Infant car seats in a Honda Fit

[ashfo]

I am pregnant with twins, 33 weeks, almost there.  Last weekend we installed the two car seats in my honda fit.  One behind the passenger seat and one behind the driver's seat.  Well, that didn't work so well for me as I have long legs.  I'm only 5'6 though and I have read on here before people fitting three across in a Honda Fit. Just wondering how that was done.  I am thinking of going to babies r us and seeing if another brand, the chicco keyfit 30 will fit better, but when I looked at the measurements of that one and the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 the ones we have seemed just slightly smaller.  But the Chicco keyfit 30 is on the list of ones that would fit 3 across in a honda fit. 

Right now we have them installed in my husbands 2003 hyundai santa fe, which is still a tight fit for me, but the dash is higher so with the seat closer I can actually fit my knees underneath the front of the car.  Whereas in the Fit, my knees are right up against the dash under the steering wheel. 

I'm thinking of trying one infant car seat behind the passenger seat and another in the middle, but I think that would be difficult in the santa fe as it is higher.  In the Fit I could easily reach in and drop the infant car seat in the middle. 

Anyone have experience with two infant car seats in a Honda Fit?  Are you just really short and don't mind being so close to the dash?  My husband is only 5'3 so its not a bother for him, but it is so cramped for me.  Any suggestions?

[TallMike]

Check out the seats by Diono. I can't say for the Honda Fit, but we had three across with those in a Toyota Matrix and it was snug but doable. The r100 and r120 are worth looking at. Be warned: they are incredibly heavy, so if you fly with your car seats at all, these can be challenging.

[PharmaStache]

Can you find a local car seat group on facebook?  There should be a car seat tech you can ask. 

Infant seats suck in cars- they are so reclined.  You'll have a bit more room when they move to a RFing convertible seat. 

[kimmarg]

I'm thinking of trying one infant car seat behind the passenger seat and another in the middle, but I think that would be difficult in the santa fe as it is higher.  In the Fit I could easily reach in and drop the infant car seat in the middle. 

I have a 2013 Honda Fit with Graco Click Connect 35 (now over to a Britax Boulevard Click Tight but still rear facing) Basically it's just barely ok for me  to sit in front of at 5'8". We only have one kiddo so it's behind the passenger seat. Also because it's a manual I really need the leg room to shift.

I tried a Graco Click connect 35 in the middle and that way it just hit both seats instead of just one. Note that the Fit (at least my 2013) does not have LATCH connectors for the middle seat so you'd need to install it with the seatbelt.  My only other word of advice is that the rear seat actually has two "recline" levels. If you undo the seat like you are going to fold it down when you go to click it back up you can actually click it in at two different 'reclines'. It's probably only an inch or so apart but that might be the inch you need.

I don't think "three across" car seats will help you any because that's all about the /width/ of the seat side to side and your problem is the /length/ front back.

When she grew out of the infant bucket one of the reason I went with the Britax Boulevard Clicktight was because of the many recline angles - it's sitting up a bit more so as to give more leg room for the passenger. (It's also super easy to install and way better than the darn Click connect base!)

Finally Babies R US will let you try installing any of their seats (you may need to levae your driver's license as collateral) so try before you buy.

[VeggieTable]

I wasn't able to fit my son's RF infant seat behind the driver's side in my Toyota Corolla, and I'm only 5'3", so I imagine it's even harder in a Fit. My only advice is to try just buckling the seats in without the base - I started doing that when my son got heavier and it started hurting my back to lift the seat containing him in/out of the car. We gained about 3 inches by removing the base. I could probably have juuuust squeezed him behind the driver's seat that way, but I never bothered. Seatbelt-only installation is just as safe, though a little less convenient.

[MBot]

For what it's worth, the Diono works great in our car -- but with the angle adjuster pad. Without it we lose a ton of legroom up front.

http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2014/08/3-across-installations-fit.html/ is a link specific to 3-across installations with the Fit.

[a rose by any other name]

Join the carseats for the littles (csftl.org) group on Facebook and ask this question there--people in there are unbelievably knowledgeable about carseats and will be able to suggest some that will work for you!

[NeonPegasus]

For what it's worth, the Diono works great in our car -- but with the angle adjuster pad. Without it we lose a ton of legroom up front.

http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2014/08/3-across-installations-fit.html/ is a link specific to 3-across installations with the Fit.

This. Check whatever seat you're interested in to see if they have an angle adjuster pad. If you raise the back of the infant seat up, it can fit better. Also, you may be able to fit two Radians side by side (middle and passenger) and make it work that way.

[ysette9]

We skipped infant car seats all together and went straight to a convertible. I got the Corroco Cumbi because I have a small car and it was the smallest convertible seat on the market. My kid is still using it fine at almost 3 and she went home in it at 3.5 pounds. I am short so I can't speak to the leg room in particular (also my car is a Golf which is slightly different) but there is plenty of room for me to live the front seats back. I'd recommend checking out convertible seats so you have more choice. Plus, are you really going to be able to haul TWO heavy/bulky infant seats at once?

[I'm a red panda]

For what it's worth, the Diono works great in our car -- but with the angle adjuster pad. Without it we lose a ton of legroom up front.

http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2014/08/3-across-installations-fit.html/ is a link specific to 3-across installations with the Fit.

The Diono I tried said the angle adjuster cannot be used for a newborn. Without it, it wouldn't fit in my car (elantra) so we returned it.  The seat would be great for an old baby though.

[cacaoheart]

We have the primo viaggo 4-35 in our 2017 Fit. I'd considered the chico keyfit 30 and while I'm happy with the primo I think the keyfit would have given maybe an extra inch or two to the front seat, and the keyfit has cheaper good stroller combination options. The primo interested me partly because its rated to a greater height/weight, though now I'm reading some things that claim combination seats are safer after ~a year of age anyhow, making the greater flexibility of the viaggo less useful.

http://www.consumerreports.org/convertible-car-seats/why-you-should-buy-a-convertible-car-seat-sooner-rather-than-later/

[SimpleCycle]

Yeah, you can't use the Diono angle adjuster with a newborn.

I have a 2003 Toyota Corolla with two rear facing seats installed, and the infant seat on the driver's side gives me more legroom than the convertible seat on the passenger side.  A lot of this is about fit in your individual car though.

I think the possibility of a small convertible car seat instead of an infant seat is the most likely to work.  The Combi Corroco is a good option, as is the Cosco Scenera NEXT.  I actually have a NEXT and would be happy to install and measure for you.  But obviously you lose the convenience of the infant seats if you switch to convertibles.

This is a great resource:

https://carseatblog.com/22818/the-ultimate-rear-facing-convertible-space-comparison-review-size-matters/

[SimpleCycle]

Here are reviews of the two smaller seats I mentioned.

https://csftl.org/combi-coccoro-review/

http://csftl.org/cosco-scenera-next-review/

[ysette9]

It is interesting that the review for the Combi Coccoro says that kids will outgrow it quickly. Maybe my kid is an exception? She is something like 70 percentile height for her age and she fits in hers just fine at almost 3 (still rear-facing). I love that it fits well in my small car AND it is small and relatively light so taking it on a plane is much easier than hauling around a big seat.