I am expecting my 1st at the end of the summer, and I'm wondering what others have experienced with rear facing car seats in the back of their car.

What brand did you use and what was the weight limit for your rear facing seat? I would love to get a 35lb seat but I don't know if it would even fit in the back, so 22lb might be only option.

When you used it, did you go with or without the base?

Does anyone have any pictures you could post so I can get an idea of what it will look like?

I know some will be a tight fit, mommy is 5'4 so she won't need too much room in the front, but she does fit behind me, I'm 6'0, so that is an option.

I'll probably be heading to Toys r Us sometime this month to try some out, but any help would be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

we had a 'chicco' brand from toysrus- they have a couple models, we had the orange one+base+stroller...that was the best carseat we ever had, just gave it to afriend a month ago, they said the same thing...too bad the wife lost the stroller one day- tailgate was down when she went to get it out, not sure if someone took it or if the gate felland it rolled out- if you get that model, one caution with the stroller, roll it backwards before folding, else the wheels will rub the canopy and it gets stained from the tires...the seat has a top button that makes popping the whole thing out a easy one hand deal, even in a mustang- but theres still not a lot of room of course. the seat reversed on the base worked fine while the little guy was small, we switched to a booster just before he turned 2 as he was getting pretty snug in it...the matching stroller was cool- if you went somewhere just pop the seat out one handed, drop it into the stroller, little guy slept on...our other three we always had to get in/out of seats, they tended not to like being woke up from naps
it wasnt a inexpensive seat, but it was cool- we had a extra base for her avalanche too, was really handy. other than the stroller wheels getting the stroller dirty when folded up, think it was a near perfect design. I'll see if I can find a link.
Oh, yeah, if in a couple years you find 4 seats aint enough like we did, just add another Mustang

heres links to the seat/bases we had:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...29#showReviews

I couldnt find the stroller- the one we had had double wheels on all 4 corners

 

Peg perego are about the best u can get. Look em up. I can take pics of it if u want. Was actually tossing it up on craigslist anyway as my son just turned one and is now fwd facing.

They are more expensive than the normal infant seat but quality costs.

 

Yeah Mark, I posted in your other thread, but I forgot that like Tim said, the detachable base is also awesome for simply putting it in a stroller and locking it in place. You can take the seat out of the car, snap it into a stroller, etc... if the baby falls asleep while you're heading out to eat (the best time BTW), then you can take most restaurants wooden high chairs, flip it upside down and the base sits perfectly in the legs of the restaurant high chair. (This sounds goofy, but trust me, you'll see) And you can do all this without laying a hand on the baby so he/she stays asleep the whole time.

 

Only one thing about these types of seats.... MAKE SURE THE HANDLE IS LOCKED BEFORE YOU PICK IT UP! Seems obvious but it can look like it's in the locked position without actually locking. If it's not and you pick it up quickly your kid will take a face plant. I did this to my Son one time (he turned out OK) but it scared the bejezzus outta me!

Tim

 

My gosh I would crap myself if that happened to me. Glad your son was OK.

On a side note, I'll share something I did that ruined my day. I'm only sharing this to help keep it in the back of people's minds to prevent them from doing the same.

I am absolutley **** about seat belts, car seats, and keeping my kid safe, warm, and healthy. But on this day I screwed up. On a slightly cool, but nice day I had my top down (on my Jeep) and was making sure my son would stay plenty warm. I put him in his car seat, then put a blanket on top of him and tucked it around his chest and under his legs (like a cacoon), along w/ his coat, hat, and sunglasses for the ride. Well, I am absolutley **** about seat belts, car seats, and keeping my kid safe, warm, and healthy. But on this day I screwed up. We had a nice drive w/ the top off, beautiful morning, playing some of his favorite songs on the radio singing and dancing (in his car seat). I crapped myself when we got to our destination and untucked the blanket from his car seat and realized that I forgot to buckle him in. I couldn't see the buckles because of the blanket on top, but I've done this probably a hundred times and never done this. I buckle him in, then put a blanket on top to make sure he's warm. He was just sitting unbuckled in the back of a Jeep w/ no restraints and no roof or windows. Realizing that I forgot that once really ruined my day, but we were fortunate that it was an otherwise uneventful drive.

 

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm gonna go to toy r us and try out the chicco system, 30lbs would hopefully get us to close to a year. Good news (for me) is that I will only have to use it to drop her off for daycare, and an occational trip for the 3 of us.
The peg perego looks really nice but way too expensive, especially given our situation.
Its very complicated I'm already really freaking out about $$ right now.

 

Good advice- my wifes Grandma went to move our oldest sons carrier one day- he was like 5 months old, took him over to visit with a reunion like crowd, carrier got passed around between a few relatives...anyway, somehow the handle wasnt locked- thank God a quick set of hands kept him from doing a faceplant, as it was one of the carriers that the handle would flip clear under so it would sit at a different angle...scared everyone bad...be especially careful when other than Mom/Dad are handling- some folks might not ever think it could be harmful to lift the 'safety carrier' by its obvious handle, but it can be...

another Tim