MS3 parents
 

Wife showed me a test this morning and looks like(as long as all goes well) I'll be caring for a kiddo. Got to make sure everything is good/safe, so onto my question

What car seat/stroller combo are you running in the MS3? Looking for something that fits nicely, and hopefully is convertable(but not required).

Last time I had to do this was 13 years ago(and prices are higher now from what I see lol).

I don't know shit about kids, but congrats bro.


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So I have a 2008 speed3. Kids love it. had it since 2009. buy yourself a backseat cover. also don't use the anchors for carseats that go over the back...... it will wear into the seat bad. we had at first the Erica set from graco.... twin girls..... now we are using the safety first 3 stage ones.... trust me buy a 3 stage one...... will cost less down the road. as for a stoller we used a double snap and go until they started walking.

Britax Seats are rated the best, Definitely want a seat cover and CENTER MOUNT the seat, don't use passenger or drivers side.

Congrats!

I've got a little girl coming in May so I will be watching this thread!

Those Recaro seats always looked nice :D

Congrats!

+1 on center mount recommendation


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I'm using a Graco Snugride 35 with the base, but my 13 month old son is starting to Rick James my seats.

I bought my speed the same year my son was born, in 2011.

His infant seat was a Chicco KeyFit30 and it was a breeze to install and to get in/out of the car.

His current seat is a Britax Marathon 70-G3 seat and he is current 3 yr old & 32#. Another simple seat to install safely & securely.

Read a lot of reviews and try to check out other parents seats. There some seats that are just a giant pain in the ass to operate and/or install.

My son now gets picked up from daycare and immediately says "Daddy, go fast!"

Recommendations on seat cover?

Center mount is ideal, but makes it harder for wife to reach back in case something happens. Will explore either way(baby seat will probably get purchased well in advance lol)

:grouphug:

:lol: Already on my wishlist
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006WLDKV2


Added to my list

added the chicco to the list for review.

I'm paranoid and would only use center. If you do use a side look up crash test. I think passenger rear is worst in car. It was that or driver, I don't remember

Passenger rear is the worst location. Reason is, if you see you're about to have an accident, it is human instinct to try and avoid the accident. Therefore you will swerve yourself(drivers side) away from the collision.

Yes but the side impact crash test is the worst. Like 2 out of 5

Ah, the MS3 was never tested itself, but the regular 3 has a 3/5 for side impact, and overall 4/5 with overall rating of Good. Since we're based off that, it's what we get.

Vehicle details

Congrats and good luck! A happy life is a full belly and a dry diaper.

I strap mine to the roof.

I have both the Britax Marathon and the Recaro ProSport. The Britax is sturdier build, uses softer materials and easier to install.

I don't think the Speed 3 is design to center mount car seats.

We just had out first baby on 4 January 2014. She rides dirty in a Britax B-Safe with a center mount. Otherwise, you would not be able to sit in the passenger seat. It is a bit cramped but definitely bearable. We try to use the SUV when possible instead of the MS3. She likes the FSD shocks better than the stock shocks.....

Good luck. I'll take a few pictures of the setup.

Jeff

Ive heard the britax marathon 70 is one of only a few that can be fit in the center, rear facing. Its what I plan to get for my daughter once shes riding with me and not the Escape.

Anyone who has a rear facing seat set up in the center, chime in with the brand please!

Also advise how far fwd you have to move the seats to accommodate(cause it will make an impact)

The car seat just barely fits behind my seat and I'm 5'5 and sit pretty damn close to the steering wheel as it is.

The back seat in this car leaves a lot to be desired. I kinda wish it were a 3 door hatch instead.

Took my son on a Mazda cruise when he was about 4 months old. He slept through most of it.

will be buying a car seat soon, after 10 years wife's preggo again, so new baby comes on august.

Bright side you won't need a babysitter. Haha. Have the older one watch.


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We have a 4 1/2 and 1 1/2 year old in my MS3.

The Baby Trend Flex Lock is what we used for when Thing 2 was born.

The best advice I can givem is go to Babies R Us (the most options out there in one place) and grab all the ones you like, their base (newborns get a seat that snaps in place) and test fit them to your car. The one that fits in the middle or behind passenger seat and still allows a passenger, wins. On, Fuck Graco. Their shit is huge, heavy and stupid priced.

ALSO, check safety reviews, too. IIHS.org I think has a LOT listed that are terrible in a wreck.

