Help. Car seat won't fit :(

My DH has just put out car seat in for the baby and we are having some issues. I have a 2002 Ford Laser hatch, we have the anchor points in the boot so we now have to purchase an extension strap. Where can I get one at a reasonable price? Do they have to be specific to the seat you have?
And the seat is set up in the back seat of the car, the way it should be, but now we can't put the seat back comfortable enough for me to drive with or DH to sit in passenger side with :( And the car is average size it's not tiny or anything. Imagine if I had a smaller car! I don't understand why it won't just fit.

Any ideas??

No great ideas for you, but I have the same problem. I just figure whoever is in the passenger seat is going to be a bit squished until the seat goes fwd facing (when baby gets older/bigger). I have a Mazda 2, so smaller than yours, but even with carseat behind me (drivers seat) I can drive ok. You already know I'm tiny though... so it helps being 5ft... ; )
Not sure about the extension strap, mine came with one. Maybe call the store where you bought it, or google the carseat manufacturer? Better do that tomorrow... you're so close now you might need it any day now! Xx

my car only fits rf seat in the middle. even then it is a tight squeeze. and you can get extension straps anywhere they sell carseats, so bub shops, department stores etc..

Thanks Andie. Nobody I know has ever mentioned the problem with no room once the car seat is in. Nor has anyone ever mentioned anything about an extension strap. we are a little annoyed actually! Maybe it is the particular type of seat? It's a Hipod Milan from Target, but then again why has nobody ever said to me "Cos you have a hatchback you might wanna get a seat that is a bit more compact" or something along those lines.

I just need to know if extension straps are universal. Can't seem to find a straight answer on google!

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my car only fits rf seat in the middle. even then it is a tight squeeze. and you can get extension straps anywhere they sell carseats, so bub shops, department stores etc..

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Posted before I saw this. Thanks TT40, I will check for one tomorrow. I think if we put it in the middle you still cant get the seats back comfortably, it's too wide :(

Yep, the extension straps are universal, and most hatchbacks will need them particularly in rear facing position.

I had a corolla seca hatchback and yep it was a tight fit in rear facing. i could drive with it behind me but DH couldn't. I think we ended up putting it in the centre .

I must admit, we bought our carseat without checking if it fit. In hindsight I should've got a smaller model, or just tested one out while at the baby store. I didn't really think about the size thing till afterwards too, just assumed they were all roughly the same size. Oh, well. Done now. : )

Our rear facing car seat has always gone behind the front passenger seat - and my dh always has to drive.

He's 6 foot 7 and I'm 5 foot 5 so I can afford to be a little squished LOL

I think we always got our extension straps from a normal department store - Kmart, bigw etc.

If you can't find one let me know, I have a spare one you can have :)

I have a Safe n Sound Compaq for my hatchback. I did a bit of reading and heard about this problem, so that's what made us choose the seat. We can both fit in front of it, on either side.

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I have a Safe n Sound Compaq for my hatchback. I did a bit of reading and heard about this problem, so that's what made us choose the seat. We can both fit in front of it, on either side.

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Exactly that, except we didn't find the problem til after we bought a Meridien. Oh well.

Thank you ladies :) Andie, I bought ours for half price when I was only 18 weeks pregnant! So we didn't think about it either.

I had no idea about seats not fitting properly. Didn't even think about it, never heard it mentioned. DH will put it in and then I will take it to the tyre place and they can check it for me. maybe they can put it in a little more snug.

Argh, hate being such a newbie with this stuff! LOL

I would think that *maybe* you have the seat installed incorrectly. I know the seat you have & would think it should fit better then it sounds. I would suggest taking it to be fitted by someone who does it regularly but I also wonder if maybe you have it reclined too far?

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I would think that *maybe* you have the seat installed incorrectly. I know the seat you have & would think it should fit better then it sounds. I would suggest taking it to be fitted by someone who does it regularly but I also wonder if maybe you have it reclined too far?

