Having a car seat is essential in your car once you have a child with you. The seat belts in our vehicle are designed for an adult’s safety, so a child needs a car seat or a booster to keep him/her safe in case of an impact.
However, not all car seats are the same. You also have to know the different types and which one is appropriate for your child’s age group, height, and weight. At the same time, the car seat itself may not perform as effectively if it isn’t installed properly. Therefore, you should find a car seat that is also appropriate for your vehicle. And if you have a small car, you need to have some other considerations before buying a car seat as well.
Measure the Available Space in the Car
Remember that the seat must be properly installed and that the child must get the correct fitting of the harness straps for the car seat to work effectively. But if you’re living in the city or you just think a small vehicle is more practical for now, your car seat choices in the market will also be limited.
A minivan or a compact car will not be able to provide you a large leg room and wide seats as opposed to larger vehicles. And it is even trickier if you need a particular angle when installing a seat such as a rear-facing model. Therefore, check the available space in your car and then choose a car seat accordingly.
The market offers the best convertible car seat for small cars, but if you want to fully maximize them, you have to consider the installation angles and if your child will still get enough leg room and head room once the seat is installed. Consider if the car can accommodate the car seat even if you have converted it to another type.
The ideal spot to install a car seat is at the middle backseat. But if this isn’t possible, take note of the space available from front to the back of either backseat so that the front passenger still gets some leg room. And if you are using a rear-facing or infant car seat, you need to check if it will be able to install at the proper angle.
At the same time, consider if you’re using a seat with a carrying handle since you don’t want to struggle if you’re taking the seat out of the car base when traveling. And if you’re thinking of installing car seats 3-across at the back, check if your rear seat is not just meant for two people. Otherwise, you won’t have enough seat belts to secure a third car seat.
Check the Car Seat Size
Once you have the measurements of the available space in your car, the next step is finding a car seat that will fit in it. You might be surprised that even with sedans, compact SUVs, and crossovers, you’ll still have a hard time installing a car seat in them. And this is especially true if you are planning on having different car seats in the back row.
For example, the car seat width will give you an idea if you can install 2 or 3 car seats at the back. If you have a lot of kids, narrow car seats like Clek Fllo will allow you to have them installed 3-across because the model only measures 16.9 inches wide. You can also look for models with removable cup holders to cut the size of their width. According to CuteLittleDarling.com, some of the seats that are excellent examples of this are the Diono Radian 3RXT and the Graco SlimFit because they are narrow, and their cup holders are removable.
You should also check if it will be easy for you or for your child to buckle-up upon installing. Sometimes, you need to add a third-row seat if you have an SUV, but you can also just be strategic with how you’re going to position the seats.
Check the car seat design itself, including the widest part of the car seat and not just the width of its base. Measure the handles, the supports at the head and shoulder, as well as the back and side panels. You don’t want their armrests to interfere with each other, so consider the shape of each seat. And if you’re planning on installing 3-across, allocate some space between the width measurements for easier buckling and less struggling with the LATCH and seat belts during installation.
Overall, always remember that you’re also considering the height and weight limits of the car seat. The good thing is that even those narrow car seats in the market are convertible. Therefore, you can use them as your child grows and needs to use the next car seat stage. Still, the seat has to provide the proper seat belt fit with enough room when your child uses whichever car seat stage.
Prepare on How to Install the Car Seat
Lastly, one of the trickiest things to do with a small car is when you’re installing or adjusting the car seat. Not only is proper installment essential, but it is frustrating and stressful doing it in a tight space, so you’re even bound to make more mistakes.
If you’re installing car seats 3-across at the back seat, you have to consider the comfort of each child. A common difficulty in this type of installation is how you or your child can buckle themselves up when a car seat is beside them.
Therefore, the best possible solution to this is by securing the car seat using the LATCH system with the seat belt for every car seat. This way, you can install whatever type of car seat, whether it is a convertible or not because you’re not just relying on the vehicle’s shoulder belt. At the same time, your children can just use the integrated 5-point harness of each seat to buckle themselves.
However, be aware of the spacing of the LATCH system in your vehicle. Sometimes, the lower anchor has narrow spacing, making it impossible to install more than one car seat. There are also vehicles with no lower anchors at the center car seat, which means you can’t install 3-across using the LATCH system.
Also, if you’re installing two or more car seats at the back, consider how they will fit alongside each other. If you have kids of different ages, then they are using different car seat stages. You have to mix and match different seats, so it is not surprising if you still get the proper and safe fitting upon installation between seats that sit low or sit high on the car individually because they can tuck nicely with each other.