Top Car seat Reviews | Best Car seat ? Consumer Reports
Child Seat Research | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Recaro ProSport. I have one in my Speed 3 and in my BMW X1. My little girl really seems to like them and seems comfortable.

Anyway you could show us pics of the recaro in the ms3. I'm worried about rear facing since I'm 6'2". If it's front facing already don't worry about it because that's alot of hassle.

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You have to go rear facing until at least 30-40lbs , so it eats up room.

I was considering this one cause supposedly it uses the least amount of space

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BKV0O68
Here it is with the tiny fit for as small as 5 lbs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052YO4WY
Only thing is that is one that is designed to stay in the car and that is a big hassle - wish it was a carry out one.

Attachment 146191


This is the best I can do for now. Sent from my phone.

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Congrats! :congrats: Welcome to the wonderful world of having no free time, no personal belongings, and no one caring about your life.

I had the same set up for our now 19-month-old. The Chico won't fit rear-facing in the middle w/o cranking both seats pretty far forward.
I didn't test the Britax rear-facing in the middle, but the size is pretty comparable to Chico.

Both seats are retardedly easy to install and adjust. I actually used to take out the Chico base 2x/wk when I'd run the dog to his doggie day care. Took all of 10 seconds to do it.
Suggestion: while the baby is tiny it'll never be left anywhere w/o the car seat (day care, stores, parents house, etc). So for multiple cars you really just need 1 seat and then a base for each car. Bases can be found on the cheap at garage sales and craigslist. (So can seats, but I'm less trusting of the history of the seat than the base it snaps into.)

And like @Raider says, do your homework. Every baby purchase is a compromise of features and price, so don't pick something just because someone else did. Educate yourself so you know you're picking the right product for you. We read this book like a bible before we bought anything.

Baby Bargains Book

Congrats!!! Even if is a surprise.

My daughter rides in a Chicco KeyFit30 behind the passenger seat and has a convertable Recaro Proride standing by. Unless you're seriously short making center mounting work is not really an option. At 6'1" I cannot ride in the pax seat with the kid in the back but it works acceptably for my 5'5" wife.

As Raider mentioned go visit a Kid R Us or Buy Buy Baby, they are both really good to work with as far as taking seats out to trial fit them.

FWIW the AAP relatvely recently came out with new guidelines recommending a rear facing seat until the age of two. Curiously they offer no weight guidelines to go along with that.

AAP Updates Recommendation on Car Seats

For the sake of comfort find a piece of sheepskin (~1" thick pile) and cut it to fit whatever seat you end up with. The sheepskin will keep your little one from sweating excessively during the summer and warmer in the winter particularly when you leave the seat in the car while shopping and such.

We had the Graco Keyfit 30 for the first seat. That fits behind the drivers seat OK and I'm 5'11", 190lb. Now the 1 1/2 yr old is in a Graco MyRide 65 convertable, currently rear facing.
And the 3 1/2 yr old is in a Graco Nautilus forward facing.
We kept the older one rear facing until 3 yr birthday. The longer the better as far as safety goes.
Almost never used a stroller.
I think @TheFlash has/had his child seat center mounted. Just used the seat without the base and used the seat belt to secure it, iirc.

Yeah sounds like center might not be an option unless I can find a smaller seat.

Definitely gonna go by Toy/Babies r Us to do trial fitments(hope tehy're cheaper than Amazon cause if not they're gonna be pissed when I don't buy from them lol)

I might just buy a seat/base for upto the point of walking and then switch over to a convertable.

Britax B-Safe, Base in middle using seatbelt instead of the hooks built into car since they are only on the passenger and driver side rear seats. It is a little big but still leaves enough room for my wife (5'8) athletic frame.

It fits fine in the rear behind a seat if you really want to, but passenger has absolutely no comfort or leg room.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

Any more pictures of passenger? :cool::cool:

I wouldn't go center. Once you see how securely they mount using the mounting hooks you would never consider using the belt. Besides I have no idea how someone would be able to drive this car with a rear facing in the middle.

I figured this was coming!....lol

Well I have to agree. If you can use the mounts you will be much happier with the way it feels (more secure base). I had to move my seat up about 3 inches from my normal driving position. Took some getting used to, but it has been manageable.

Babies R Us, Buy Buy Babies are both more expensive than you'll find online. Possibly the only saving grace at Babies R Us is a 20% discount good through mid Feb when you bring in an old piece of baby gear.

Regardless, I have no issue with using either store for fitment and walking away saying you'll be back when you're ready to purchase. As an example the Recaro we purchased at BBB with a 10-15% discount was still close to $50 more than can be found on Amazon.

