Soldato
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Not nearly enough abbreviations for this Mumsnet thread...
Baby seat in a two door car
- Thread starter Yucca
- Start date
Why only the first 6 months? I'd be seriously tempted to get a decent sized estate. Take this from a guy with 4 year old twins who's been through the struggles! My Mrs had a 3 door car for the first few months and it was a monumental effort getting them in and out of that, especially as they have to be rearward facing for as long as possible. Isofix and clever clip off designs make it slightly less backbreaking, but still a PITA. I've now gone for an Octavia VRS estate and the Mrs has a Focus Estate.
My understanding is that they are as safe as Isofix so long as the baby seat is installed properly. Problem is that it's easy to make a mistake when fitting the seat, especially if you are taking the seat in and out of the car and get complacent hence Isofix as it's very easy (green fitted, red not fitted) to see whether the seat is fitted correctly or not.
Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Sep 2013
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The ones I tried were just too ******* fiddly and actually longer than most Isofix ones, so you'd struggle getting an adult in the front passenger seat. Also pretty useless unless you get one that also slots into the pram/pushchair frame, really.
I can't recall exactly, but I believe those only last something like 6 months, ie to the point where baby carriers are too small, whereupon you need a larger car seat too. Easier to just get a full-on car seat (Joie 360, for example) and bung the pushchair/pram in the boot.
From what I can tell, there's a Porsche Boxster and a Mercedes CLK, both of which are 2/3 doors, hence the question.
Sorry, just read more of the thread. Firstly, do you actually have a baby - or is this all hypothetical? If not, you do realise you'll have 9 months to worry about changing cars.
Also, we're talking about a 2 door 4 seat car. It'll be a bit more awkward, but perfectly doable. My neice has a 2 door Aygo and manages just fine.
No baby yet but planning ahead with how much I spend on the CLK to keep it going and how long I intend to keep it etc. Porsche Cayman plus a CLK.
Thank you everyone for your advice - I get the drift. Not impossible but most agree its a hell of a lot of extra effort.
Will plan accodingly to change the CLK to the 4 door. Or the Cayman to a Panamera/Mecan.
Thank you everyone for your advice - I get the drift. Not impossible but most agree its a hell of a lot of extra effort.
Will plan accodingly to change the CLK to the 4 door. Or the Cayman to a Panamera/Mecan.
Oh - has someone forgotten to mention the other bit of having a baby.
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Change it to a convertible model...no problems with child seats in my E350 Cab, put the roof down, lift them in, roof up again if raining
Yep, no roof makes access very easy!
We used my wife’s Fiat 500 for the first few months. While our daughter was tiny it was fine. Once she really started growing it became pretty back breaking to lift her and the seat in and out. Wouldn’t recommend it for the long term. Just buy a depressing family barge to make to Cayman feel that much more special when you do get to drive it!
I had a car seat in the back of my Nissan 200SX and it was a bit of a faff but workable (used to take our youngest to the supermarket with me every so often). There was enough leg room for her until she got too big for the car seat which would have been around the 2 year mark however I can't remember exactly.
Associate
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- 13 Mar 2010
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It really depends on the 2 door itself, most 'modern' 2 doors have decently longer doors to somewhat accommodate people getting in the back, however my old '85 ur quattro didn't or at least weren't any longer where it made any real difference and the front seat didn't slide forwards when tilted, that was a real pain getting the baby seat in and out the back. That is how I ended up with a long wheel base A8 W12 
I'd concur with most of the views already shared. My 21 month old son goes in the back of my Mustang Coupe, but I certainly wouldn't want to do it too often.
For the odd pick up from nursery or similar it's fine and perfectly doable, but going out for the day with multiple stops is just painful. Our car seat in theory rotates, but the width of the rear seats also means it only turns out 20 degrees and the only way to get to it is through the drivers door which is the opposite side to the carseat.
On the flip side it's extremely satisfying to see looks of contempt when parking in a parent and child space, only to then magic a small child out the back of the car
For the odd pick up from nursery or similar it's fine and perfectly doable, but going out for the day with multiple stops is just painful. Our car seat in theory rotates, but the width of the rear seats also means it only turns out 20 degrees and the only way to get to it is through the drivers door which is the opposite side to the carseat.
On the flip side it's extremely satisfying to see looks of contempt when parking in a parent and child space, only to then magic a small child out the back of the car
Don't know how on earth you guys are fitting rear-facing seats in these small little cars? My car has a considerable amount of room in the back and the Joie seat and base combo I have uses all of it, just mm of clearance on the back of the front seat.
I kidded myself that it was easy in my Megane rs250 to justify keeping it but my missus struggled and I didn't find it particularly easy myself.
A 4 door car and a seat that swivelled has made the whole thing a million times easier.
A 4 door car and a seat that swivelled has made the whole thing a million times easier.
It's frustratingly car specific, our fiesta has slightly more room in the front with (the same) rear facing child seat fitted due to the massive Recaros in the Focus and the shape of the rear seat squabs. Neither of us is particularly tall so it's not really an issue but it's a bit pathetic that an otherwise reasonable size of car (Focus estate) copes so poorly with something as simple as a group zero child seat.