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2 door car and newborn - is a bucket seat the only sane way to go?

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  brigala 
#1 ·
We're expecting our first child, and currently own a two door car. Our plan is to drive this car till it either dies, or we can no longer fit a rear facing car seat in it.

We were originally planning on getting a convertible car seat[*], since we plan to babywear as much as possible, and our parking spot is covered. We mentioned this to someone who had actually had a 2 door car when her child was born, and she said that a bucket made all the difference for her - that since the space to maneuver in the back seat was so restricted it was much easier to strap baby in the bucket outside the car, or with the bucket placed on the front seat, and then just snap it in place.

This comment from someone who's actually been there done that, made me do a quick search in this forum, and the only post I could find specifically about 2 door cars and car seats had most comments along the lines that though you could make a 2 door car work, it was a real pain to get babies into their car seats.

So this is making me rethink our decision - should we jus go with a bucket seat?

I would love to hear from others that might have gone through this same dilemma.

[*] DH has really long legs, so we figured that might be the limiting factor into what fits, and were planning on going car seat shopping at the end of the month, preferably somewhere where we can actually try them out.
 
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#3 ·
It is going to depend on how much room you have to work with behind the seat. Some infant seats take up more room rfing then a smaller convertible (like the concorro) installed at 45 degrees. You may want to see if you can go to BRU and try some out in your car to see what works.

Newborns are floppy, and I imagine as far as getting a floppy, tiny, newbie into a seat an infant seat would be easier. Once the baby is older, you can slide them down the back of the already installed convertible into the seat and then buckle by leaning over the top.

I don't have a 2 door car, but I have 3 kids, so this is just what I'm guessing from my past experience.
 
#4 ·
If a 2-door car were my primary mode of transportation, I would use an infant seat for the newborn stage.

One of my vehicles is a 2-door and it's not too bad to put my toddler in the back seat and have her climb into her car seat while I climb in behind her, sit in the adjacent seat, and buckle her up. But I really don't think I'd want to try to climb into the back of a 2-door with a brand new baby squish.

A lightweight, compact infant seat would be ideal. I wouldn't worry too terribly much about how long-lasting it is. By the time baby outgrows it, baby will have head control and be easy to maneuver into the back seat manually.
 
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