I got a 6 week old right now, I've got the Peg Perago 30/30 SIP installed as a rear facing middle seat and it fits like a charm.

Late to the party, my bad; tapatalk doesn't show me when someone mentions me. I had our baby seat center mounted and it sucks for the passenger. I sit fairly close to the wheel so it didn't bother me. The process would be letting the passenger seat lean forward, putting the baby in, then pushing the seat back into the baby seat to get some clearance.

Which seat are you using?

I've found when you get those convertible seats that are both rear and forward facing, you're in for a really tight fit.

I bought this one:
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30/30 Infant Car Seat - Pois Black | BabiesRUs

And it's a rear facing seat only.
It fits perfectly without having to mess with the front seats.
I can pop it out of it's base, twist it 90 degrees and it comes out the rear door no problem.

I figure once my baby is at the 30 lbs mark I'll just go ahead and buy another proper forward facing seat.

It was a Graco rear/front facer. Shit was a pain. We moved to the front facing seat at 25lbs. Couldn't take that shit no more!


I ❤️ Nators

I'll definitely take a look at the Peg Perago systems. They are some of the pricier ones out there though compared to what I've seen. I just find it funny that my kid will have a 5 point harness before I do :lol:

Thank goodness for Tax return time. Should be more than enough to cover cost of seat, stroller, crib, dresser, changing table, wood rocking chair(wife says is a must)

Yeah we were able to get a Peg Perego stroller off some local on Craigslist for like $250 and it came with the adapters to be able to hook up the car seat to it.
So sometimes when we go out, we'll just bring the base for the stroller and keep her in the car seat.

Another one that fit when we tested was the Combi Coccoro.
However it is only available and certified in the USA (not useful for us Canadians).

Combi : Car Seats : Coccoro

Yeah looks small enough, but we want something that has a base so we can get a bae for both cars and have 1 car seat. Those Combi units look to be ones that stay in the car.

That is correct, the Combi unit is pretty basic in that it doesn't use a base.
Installation isn't too bad as they both use the LATCH system, which we have available in our MS3's.

Yep, definitely getting something with the LATCH system. It is supposed to be quite a bit safer than the old school belt and still safer than the over the seat tether systems.

YEs, the LATCH system is the standard now for car beginning in 2003, and for seats designed to use it, it's the most solid option.

Not to mention installation is a breeze

The LATCH system is a god-send. Especially if you have to move carseats to in-laws cars, take them out to haul some shit, trips with an extra kids, etc. One of the few safety enhancements that actually works better than the old way.

Subbing to see what's good. I have one on the way as well.

III bought this one from Walmart. Com for 220$ I think , cheapest I could find. Once your baby grows out of that rear facing, buy this seat. I ain't even mad bro. From like 20-125lbs or something. Turns in to a booster seat by removing pads and the back can be raised to accommodate them when they're a bit older. The bolsters are deep enough on a side impact I feel the kid is a lot better off and when they fall asleep, lost of room for them to pass out on and not have their head in a weird angle from no support. I've had this one for 2 years and for 6 months of no tint and Texas summer sun faded it. It was black, not uncommon in Houston. I usually use black towels but they were M. I. A. The bottom will leave imprints in the cloth inserts and leather.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/06/re4eragy.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/06/tuvyne7u.jpg

I'll be following this because kids are on the horizon in a year or so. If you mount the seat in the middle, how far can you move the front seats back? I'm 6'3" and my fiancee is 5'11", so legroom is a concern for both of us.

MS3 parents
 

You have a year, save up and buy a second car or a double cab pickup with more room. Seriously though, if you're both tall it's going to suck in 3.

Ok. Good to know. We are going to be buying her a new car that will be the primary baby-hauler, so the Speed will only be for occasional trips.

Yep, gonna be getting the wifey a small suv like a Rav/Crv/Tucson (something along that line)

I'm 5'10" and wouldn't be comfortable with that seat in the middle. So at 6'3" you'd be screwed. Unless you like being right on top of the steering wheel and pedals. Passenger might be okay, but not tons of room.
You can always go to Babies r' us now, get a bunch of different models, and test fit them to see what you get. Using LATCH it's really quick and easy to do it. Then just return them all and you'll know if you need to get a bigger car before the baby or not.

I'm 5'11" and have plenty of room with my rear facing seat.
Not sure at your height.
So yeah, definitely test fit.