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We did tilt it more upright, but stood back and both agreed it was far too 'upright' for a newborn. I am hoping when we get it checked they can fix it to a better position :)

I have a dual cab ute and my car seat has to go a bit more upright than I thought it would. I bought an extra newborn insert to help her head stay supported being a bit more upright for those first few months.
Someone told me that the back of the car seat shouldn't touch the back of the car seat and there should be a gap. No way could we ever have that the passenger seat would be in the glove box. I have a safe and sound something or other lol can't remember which one ...

Have you tried putting it in the middle? That's usually the safest spot for them anyway, and means that it doesn't matter if your driver or passenger you can still see and reach baby. I tried all 3 spots and found the middle easiest by far when rear facing. Make sure you and your dh watch closely when you get it checked for proper install, you'll need to know how to do it properly yourself too.

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I have a dual cab ute and my car seat has to go a bit more upright than I thought it would. I bought an extra newborn insert to help her head stay supported being a bit more upright for those first few months.
Someone told me that the back of the car seat shouldn't touch the back of the car seat and there should be a gap. No way could we ever have that the passenger seat would be in the glove box. I have a safe and sound something or other lol can't remember which one ...

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haha, yep no way could we leave a gap! I don't even think a 4X4 could leave a gap!

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Have you tried putting it in the middle? That's usually the safest spot for them anyway, and means that it doesn't matter if your driver or passenger you can still see and reach baby. I tried all 3 spots and found the middle easiest by far when rear facing. Make sure you and your dh watch closely when you get it checked for proper install, you'll need to know how to do it properly yourself too.

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I think the seat may be too wide. But we will check tomorrow :)

When I had DD1 I was driving my fiesta. We got a compact seat, but the front passenger seat still had to be as far forward as possible. I fit but DH didn't. If we went somewhere together he had to drive and i felt like i was sitting in the windscreen... Eventually we moved to car seat to his car (falcon), and I ended up trading his car in for an x-trail :). He now has to drive my mini car :)
As a side note, I found it better having the seat on the passenger side as it means its on the footpath side when getting in and out the car.....

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I have a dual cab ute and my car seat has to go a bit more upright than I thought it would. I bought an extra newborn insert to help her head stay supported being a bit more upright for those first few months.
Someone told me that the back of the car seat shouldn't touch the back of the car seat and there should be a gap. No way could we ever have that the passenger seat would be in the glove box. I have a safe and sound something or other lol can't remember which one ...

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Yes that is correct there should be a gap you can slip your fingers in between the car seat and back of the seat in front - so not a big gap (the reason they say this I believe is because if you can't slip your fingers down that can mean there is pressure being placed on car seat that it wasn't designed to have and therefore may not behave as predicted in an accident) . We have a Corolla Hatch, and used a capsule and then a Compaq Safe and Sound (which was recommended for small cars) - we could both drive it when rear facing and as a passenger you were slightly more forward and upright than used to but was ok (I am 5ft 7 and DH is 6ft) so I think the type of seat does make a difference.

I have a 2002 Mazda 121 and we had a Compaq seat and it was a squish and a half, not to mentioned that with the position of RF anchor it meant barely boot space and lucky to fit the pram in. Thank you company car 2011 Corolla ... DD is now FF anyway but newer hatches have the anchor at the back of the seats it would seem rather than at the base of the boot.

We got a S n S Compaq for our hatchback as it was the only one that fit. I also wanted it to be behind the passenger as it was easier to get in and out.

Do you still have the receipt Tasha? I wonder if you could return it and swap it for a more compact seat?

I had a laser when my kids were babies. I had the seat in the middle and don't remember it being much of an issue. But then again, I'm only 5ft so room wasn't really a problem for me.

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Do you still have the receipt Tasha? I wonder if you could return it and swap it for a more compact seat?

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I don't think I do, but I got it from Target and they don'y have a huge range :(

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I had a laser when my kids were babies. I had the seat in the middle and don't remember it being much of an issue. But then again, I'm only 5ft so room wasn't really a problem for me.

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I am only 5ft 3, I think :lol: And DH isn't much taller Ha ha

Maybe look at hiring a capsule until bubs big enough to go ff? Do they take up less space?

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Maybe look at hiring a capsule until bubs big enough to go ff? Do they take up less space?

