2 Door Car

[noodle_nut]

Hello all, everyone seems to be so knowledgeable here I thought I might ask if anyone has any advice or direct experience purchasing baby items such as car seat and pram that are suitable for small cars.

I have a Ford Focus 2 Door, there is little possibility of getting another car so I must go forth and buy things that will fit into it! I feel a potential nightmare coming on!

ANyone with experience dealing with these issues? Love to hear from you.

[tickle]

We have a little 2 door barina and found it virtually impossible to get a reversed car seat to fit without touching the seat in front, which is potentially dangerous in a crash. I'm not sure whether it would be different with capsules but I know we couldn't find a convertible one to fit.:rolleyes:
I have also heard (someone might have different info), that it can be dangerous to have a baby seat in the back of a 2 door car in an accident as it is much harder to access them. Might be completely untrue though. Anyone else know?
We now have a falcon and my DH drives the barina.:)

[lukaelmo]

Hey noodle nut, I am not going to make you happy either! Before we had little dude, DP and I had lovely little sporty two door cars... alas no longer...

We kind of managed to squash a baby capsule into the back of one of them, but then realised it was going to be almost impossible to manoeuvre bubs in and out of it...

We ended up sellling both of them and now we share a very cool big car ;)

Anyway, that doesn't help does it? I have a friend without a licence and she does everything on public transport. When she can't use that, she gets a cab and pops the baby capsule into the back of that.

So maybe you could work around it?

Good luck.

[peterpan]

We have a little 2 door barina and found it virtually impossible to get a reversed car seat to fit without touching the seat in front, which is potentially dangerous in a crash. I'm not sure whether it would be different with capsules but I know we couldn't find a convertible one to fit.:rolleyes:
I have also heard (someone might have different info), that it can be dangerous to have a baby seat in the back of a 2 door car in an accident as it is much harder to access them. Might be completely untrue though. Anyone else know?
We now have a falcon and my DH drives the barina.:)

I'm with you on that one Happy Lady we to had a 2 door Beep Beep Barina it was a night mare... Now have a 4 door Beep Beep.
:)

[bekkyboo]

:eek:

:eek:

Oh dear - we have a 2 door skyline, and maybe soon a 2 door silva... :eek:

we have a 4 door skyline - but the silva that we might be getting would be more reliable and comfier.

I have had a friend witha 2 door skyline - they strugged with kids in it, but got out the end of it ok.

If the seat cant touch the baby seat - then alot of cars are in trouble!!!

[sugar n spice]

we had a two door lancer coupe with our first son which found awkward but fine, i mean you get used to it. It worked fine with a capsual and then later we had one of those reversible seats in it once he out grew the capsual. There are special seats you can get for two doors. I had a friend who had a really tiny car and they had to get a special capsual so that it would fit. Talk to chemists in the baby section who sell car seats and baby shops i think that will help or search ebay or the net.:D

[jembelina]

I havn't had experience with 2 doors but we have a hatchback and had to have the passenger seat as far forward as it would go when the seat was in the rear facing position. Anyway, I remember reading at the time that you can put the seat in the front seat - which is safer than having it in the back if it doesn't really fit. Onlt thing is the tether strap still has to go all the way to the back so you can't use the backseat behind it. Still might be better than buying a new car!!! I would probably contact safe n sound or RACV (dependig where you are) for info and specifications.

I just found my instruction book for a safe and sound reversible seat and it says..."In certain vehicles, where the rear seat is too small, the only position for the restraint is in the front seat adjusted as rearward as possible" (also says this in book for capsule)

hope this helps!

[shanz]

Hi noodle_nut,i think the new style capsules fit better than a reversible seat but if you go to your nearest stockist of safe and sound seats there is actually a reversible seat made for smaller cars it is the safe and sound Compaq. But generally must baby stores will be able to tell you what will and wont fit and your best options. We have a Hilux and the baby shop we went to was very informative about the positioning of the seat as well as the positioning of the front seat because the back seat of a dual cab is smaller than a normal car as well. Anyway hope this helps.

[jes]

Hi NN,

I have a 2 door lancer coupe and it was a PAIN in the bum when the car seat was rear facing it touched the front seats a bit and the passenger seat had to be right forward.We had it fitted at the baby shop and he used to work for safe n sound as a rep, he said it was safe and there was nothing to worrie about. BUT when we changed it to front facing it was fine, it does help that im only short!*LOL*

I wanted to use that as an excuse to get a new car BUT the budget woulnt alow it:(

good luck

[andrewsmum]

We have a two door lancer coupe, and used the turn-a-tot car seat for a little while. It became a pain in the a*** having to put the front passenger seat forward just to access the bub in the back seat that we purchased a Camry- it's so roomy!!

My hubby drives the lancer while I drive the camry - excellent!! We have since purchased a new Safe n Sound (meridian) carseat for the camry.

I am guessing your budget may not allow you for a new car - however, as the others have said, do ask the guys at the baby shops for suitable items for a small car. Maybe hiring a capsule may be better (for at least the first 6months) before you can buy an upright seat (one that doesn't reverse)?

Also, if you are worried about space in the boot for a pram, you can't really go wrong with a peg perego Venezia pram, they do fold quite compactly, as opposed to the three wheelers that are out there.

[jacks mum]

Hi NN

We have a ford festiva trio. I was hoping for a bigger car but have found it heaps easier with the little one. Not sure if the focus is a hatch and how tall you are, but we hired the capsule from the ambos and the easiest way to put him in and out was through the boot. Sounds and looks funny but you don't have to worry about parking to close to the car next to you, don't have to worry about squeezing in from the front seat. The only thing I do admit is that the front passenger seat does have to sit right forward.

Our pram fits in the boot, I've got a mothers choice 4 wheel which fits well and also a 3 wheel jogger which doesn't fold down was flat but does fit. Nothing else fits in the boot mind you.

We've since bought a maxi rider seat which takes him from 8-26kg so no need to buy a booster seat later, and still really easy to take him in and out because you're putting him in straight on instead of from the side

Hope this helps, you learn to deal with what you have.

good luck

[andre]

Happy Lady: Regarding motor vehicle accidents, a two door car poses some problems with ease of access for emergency services personnel, but an efficient crew can usually gain entry fairly quickly. Driving a 4 door vehicle in most cases will allow easier access simply because there are more options available to make swift entry.

We have a 2 door echo and have our capsule in the back, while this is a real pain in the - ahem - :rolleyes: 'back', buying a new car isn't really an option for awhile so we've had to make do. Ours is rented and was fitted by the Queensland Ambulance technicians – so we figure it’s gotta be safe!

Anyone know anything about which baby seat to buy next – to suit the above car? Matty seems to be getting longer by the minute, so we’re going to need one he can sit up in shortly - I guess. Does the next one have to face backwards too, or are there forward facing models?

Andrewsmum: I’ll second the Peg perego pram idea, I guess those 3 wheeler monsters that are all the rage now are ok - if you own a ginormous car too - but they aren’t very compact when folded!

Andre.

[tickle]

Happy Lady: Regarding motor vehicle accidents, a two door car poses some problems with ease of access for emergency services personnel, but an efficient crew can usually gain entry fairly quickly. Driving a 4 door vehicle in most cases will allow easier access simply because there are more options available to make swift entry.

Thanks for that, had just heard a rumour...:rolleyes:

[Odessa]

DP and I have talked about a bigger car for when we have kids, I too have a 2-door Echo and I was worried about finding a capsule and buggy to fit...The Peg Perego Venezia retails for $699, but you can buy one 2nd hand from eBay for under $100.

It folds up to 80cmx33cmx50cm, it would even fit in my tiny boot :)