I'm pretty tall, kid seat behind me isn't happening. I think you can get a rear facing in between both seats. When your kid is around 2 and you put them behind you, prepare to get kicked. Solid motor mounts keep them sleeping really well. My daughter can barely make it to the first stop light before she's out.

I'm with you on that, my daughter knocks right out when the car starts.
LOL it's the only justification I've made to my wife to get her to stop complaining about the NVH.

New logic behind modding ing, get my wife pregnant so I can get motor mounts.

:lol:

I know I'm a bit late to this party, but CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Graco totally revamped their seats, SOOOO much easier and Sooooo much lighter.
Graco Modes Click Connect Travel System Stroller - Antiquity - Graco - Babies "R" Us
I wish this was available when I was buying. It's almost half the weight as the one I bought, plus you can remove the seating part of the stroller so it's just the frame and the seat/carrier click in there. so less room for the stroller in your hatch and much lighter for your wife to be able to lift it in the hatch/truck of her car.
Once my daughter was big enough my wife and I bit the bullet and both bought the recaro performance ride seats. They're ReALLY big, but still fits in the center of my ms3 and easily fits in her cx5. Our daughter LOVES the seat. I got it in the pink she bought later and was able to get the black/red. We still use the graco seat on occation like when one of our mothers takes her for the day so we keep it just in case.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...3.jpg~original

We had chico with a base system for awhile until she grew out and we put it behind the passenger seat. When that thing was rear facing the seat was almost all the way forward and my 5' 7" wife was miserable. I am 6' even and there was no way a seat was going in the middle not to mention I would rather use the latch system anyway.

I like the chico as the base was easy to use. In my wife's SUV she now has the graco myride and that thing is like a badass lounger. It is freaking huge but it is nice because it has cup holders and tons of room for her to grow. I wouldn't put that thing in our cars though.

lol, love that pic, she's looking at you like "wtf, why are you taking my pic" lol

more like why are you taking so many picture of me lol

You can still use the mounting hooks for center placement. Also you can have the front seats back more with the child seat in the center.

I didnt read the entire thread but I have heared that recaro baby seats aren't very safe... i have a 14 month old son and me and my fiance went through two car seats, I don't know the name brand due to the fact I gave my finace the money and she bought whatever she wanted but 1month-at least 10months, my son car seat fit perfectly in the middle of our MS3 with enough leg space for us as well.

I've heard a lot of things in my life, unless it's backed up with evidence, it means nothing. All of the car seats have to go and meet stringent testing, this one being no different. If you find something that is proof otherwise, please post it up for general knowledge. Until then, it's hearsay. Right?

Sure I guess, my fiance reads magazines and all this baby stuff, and truth be told I wanted a Recaro car seat as well till she told me how she read an article saying those child seats arent as safe as others, and I'm not going to bend over backwards to google and find the article....like I said just my $.002:lol:

I can understand what you're saying but, car and driver also said the speed is slower than then Fuckus ST. Magazines are just advertising and maybe your wife just didn't like it lol. Girls are sneaky as hell!

Yea they are! totally agree with that!

I just like to have facts support claims. If someone reading this saw that and kept the word going that they aren't any good when it's not the case, people would miss out on a bad ass car seat.

If it is true, I'll find out so I can reevaluate my choice.

That is correct, from the manual:
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/...ps64771dca.png

So that means as long as your car seat can support using the LATCH system (or LUAS as it is also called sometimes) where the distance is 400mm or 15.75" then you're good.

I still have no Idea how you guys are getting the seats further back with it in the middle. The front seats are like 6 inches apart And the car seat is like a foot or more wide. Fuck whoever has to ride in the passenger seat. 99% of the time it is just me or just me and the baby.

It's the same for me, when I had a rear facing seat, it just had a higher pitch and it was tapered towards where the child's head rest. So it fits better, perhaps it is brand or style dependent.

If your that concerned then put yours in the middle and find out for yourself. Otherwise shut the fuck up. Don't be like 99% of the other douchebags here and post just to be dick. Maybe that is why you ride alone "99%" of the time.

Whoah someone is in a bad mood. What happened adoption agency turned you and your boyfriend down?

Edit: donate brownie.

I can see this being posted on some pregnancy forum @jbarone;

Attachment 147123

Recaro FTW!!! Wife has Britax in her car, mine is much nicer. And the red matches the interior. nicely.

I have a brita with titanium beams. Wish you was closer I would have gave it to you. My kids are growing up. Congrats.

we have a chicco nextfit for my 1 yr old son

We have a recaro in the ms3 , run britax in the odyssey.