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Can I do that? How much is it to hire a capsule? And will it just stay in the car or can i take it out too?

I think through the council you can hire for 6 months and it's not badly priced. Especially if you can get a concession? Not sure of your situation. A quick Google will bring up the city of Melbourne site capsule hire page. Just an idea :)
It's my back up if the s&s Compaq doesn't fit in my i30 lol

There is baby hire places nearby where I live. But I think it may be too late :(

I always put my youngest in the middle of the back seat. I had a Sigma when DD1 was little & there was no way it would've fit anywhere else. Even in that smaller car I made sure there was a gap between that & the front seats.
I also needed an extension strap when we bought a 4x4. But I didn't expect the seat to come with one. They're at any big w/kmart etc. These days seats come with a lot more room in the straps than they ever did before!
I found it a lot easier to get them in & out from the middle seat too. Just because I could sit next to them & see where I was putting them :lol:

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I always put my youngest in the middle of the back seat. I had a Sigma when DD1 was little & there was no way it would've fit anywhere else. Even in that smaller car I made sure there was a gap between that & the front seats.
I also needed an extension strap when we bought a 4x4. But I didn't expect the seat to come with one. They're at any big w/kmart etc. These days seats come with a lot more room in the straps than they ever did before!
I found it a lot easier to get them in & out from the middle seat too. Just because I could sit next to them & see where I was putting them :lol:

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Was that also when you had another car seat in the car ? Did you find it ok having two seats together ?




Tasha , we got a car capsule for a few reasons but also one was for it to fit better in the car ..
You can rent them for 6 months , the main prices I have seen have been 150 for 6 months ...
Target are pretty good Iv found with exchanging / refunding .. You could always ask ? Also someone mentioned it may not be in properly , it couldn't hurt to take it to somewhere to get it checked to make sure it is in properly and that's not what is causing the problem ..

We had a Barina when we had DS1 and we had a S&S meridian. It fit in the middle when rear facing. The front seats would sit just under the edge of the car seat and hold it in place :D

Hi Tasha, there is a phone app you can use (free) called Clinometer to see if the seat is at a suitable recline if that might be an issue. Extra inserts aren't recommended if they aren't designed and tested with the seat by the manufacturer. If you do manage to return the seat, the SnS Compaqs are good but the Infasecure Neon and Kompressor models are great too, they are designed for smaller cars so should fit nicely and are much more reasonably priced than SnS seats. The Neon and Kompressors are the same seats but the Kompressors have narrower bases and extra padding for newborns. Hiring a capsule is a good idea but you could also hire a seat that will allow you to rear-face much longer as that is the absolute safest option. The law states it is legal to forward-face from 6 months but that is not the safest way to travel for babies as their bodies aren't strong enough to withstand the forces in an accident yet. Being 'big' or able to hold their heads up etc are not good indicators they are safe to forward-face. The Infa 0-4year seats will now allow to RF until 30 months for average sized kids :) you won't get that long from a capsule.

Also check the manual as to whether or not it can touch the front seat or not. some seats require a gap and some are allowed to touch as long as it doesn't alter the angle of the install. It is never safe for the seat to touch the front seats of the car if the car has some types of advanced airbags, you need to check the cars manual to find that info.

Sometimes putting the seat in the middle and lifting the headrests on the front seats will make the seat sort of 'puzzle' nicely between the two and still let the seats be back enough. Good luck I hope you get it sorted soon.

Thanks for your replies everyone :D

We don't want a refund on the seat because it's convertible so we will still get heaps of use out of it. Didn't get around to doing anything about it today as we had to rush out. But will try the middle and then get it checked by professional. Just a bit short on cash at the moment.
Am also considering hiring a capsule if it's not too late and the seat just won't work (and if we can afford it). The maxi-cosi says it fits in most prams so it may fit in ours too (baby jogger)

Tasha the maxi cosi mico is the capsule we have and it fits into our pram the baby jogger which is the same one you have :) you just need an adapter to pop it in..

Thanks Cinder. I doubt we will find one at such short notice, but I will make a few calls tomorrow :)

The Ambulance hires capsules in Qld, not sure about NSW.