Newborns and infants -VS- FRS BRZ GT86
 

Anybody here using this car as a infant hauler? How are you doing it? What seat are you using? I read that you can place a rear facing baby seat in the front as long as the airbag is turned off?

My FRS isn't selling and the truth is that I'd rather keep it. Just unsure how I am going to transport a newborn or infant in this car. I know it's going to be a bitch and that's something I'm going to have to accept if I want to own this car and have a child.

So to all the new fathers and mothers, what are your strategies to hauling your infant in this car?

I'm also wondering and interested myself...planning to have a kid in 2 years or so :w00t:

I've seen a picture around here somewhere with a rear facing baby seat. As long as nothing is in the front seat, the airbag will not deploy. When they grow a bit older, I know the Recaro Baby/Booster seat will fit your average sized child in the FR-S with the mounting hooks on the rear deck, have seen that too.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4702

Damnit I keep missing what I meant to link. Pile of threads in the BRZ section though.

I have not tried with my son yet, but given my frustration with Mazda 3, which has easy access to back door, the annoyance of bending down all the time and straining to pull the seat out, I bet dealing with FR-S would drive me insane. In worst case scenario, I am not sure what the insurance would say about baby up front and disabling air bag, IF there was an accident to happen and you had to deal with them.
But you got to do what you got to do :).

Well the rear facing baby seat up front was something I needed clarification with. It''s safest to use the backseats anyways.

Most the topics and posts people are making are for >1 year-olds from every search I've conducted on this site.

Here's my suggestion, borrow a rear facing baby seat from a friend/neighbor.

Place the seat in the back, behind the driver’s seat, load up your SO and see if he/she can "tend" to the pretend baby in the back seat (by running her seat all the way back, and tilting the back of the seat all the way back).

Then for sole runs, put the make believe baby in the passenger side rear seat, and see how you do ..... tending to the baby.

When they get older (up to 8 years old) they (up to two of them) will "fit" OK in the back seat ...... for short trips.

Note: the limitation with the FR-S/BRZ might be all the crap people with babies haul around ......:eyebulge:


humfrz

It's doable in the backseat. It's just a pain. Anyone sitting in front of a rear-facing baby-seat will have limited space. You will not be able to, by law, put a baby in the front seat, even with the airbag disabled. That's my understanding, at least. Also, there are no latch anchors in the front. So go buy a rear-facing car seat and try it out in both rear seats. See what you can get to work.

We used an Integra for baby duty for a while. It was a pain in the ass, but it's possible.

Last but not least, if you're car isn't selling, you're either marketing it poorly or you're asking too much money. Is it back to stock? I'd sell the car and get a sedan.

First off, congrats! Fatherhood is awesome. I was (and still am) in this situation. I think the info in the older threads are still applicable, not alot has changed.

Second, I would strongly discourage placing your child in the front seat. Even though you can disable the air bag (its not very easy either), the rear seat is ultimately the safer location, plus you are able to use the child set hooks for mounting instead of the seat belts.

Now, when my daughter was born last May, I was hauling her around in a Chicco key fit 30, which had a base and a click-on child carrier. Because the rear seats are kinda deep and "bucket"-ed, I had to use some rolled up towels to get the level even. Loading her in and out was surprisingly easy, but there is no way somebody is sitting in the passenger seat. My car was strictly a 1.5 seater if my daughter was around.

Fast forward to 5 months ago, she just moved up to a convertible seat (Chicco NextFit 65). This was a whole nother challenge. The combination of rear facing (strongly advised until they are 2) and a larger, stationary seat (vs a detachable child carrier) means that I no longer can load her in and out through the passenger side. Now, I have to do some car yoga to load her through the driver side. At least she is now getting capable enough to get in the seat by herself. It's pretty annoying having to constantly readjust your seat though.

Needless to say, I'm making it work. I'm still saving up for a wrx tho...

https://fbcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.ne...3d9078fb3076d3

https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...fb&oe=56A7A742

The twins arent baby makers... how the hell did you accomplish that?

...jk

Wasnt there a member who moded the top portion of the rear seats to fit a baby seat in rear?


I tried fitting my adopted nephew with car seat but he didnt fit well. The baby seat would scratch the frs seats and i decided it wouldnt be worth it. Especially over time.

Can always but a $3-5k civic or corolla.

That's not true, it depends on where you live. Its legal in Texas as long as the passenger airbag is disabled.

http://www.quora.com/At-what-age-can...-seat-in-Texas

My son's car seat fits with the passenger seat all the way forward and straight upright. You can't have a passenger in the front seat, but it's more just for emergency purposes. With the stiff stock suspension, I felt so bad for the little guy when we first took him in my car to pick up the new baby carrier....

https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...57&oe=56A7CA5E

Ive done it. It'll very uncomfortable for your passenger. I wouldn't recommend putting it behind your seat unless your like 4'11. When I used to do it I would have the baby behind the passenger seat and my wife would sit behind me with her legs crossed because that was more comfortable for her than the passenger seat with the car seat behind it.

@DeadStar7 what make and model baby seat is that? thank you for the pictures.

i don't plan on using the frs as a full time baby hauler. the wifey has a lexus sedan that'll mostly be used for baby hauling. the frs would only accomodate the baby if i really needed to take him/her somewhere in a pinch and will likely be by myself.

