kendra_]

I have a ford escort wagon and I used britax infant car seats for the first 4 months with the double snap n go.. I don't think i would of survived without it. But after that I had britax diplomats rear facing and they fit pretty well. Their father is 6'1 and he would of appreciated more room but wasn't insanely cramped either.

[TripMom]

The convertible car seats are all . . .well . .. all just big, aren't they? If there is some conv seat that is providing more leg room in the front seat while the conv seat is rear-facing . .. well this must just mean the baby is sitting more upright? Who wants that? Don't we all want them to sleep in the car . . . . . . ??

[Freeman]

I didn't use my infant seats long with either child; however, they were both well over 8 lbs. at birth and grew very fast. I expect that twins will be smaller. Also, I think Graco now makes a SnugRide 32 that goes up to 32 pounds and is larger/longer than the SnugRide that I have, which goes up to 20 lbs. or so. I can't imagine actually lugging around a 32 lb. baby in a car seat, much less 2, but you could at least keep them in your car longer. I would try out friends' car seats in your car before you buy any, or at least make sure that you can return them to the store if they aren't a good fit.