I ASSumed that the 90% that had it wrong just didn't get it in there tight enough and that by god I'd fix that :D

Duhh.......DMC you were right too earlier about that pass. seatback (I think that was you)

 

My wife said it is the driver's seat. Immaturity is still fun.

 

I have a RECARO YOUNG EXPERT PLUS iso fix child seat, nice seat and easy to fit, i took the pictures with the seat base out, but it DOES fit with the base in, i was just checking how the mounts work.

 

Quick bump- I've found a full-size stroller that fits the back of the 8. I just bought a Quinny Buzz and not only does it fit, but I can also get the bassinet attachment in on top of the frame. It does help a bit to take the seat off, put the frame in first, and then seat or bassinet on top though. I even had a good deal of space left over- I think we could probably do a fairly easy weekend trip with it and luggage in the trunk.

 

Our Maclaren XLR made it with room to spare for a 4 day weekend trip several weeks ago but didn't make it for our 7 day trip to the beach this week. The Baby Borjn it had to be (I really need to take a picture of my loaded down "family hauler" with the roofbag on the top, 2 adults, 1 mini human and 2 dogs in tow.)

 

So people in this thread have said the Recaro Como fits...how is the fit rear-facing?

 

It's tight, it works but isn't a barrel of monkeys if you are using it every day multiple times.

We have gone back to using our Chicco Keyfit Infant carrier rear facing which makes the passenger seat somewhat uncomfortable but is a lot easier to get the baby in and out of the car.

Sadly that's only a temporary solution too as he will outgrow it probably in a couple/few more months and it will be back to the Recaro rear facing until we decide he's ready to be forward facing.

 

hmmmm....I think I've narrowed it down to the Como or the Britax Roundabout....

The more I think of it...the more I'm not liking the thought of having to try to squish & strap my little guy in the back seat! Strapping him in the infant seat & then plopping it into the seat base is nice and simple!

 

Well, you will have to bring him in from the Driver's side if you use the first 2 options. Yes, it's very handy to be able to strap him in outside of the car and just set it in the base.

Our little guy is 10 months old and still has a little while to go in the Chicco but YMMV just so you are aware. My wife ends up sitting in the back seat with the 3 of us in the car, the passenger seat is certainly useable but not comfortable.

Not sure if it was way up in this thread (I think it was) but look back I chronicled putting both the Recaro and the removable infant carrier in this car, hint, I did it wrong at first trying to over-think it and took it to the local police to check it out where I was set a little straighter

 

Wow, this might end up annoying me enough to sell my car! (I can't believe I just said that)

 

FYI: when rear facing the infant seat should NOT touch the passenger seat. The infant seat needs room to rock forward if an wreck were to happen. The motion allows some of the energy of the wreck to dissipate before the infant receives said wreck energy.

When forward facing tighten that suck down as hard as you can, there should be almost no movement of the car seat.

 

Well, I decided to buy the Recaro...I got two of them...one for the 8 & one for my other car. We'll see how I like it!

I also bought a Bugaboo Cameleon stroller & it fits in the trunk! I was pretty pumped it fit!

 

Just adding more info (for those that see this in the future).

We started our daughter with an infant carrier, and then are about to swap her over to a toddler->booster setup (Recaro ProSport). We're going to skip the full-size convertible, mainly due to fit restrictions (and she's a little munchkin of a kid).

The biggest thing I've found over the last 10 months is that the size of the baby, and which exact model car seat matters a LOT.

Our daughter has consistently been 50th percentile for height, and 20-25th percentile for weight. When she came home in the Graco, it was HUGE. We eventually borrowed a Chico KeyFit30 from some friends when their (slightly older and larger) daughter out-grew it.

I HIGHLY recommend the KeyFit over the Graco. The KeyFit's base positions the carrier about an inch further rearward than the Graco does, and doesn't need anything underneath it to prop it up to the right angle with the seats in the KeyFit. Also, if you have a smaller kid, the KeyFit's shape gives much better head support. She's not looking like her head's about to fall off when she's asleep in the seat.

We're going to keep her in the Chico until she outgrows it (30" height limit on the KeyFit), and then switch her to front-facing in the Recaro ProSport. Thankfully the recaro is easy to swap between cars (RX-8 and now an Audi A4 wagon), so we won't have to buy two of them as they're so expensive.

 

I want to say thanks to all the contributors to this thread. My wife and I are expecting, and trying to make some tough decisions about our cars. Reading through this thread gives us a little hope that we might be keeping the RX-8 a little longer.

 

Our daughter came home from the hospital in the back of the RX-8, and we're still using it now that she's nearly 3. It's been great so far. The only difficulties have been around how deep the backseat is. A foam wedge (easily had at Babys'R'Us) fixes that with the infant carrier and convertible bases.

But we swap the Recaro between the RX-8 and the Audi wagon at least twice a week. Getting the seat in/out of the Audi is cake, but the RX8 latch anchor points are very deep, nearly 6" down from the surface of the seat, which makes getting to the latch releases pretty hard. It wasn't a big deal with the infant carrier (base was mounted for the whole time she was in it), but with the Recaro that we move back and forth, it can be a pain.

 

When we had our second child I bought the RX-8 as it was more practical than what I had. I call it my minivan. Seriously. Once the kids go into forward facing seats they are actually easier to put in / take out than in a conventional car due to the suicide doors. The RX-8 is a hidden gem in the minivan market.

 

Also, the City Micro and City Mini strollers easily fold up and fit in the trunk (unlike most strollers).


(they're very nice strollers, and the mini fits through the x-ray machines at the airport (with the quick-disconnect rear wheels removed).