Sharky

Hey guys,

Well I've been searching for awhile for a car seat that would be suitable for a newborn (Everyone I know says I'll have to get a minivan with a kid on the way - Bah! I say to them!) Did the shopping and test fitting at Babies R Us, Sears and a few others and couldn't find one that would fit properly in a rear-facing position. Front facing, no problem, but rear facing just wasn't happening. I was starting to panic when I came across the Strolex 5 in 1 car seat. For us admirers of good engineering (any RX-8 owner qualifies) this is the best seat for the car. We just brought my baby daughter home from hospital on Sunday (pic attached) and as you can see it fits rear-facing no problem. The best part is that it's a stroller too so it totally frees up the trunk. The other advantage is that it is suitable up to 40 lbs meaning I will not have to buy another car seat down the line.

We are loving this seat and you should have seen the nurses and parents at the hospital going ga-ga for it. They saw it as a stroller in the hospital and when I demo'd the retracting wheels I got the same reaction as when I show people the 8's suicide doors "Whoa! Cool!"

Check it out www.strolex.com

cleoent

totally clueless about baby seats, but why not just got a front facing seat?

zoom44

we got the babytrend latch loc car seat which fits perfectly and is easy to install being designed specifically for the latch anchors.

also it matches the rotary theme- check out the handle



congratulations on the baby:D ours is 7 months already

Coop '04

Crash tests found it was better for the baby to be rear facing up to a certain age...

MTCD01

Looks like the passengers seat is still a pretty tight fit. Cool car seat though.

I've found that of the stage 2 seats (my baby was 10lbs 2ozs at birth and quickly outgrew the baby carrier - he's 8 mo. now and well over 23 lbs) the Britax Marathon seemed to offer the best comfort (the majority of child/infant seats seem to have little or no padding) and fit for the car. The front seat is still a cramped fit for the woman but it's doable for short trips. For a stroller I purchased a sling (large piece of fabric) for the 8.

I can't wait until I can flip that seat around so everyone can be comfortable.

scarroll

Great find!

I have two forward facing seats in the back of my 8.

One for an 18 month and one for a 4 year old.

I didn't have the RX-8 when they were infants, so I didn't have to

worry about rear facing. You should see / hear the comments that I get

from jealous mini-van driving dads, when my family jumps out. :p

My 4 year old daughter loves riding in it, "Go faster daddy! Make it beep!" :D

I am already creating future generations of rotary addicts...

Elara

Until they're a year old and a certain weight (20 lbs, maybe- I'll have to go review my car seat class stuff) they're required by law to be in a rear facing seat.

Graco Snugrides also fit rearfacing in the back seat, though, and fit even better if you take off the base. It's cramped, but we'll just take the other car for any long trips for the first year. The dumb quattro tour stroller doesn't fit so well in the trunk, due to the wheels, but does fit in the backseat behind the driver. But as soon as she can can ride in a more upright position, I'm getting the Kate Spade McLaren stroller, which WILL fit in the trunk.

BTW, the Graco Travelite pack-n-play also fits very well in the trunk, leaving plenty of room for luggage for everyone else too.

penman

Heh. My 2.5 year old son likes to say "Time to zoom daddy!" when a light goes green. He also has gotten into the habit of calling anyone who cuts us off or makes us break suddenly "crazy driver." Not sure where he got that...

Overport

lol love the handle!

Battousai

Well even more required by nature :D

Its just that such young infants don't have neck muscles strong enough to support their heads, so in a forward facing seat during sudden braking or a collision it is very likely they could be seriously injured or worse by having their heads snapped forward.

Thanks for the reasearch guys this helps I was worried about what to do if we decide to have another kid and I have my 8, because I could see it was going to be a tight fit getting a rear facing seat in!

Sharky

Zoom, love that handle! That alone makes it a keeper.

As a follow up to my previous post I realized that I had her sitting too high in that picture. I adjusted her position so she's further down in the seat lying flatter. As everyone has said you definitely have to have them rear-facing for the first year or so. The stroller part of it is cool but I soon realized it won't be our only stroller. It's just a little too harsh a ride for long stretches of sidewalk with the tiny plastic wheels and doesn't have the extra bells and whistles the larger models have (cupholders anyone?). For short trips or flights though it should do well.

zoom44

really? didnt have car seat when i was i kid and you couldnt have put it in the back seat anyway as there was no seat belt in the back seat of my dads car.

Elara

You are certainly in a mood today :p Gotta call everyone on everything! You know what he meant, goofball.

:D