Graco Click Connect 35. We bought ours in the US, so technically it's illegal in Canada because it's missing the proper Canadian approval sticker. It's identical to the Canadian one, but the standards in the US are less strict than in Canada, so having a US approved one doesn't mean it would pass in Canada (from what I was told in parenting classes). Just something to keep in mind if you do like us and buy in the US to save some money. ;)

The Click Connect is fantastic though. It's literally two seconds to pop it out from the(wife's) car, and another to drop it into the matching stroller.

I got my BRZ 3 months after I had a baby. Even though I had another car, I used the BRZ pretty extensively with a rear facing car seat.

I had the Graco Snugride Click Connect as well. We kept the seat behind the front passenger and most of the times, my wife would sit behind me to be with the baby. Both of us are on the shorter side and so, it was not as bad as we thought it might be.

It is definitely doable. But you need to be prepared to not be pissed off by the effort needed to drop the seat and take it out. Also in our cars, the front passenger seat keeps sliding backward when you pull the lever to adjust the backrest. This means that in order to make enough gap to get the infant seat through the door, you will need to keep pushing the front passenger seat away :mad0260:!

However things should be much easier once you graduate to a front facing seat. I kept telling that to myself and went about using the car seat without thinking how difficult it was. To me, these are some compromises that you need to make if you want to use a fun car also to ferry about your baby.

Good luck to you!

Yup, also ran into that same problem. I ended up finding a short bungie cord and used it to attach one of the head rest bars to the bottom of the glove box. :lol:

Luckily my gf is only 4'11 so she can usually sit in the passenger seat with little issue. But my daughter is six months this friday and she's slowly growing out of her current seat so I have zero idea what I am going to do next since she supposed to be facing the rear for awhile. I'm saving for a GT-R so there is no end in sight for me but good luck and congrats!

My kids are 5 and 7. When I take them out in my car they sit in the back Indian style. On the car seat of coarse. Good luck.

We made a car trip to Big Willow, all 4 of us in the FR-S. The drive back was torture.

The BRZ rarely has the baby in it, we use our Ford Escape for that mainly. But we have the Recaro Performance Coupe and without the base, it will fit in the back seat, not happening with the base though. So every once in a while we take a cruise with her in the back seat belt buckled in without the base.

we used a britax bsafe w no issue. getting it out from the back seat required on foot in and wedging yourself out. kind of a pain. also the front passenger seat is moved max to front and bend forward, almost unusable.

hang in there.

but now that shes grown up weve move into regular front facing which is easier.

wish that the frs passenger seat slider can lock when slide to front like my previous prelude.

This is exactly what I do and the car works perfectly for the occasional trip with the baby. When my son as and infant I used the 86 to pick him up and drop him off at his grandmother. Used a rear facing Maxi cosi pebble for the infant years, on front seat with airbag turned off.
When we went out as a family we used my Wife's RAV4.

Now that he is 2 he's on the back seat in a group 1 baby seat. There's also enough space for my wife in passenger seat but we hardly use the 86 when going out as a family. Jumping in the RAV4 is more comfortable and just more sensible.

i would suggest buying a used family sedan and keep your FRS - maybe a camry, prius or accord. Something cheap yet safe

Prius is not safe. Did you see the small offset crash video? Omfg! Get an Accord.

^there's no way I'm gonna swing three cars. Not a chance.

My mini van got in accident yesterday so today i would need to use my BRZ to transport my 1 year old on to daycare. I just want to let you guys know the Graco 4ever car seat fit the back of my brz no problem and it was rear facing too. my son really enjoy his car ride I think. If this was a s2000, this would not even be an option.

Attachment 139870

With plenty of room to spare! :eyebulge:

I'll bet your son likes all those stickers ......... :thumbsup:


humfrz

Anyone consider removing the passenger seat?

Baby hauler=current situation. It was much easier having a huge utility SUV as the baby battle ship, but now we're down to baby hauling out of the RS1 in the mean time. We have plans to cancel the passenger air bag for our older kid, but factor in two more and twin toddlers at that🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻 Luckily, both twins are old enough and large enough (preemies) to sit forward facing. I've used several brands and all have fit back there (good thing I'm really small and petite... It's hell when my husband has to do it). It's cool for now, but I ride with extreme caution at all times and can't wait to primarily get all the kiddos back into a more spacious vehicle. So, it's possible if it works. I'm sure if space is an issue than it will eventually have to be corrected by sacrificing something (or someone, hahaha). There are rad car seats out there and attachments that can be ordered at your own discretion (Europe mainly utilizes these pieces as standard car seat requirements).


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Can you do me a favor? Can you flip it around to forward facing and see how it fits?

The issue I've found when trying car seats in our car, is that in forward facing position, the base of the seat doesn't sit properly into the deep recesses of our seat cushions. The upper shape molded into our back seat pushes on the back of the car seat - keeping the base from sitting flush - and thus being properly supported in the event of an accident. :brokenheart:

always! would be perfect for my no passenger rule

throw em in the trunk and let them play. :bonk:

the instruction informed if the seat doesnt seat flush, you can use towel or pool noodle to fill up the space. but i will check it when i have a chance, i already got a rental car.

It would allow rear facing on the passenger side, and wifey behind the driver.
Or front facing behind the driver and wifey on the passenger side.

Easier(?) to load the baby/carrier in without the front passenger seat in the way.

Imagine the possibilities.
http://www.allpar.com/photos/reviews...rear-seats.jpg

There ya go!

Heck, we didn't even have seat belts ......... :D


humfrz