1999 Subaru Legacy Outback: Help with Child Seat

[mitchel]

Hi:

There only seems to be one seat for my car listed in the database, anyone else have this same car and what are you using?

Sure seems like most seats would fit most cars?

Thanks,

Mitch

[Papooses]

What is your child's age, weight, height & your budget?

Unfortunately, incompatability is all to common with almost any vehicle and/or carseat, depending on the configuration....

[mitchel]

Hi:

We are expecting the baby in January so lets say small.

As far as the budget goes we really don't have one, we just really want to make sure our baby is safe.

We read a bunch of baby books that reviewed car seats and we/they like this one:

Graco 2007 SnugRide® Infant Car Seat: $99
Link to car seat

I look forward to any help you can give us.

Thanks,

Mitch

	Infant Car Seats Infant-only rear-facing seats are for babies up to about 22 to 30 pounds, depending on the specific car seat. You will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. Infant-only seats have handles that allow you to move the seat from the car to the house or other locations. Some have a base that you can leave installed in the car, so you can just click the car seat into place each time you use it.

	Graco SnugRide - Click for more info The Graco SnugRide with EPS infant car seat is a highly popular and top-rated infant car seat that provides first-rate transportation safety for your baby, plus convenient mobility options for you. Even with its relatively low price, the Graco SnugRide with EPS receives unmatched praise for its safety by leading consumer magazines and websites.

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.

[Papooses]

Congrats

The Snugride is a well liked infant seat, easy to use, fits newborns well & fits most vehicles well.... Correct use is the key! Referrence both vehicle + carseat manuals, keep asking questions here, call the manufacturer's for clarification & have your local CPST check your install when baby arives

Most infant seats are outgrown long before a year old (usually 6-8 months, my daughter was only 4 months when she outgrew her by the top of her head being within 1" from the edge of the shell/frame) so you'll probably want to also start comparing convertible carseats once you get baby home & settled

Does your Legacy have the center bump like my early '90s model did? If so, baby's carseat may need to be installed outboard because that bump often makes it impossible to install properly in the center. This is fine, the important thing is that you follow the manuals & the seat moves less than 1" at the belt path (the top will wiggle because in a crash it will rebound to cocoon around baby).

If possible, I would try for the Graco SafeSeat Step1: based on the Snugride but fits 90% of 12 month olds & many 18 month olds, too! You don't have to carry baby in it all the time, but then you have the option of keeping the seat portion at room temp longer during extreme weather & for keeping spare bases installed in various vehicles.

Also remember that the front seat occupants need to have at least 10" between face & steering wheel or dashboard where there's an active airbag. If the carseat causes the front occupant to be too close to the airbag, then I recommend installing on the passenger side so that the other adult can sit in the back with baby (this is also much safer for the adult assuming there is head support at least up to eye level).

	Convertible Car Seats Convertible seats are for infants and toddlers. The seat can be used as a rear-facing seats for younger children, and switched to a forward-facing seat on the child's first birthday if the child weighs at least 20 pounds. However, experts recommend keeping the child in a rear-facing position until he or she outgrows the weight or height allowed by the safety seat.

	Infant Car Seats Infant-only rear-facing seats are for babies up to about 22 to 30 pounds, depending on the specific car seat. You will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. Infant-only seats have handles that allow you to move the seat from the car to the house or other locations. Some have a base that you can leave installed in the car, so you can just click the car seat into place each time you use it.

	Graco SnugRide - Click for more info The Graco SnugRide with EPS infant car seat is a highly popular and top-rated infant car seat that provides first-rate transportation safety for your baby, plus convenient mobility options for you. Even with its relatively low price, the Graco SnugRide with EPS receives unmatched praise for its safety by leading consumer magazines and websites.

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.

	Graco Safe Seat Step 1 - Click for more info The Graco Safe Seat (Step 1)—if you couldn't gather from the name— is intended to be the first of a three-seat process. The Step 1 is for infants in a rear-facing position; the Step 2 is for bigger, older kids in the forward-position; the Step 3 is a belt-positioning booster seat without the safety harness of the previous two.

[mitchel]

Thank you for the valuable information!

Yes...our Subaru has the hump in the middle of the back seat, not much of a hump but it's there.

We will do some reading on the "Graco SafeSeat Step1" and see how well it did in the reviews.

