Hi -

Does anyone have rear facing child seats in the back of their Clubman? If so, what's the general process for getting a baby in there? What side of the car is the seat on? It would be great if i could see a video of the process!

-S

 

I look forward to what turns up in this thread. My 15 month old daughter is at the extreme of still fitting in her Chico Keyfit 30 and I'm on the lookout for her next seat. We keep the Chico behind the passenger seat. It is a breeze to put her in while she is in the carrier. When the carrier is in the car, I put her in feet first - we make a game out of it and she has fun even though I don't think it looks all that fun.

 

I have a basic one behind the drivers seat in my '05 justa. I always believed behind the passenger seat was the worst because in a left turn t-bone collision that would be the worst place to sit.
A friend of mine has an '07 with a this huge car seat that has air bag protection pillows and reinforced backing, and all this cra, basically the thing is huge and looks more comfortable and safer than the drivers seat. He used to have it rear facing behind the drivers seat. Now it's front facing and behind the passenger.

 

I mounted mine behind the drivers seat. It was one of the clip in carrier types so it made it easy to open the club door and pop my little one in. I chose the DS because most t-bone collisions happen on PS. Use the anchors that are in place and drive safe.

 

I have an Orbit Baby G2 Infant seat mounted in mine, on the passenger side. The Orbit is awesome (in so many ways) but especially because you don't have to put the seat in straight - you can put it in then rotate it into position. The one disadvantage is that the passenger seat has to be pretty much all the way forward for the car seat to fit, but my wife is pretty short so that's ok. Also the Orbit stroller base fits perfectly in the back, so I'd highly recommend the system.

 

I have an Evenflo Symphony 65.

http://tinyurl.com/945e3as

I purchased this as my daughter was starting to outgrow her Chicco Keyfit 30, and I didn't want to have to purchase another seat after this one (the Symphony 65 goes all the way up to 100 lbs, forward facing booster).

Right now, it is installed rear facing behind the driver's seat.

To get her in/out, we open the passenger side/club door, climb in and sit on the passenger side back seat next to her car seat. Then, I plop her into the car seat and fasten her in. To get her out, reverse the process...we just sit on the passenger side rear seat next to her car seat, unfasten her, and lift her out.

It's not as quick and easy as snapping the Keyfit 30 infant seat in and out of its base (which we had on the passenger side), that's for sure!! But, I still choose the process of getting her in and out of the Clubman over driving my wife's 4-door!! In the Vegas heat, things can get hot and unpleasant putting her in the back after the car's been out in the sun. But, it's all worth it when I get in the driver's seat and step on the gas.

 

We used the sunshine kids radian xt car seat with my daughter. The company is now called diono in north America. It fit great behind the driver seat (I'm 5'7"). To put her in I would simply climb in the passenger side with her and then while seated put her into the car seat. While it would take one or two minutes more than my wife's 4 door it wasn't that bad. We kept our daughter rear facing until her second birthday as this is what is recommended by the experts. We now have the same seat forward facing and she will stay in it until she is six or so. We chose the radian as it's super slim, has a full metal structure VS wimpy plastic of many other car seats, and it supports a child rear facing until something like 45/50 lbs.

Was a clip in bucket easier, yup, but now that my daughter is forward facing it's super easy to do and I won't have to buy another car seat except for a simple booster.

We also purchased a quinny zapp for a stroller, it fits easily in the boot and still leaves plenty of room for other stuff (groceries etc.)

 

Thanks all for the responses. The search for a perfect JCW is now in progress

 

We have our Britax Boulevard 70 behind the passenger since the driver's side gets hit more often. But we get little man (16 months) in on the driver's side.

Once he's able to face front, it'll be a breeze to get him in on the passenger side.

 

We have a Orbit Baby and it has a base so that the carseat swivels. There is an infant seat as well as toddler seat!

 

We have a cybex Aton that is the lightest on the market(not easy to find but amazing). I had a 325ci and it wasn't easy to get my boy in and out. I have had the justa for 4 months and its super easy to get out of the suicide door. I would totally recommend it. We are about to switch to a front facing Diono which I hope won't be to difficult to access since it will be further back and require me to buckle him in while he is in the car.