And have Mclaren strollers

Just a heads up do not buy the ALPHA OMEGA ELITE 3 IN 1 especially if you intend to use it rear facing. It will not cinch tight in our rear seats. Getting it as tight as I could there was in excess of ten inches of front to back play. I bought it at SAMs club and will be returning.

How much was it?

$79.99 or so, pretty cheap but i figured it would be hard to fuck up. Jokes on me.

I feel that most of the three in one's do one of the three poorly. ask friends/family who've had a kid for a rear facing. Kid is going to outgrow it so faaaaast and most people's look new because most people buy new. spend some cash on a quality upright that turns into a booster seat. I liked the detachable that clicked into a base. I was a little worried about it not latching properly and or failing in the event of an impact and having a baby missile. I tried to rip it out like a gorilla and it didn't budge. Take that for what it's worth.
Everything for kids seems like it starts at 150$ and doesn't cap out. Fml, planned on having at least 2. do not want, 1 will do.

Edit: both cars seats I bought were from Walmart. Com, they ship it to your house and we're also the cheapest. Word?

we have a Britax with the detahable base and it has been great, but shes now almost a year and 22 lbs. she is too big for the seat and is supposed to be rear facing for another year so i was trying to avoid buying three seats. In my wife's car (Cx-5) we have the Britax 3 in 1 and its great but its also $250.

Do not buy used from a stranger. If in a wreck, they should be thrown out. No way to tell. Or google the model, many get recalled. Also, 6 years after manufacture, it's done and needs to be thrown out.

The ones with the base are good for about a year. Then you have 1 more year of rear facing, minimum. They are now recommending it for 3 years, or as long as possible, as in a wreck, the baby's neck is safer. Kicking the back of the seat is the trade off to not having a paralyzed or dead offspring.

Also, boosters have minimum height and weight requirements. My daughter is almost 5, and is not at the weight requirement for one, so she rocks the car seat behind me. She is tall, but skinny.

We could not wait for our kids go outgrow the infant seats. Fuckers get too heavy to carry.

Agree on all this, we considered picking up a used one but ultimately we are going to buy new. A lot of good options(and expesnive lol).

Wife and I moved to a Harmony Dreamtime Booster when our daughter turned 4. Pink for her CX9 and Black for my MS3. It was such a difference going to a booster, less kicking... much win.

I now will get to see how 2 car seats will work with another baby due next week.

Congrats

Side note, from your sig - what exactly is stealth spare tire sub?

Isn't it like putting a speaker where your spare tire is so it becomes a subwoofer? :dunno::dunno::dunno: :)

Well the 2012+ has the Bose system standard so we all get that spare tire sub. 2010-2011 was only the tech packages I thought

I didnt want to put any car seats on my Speed, so i bought the wife a CX-9, problem solved.

Backseat cover is a spot on recommendation.

I am running a Recaro ProRide for my son, he enjoys it.

We had the Chicco Keyfit 30 with the bases. I liked it because it made it easy to just buy extra bases for the grandparents and our CRV. Also fit the stroller. It worked in the middle while rear facing...but I definitely sat slightly farther forward than usual (I'm 5'9"), so I was way happy when she became old enough to turn around...plus was more entertaining for us both that way..

These days we have the Britax in the CRV...and a Cosco Scenera Convertible in my MS3. The Cosco is nice, cause its fairly cheap (~$40.00), yet is still well regarded from a safety standpoint. Now that my daughter is 3, she is kicking the backs of the seats and center console pretty regularly, but its not terrible. She is also in that group of kids who tells Daddy to "go faster!" when we get to entrance ramps...

Late to this party but I see Raider has this shit under control. Please don't buy or use a used car seat unless you know who it is coming from. The middle seat is not designed for a car seat, if it was there would be a rear anchor, but there is not. I can't recommend Britax products enough, their latch system is far away the best out there. Can be contained it the base to carry it, and works as a handle with a quick release. That said, they are bulky and pricey. We hated the graco seats and they just had a massive recall on their harnesses. The harness wouldn't release, this happened to ours. At 22lbs. you can move to a conversion seat, it's well worth it for the space you will save. We just got these baby trend seasts for my car, they are rarely in it, but I'm pleased with the quality and they fit well.

I've had 6 britax seats, recaro has a better latch setup. And easier to install and clean.

I have a basic Graco while the other kid is on the passenger side with a booster seat. Graco matching stroller as well. Hope you have window tint too to keep the sun out of the little one's eyes!

Congrats!