As far as the front seat occupants go, I think we are safe...I'm 5'5" and my wife is 5'7" but I will still measure to make sure.

Man...I"ll be a little upset if we cannot put the car seat in the middle, everything I read indicates that the middle is the choice placement. But I guess the outboard positions are also ok...good thing as I am not buying a new car.

Oh yeah...I already researched and the local police department does the safety checks.

Thanks,

Mitch

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.

	Graco Safe Seat Step 1 - Click for more info The Graco Safe Seat (Step 1)—if you couldn't gather from the name— is intended to be the first of a three-seat process. The Step 1 is for infants in a rear-facing position; the Step 2 is for bigger, older kids in the forward-position; the Step 3 is a belt-positioning booster seat without the safety harness of the previous two.

[Papooses]

Please realize that unless the review is written by a certified technician it is likely to be full of misinformation relating to actual use (Consumer Reports, specifically has been proved unreliable with their carseat fiasco: Google those 2 words to learn more) -- many parents who think they don't like their seats for whatever reason & do seek a tech's help then realize it wasn't the seat's fault that they didn't like it....

[mitchel]

Interesting info regarding Consumer Reports...it sure explains why so many car seats failed.

It seems like the 2 car seats that were still able to pass at double the speed would make an excellent choice...do you think?

I image this report freaked out a lot of people who purchased one of the car seats that failed only to find out later the report was flawed.

Thanks!

Mitch

[Papooses]

Considering that they claim their "techs" couldn't even get some of the seats installed on the testing bench correctly, I just don't consider any of their information reliable at all -- every carseat can indeed fit the testing bench & not being able to do suggests total ineptitude....

Every correctly used carseat will protect your child, but features to consider inlude energy aborsing EPS/EPP foam & those which you can use the easiest In the Safety Seat Basics page of my website you'll find a link to NHTSA's reliable infant seat crash test comparisons: there are a few that do look like they perform better than the rest & they're generally the ones that cost more, from companies that are known for their more own comprehensive testing policies (in addition to meeting the federal standards).

	Infant Car Seats Infant-only rear-facing seats are for babies up to about 22 to 30 pounds, depending on the specific car seat. You will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. Infant-only seats have handles that allow you to move the seat from the car to the house or other locations. Some have a base that you can leave installed in the car, so you can just click the car seat into place each time you use it.

[Photomutts]

Hi,
Just thought I'd through in my 2 cents on the Graco SafeSeat1. Our 7 month old son has been in one since birth and the only drawback I can see to buying this over the Snugride is that it is a heavy seat. Although, you do get used to lugging around the weight. In our baby class, the babies with the elaborite travel systems where the seat only goes up to 22 lbs, mostly quickly outgrew them. The babies with SS1's are all closing in on 12 months and are still able to use theirs. We love this seat and it is much more convenient to transfer him when he is sleeping in his SS1 carseat, to the stroller or to carry him into the house. When we take him out of his other seat (convertible) he always wakes up and is cranky. -Michele

	Convertible Car Seats Convertible seats are for infants and toddlers. The seat can be used as a rear-facing seats for younger children, and switched to a forward-facing seat on the child's first birthday if the child weighs at least 20 pounds. However, experts recommend keeping the child in a rear-facing position until he or she outgrows the weight or height allowed by the safety seat.

	Graco SnugRide - Click for more info The Graco SnugRide with EPS infant car seat is a highly popular and top-rated infant car seat that provides first-rate transportation safety for your baby, plus convenient mobility options for you. Even with its relatively low price, the Graco SnugRide with EPS receives unmatched praise for its safety by leading consumer magazines and websites.

	Graco - Click for more info Graco is one of the world's best known and most trusted juvenile products companies. They started the entire juvenile products industry with an invention called the Graco Swyngomatic. Since then they have invented products that have changed the way that parents travel with their children such as the travel system, which has made it so parents can lock an infant car seat into a stroller easily, without waking their sleeping baby. Their Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat is pretty much synonymous with the term “infant car seat” because of its safety and design features coupled with its affordability. Today Graco continues designing and developing top-quality products that inspire parents and keeps children safe. Check out the new Infant Safe Seat Step 1 and Toddler Safe Seat Step 2 for proof of Graco’s continued commitment to child safety.