New baby came early! In hospital - can someone measure the back seat?

[ymshulman]

Our new baby came earlier than scheduled - before we had finished our research! I need to order a car seat while sitting in the hospital.

The BRZ is our second car. It needs to fit the car seat for an occasional child care run, as a backup to our full-size sedan.

We’re looking for a relatively inexpensive Graco, since we already have their stroller as a hand-me-down. But we don’t know how wide the backseat cushion is.

**Is someone feeling helpful? Can you measure the backseat cushion?** Particularly the width.

,

Michael


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[Ohio Enthusiast]

Congratulations.

I measure 13" wide at the very base of the seat, and 20" between the "center console" between the seats and the side of the car (which would be the more restricting width).
Can't help you with a rear-facing infant seat, but a Graco Affix booster fits perfectly, and a Britax Boulevard also fits well in front-facing mode, so you can compare seats to those. I had my kids in the BRZ since the youngest was 2 years old so could be front-facing.
I would highly recommend hitting a baby store and testing out seats in the parking lot with a salesperson. Measurements alone are not enough as the rear seats are deeply contoured and will require a specific fit.

[ymshulman]

Thank you!! BRZ isn’t here in the hospital, and we have to get the baby home, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by ymshulman

BRZ isn’t here in the hospital, and we have to get the baby home

You said you also have a sedan. Use that to get the baby home.
If you're thinking about getting only one infant car seat for both cars, I would recommend getting two seats anyway. The logistics get easier when both cars always have the capacity to hold the kids, instead of remembering to move car seats around or making detours to get a car seat from the other car because the schedule changed.

Searching around the majority of car seat tests, reviews and forum posts are for front-facing seats. Very little info on good rear-facing fit. One video shows a Chico Keyfit 30 and it seems to work, although it doesn't seem to be anchored well enough (which is exactly the problem with blind measurements - you can't tell how exactly the seat will fit in the car).

I'd also note that it's cheaper to get fancy cars seats that fit the car than to replace a car (to all those folks that let go of a fun car because a narrow car seat cost $400 (done that, 3 young kids in the back row of a Focus ST with 2 fancy and narrow Clek seats (also tested with a Fiesta ST))).