Infant Rear Facing Car Seat

Hi! I'm going to be a new dad and looking to purchase an infant rear facing car seat that fits in the back of my Tacoma Double Cab. The wife says that it has to sit on either the left or right side; not located in the middle. My concern is that my friend who had a Tacoma could not fit his infant seat on either side and it had to go in the middle until the child grew up to sit in a convertible front facing car seat.

Any recommendations and/or pictures of your set up? Thanks in advance.

Update: after further research, the safest place is in the middle seat.

 

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And congrats on the new little one

 

Thanks! Just went through a couple of threads and sounds like it is plausible if the front seats are pushed forward. Most say Tacomas aren't family friendly vehicles for newborns.

 

Yeah, back seats are cramped.

I took out my bottom back seats a few years ago and just laid down the upper portion. Only put them in when I have my nieces.

 

Congrats! Here's some pics with mine installed, it fits and both front seats are in their typical driving/riding positions, i.e. not pushed into the dash.

 

Not ideal, but if you can make it until they change to forward facing you’ll be fine.

 

Congrats!
I'm 5'9 and the Graco 3-in-1 and Graco 4ever fits behind my drivers seat in rear facing position but it almost touches the drivers seat so theres not much room. I recently purchased a Diono 3RXT and that will not fit rear facing behind either seat (but you can fit three of them forward facing if you wanna taco-minivan)

FYI the middle seat does not support the Latch system per the manual which a lot of rear facing seats use. It is not recommended to attach the car seat to the adjacent seats latch anchors when in the middle seating position so youll want to use the seatbelt itself (but as always read the car seat and trucks manual several times before installation)

Graco Milestone 3 in 1 Car Seat

https://www.amazon.com/Graco-Milest...ords=graco+three+in+one&qid=1608662286&sr=8-5

$300 Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Car Seat, Grey, Infant to Toddler Car Seat, with 10 Years of Use, Rear-facing, Forward-facing and Booster Modes, Safe, Comfortable and Convenient

https://www.amazon.com/Graco-4Ever-...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

oh...Lord....car seats.......

I recall when our first child arrived. We had an '89 Toyota Celica GT and a '76 Buick Skylark. The FN car seat would only fit in the front passenger seat of the Celica. The wife didn't like riding in the "back seat", she had to because the Celica was 5 speed manual. We traded the Celica for a '92 Jeep Cherokee Laredo......I cried at my loss and being in the '76.

#2 child arrives in '97, now we are wrangling a car seat and a booster seat. Yep, they didn't fit in the Jeep. So, we traded the Jeep for a ninnivan, '97 Chevy Venture. I still had the '76....., about a year later it began to have big $$ engine issues. Finally, traded the '76 for my first pickup, a '99 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab with 350 cu in V-8. .


My point to all this.......if you plan on more than 1, then go ahead and get the ninnivan. It'll make SWMBO very happy for many years and you won't risk losing the Tacoma because of family.

 

Congratulations!

Ours was born in February and I fit a rear facing seat behind the drivers seat. Double cab; second gen.

 

I can remember being 5-6 years old and my dad throwing me in the bed of his D-100 and saying 'Just hang on' ... LOL!

 

We have a nuna pipa which fits. Have to move the seat quite forward which I’m assuming any rear facing car seat will run you into that issue with a taco. Not much space in the back seat. In hindsight, I would have looked for a infant car seat that can be used without the clip in base. That way if you are traveling you won’t have to lug the base around if you need to jump in an Uber, or bring it with you on your flights. Congrats on the munchkin!

 

There are no clips in the middle seat for the base. You may get away with using either side of the window seats depending on which brand/seat you go with... but I haven’t been able to get ours clipped in the middle.

 

The one I have can be strapped in using the seatbelt. When you have it in the middle, you should not try to use the anchors on the sides.

 

When I have to use the car seat in the taco it's the chicco keyfit 2 in the middle secured with the seatbelt. Driver side rear I would say it's impossible especially if you have a car seat base. Passenger rear is doable if you push the seat forward. It will be tight anyway you look at it at the rear facing stage. I think getting the right size car seat is the key here...the keyfit 2 is rather large but can support the kid for longer. Congrats

 

Why not the middle? It’s actually safer in a side impact

 

I have a booster and a forward facing Chicco convertible in mine. Plenty of room for drivers and passenger. I would guess the infant seat would fit with room to drive.

 

Exactly this. The middle seat secured with seat belt is the safest location.

My guess is that it has to do with how much of a hassle it is to climb into the backseat to buckle the kid in.

 

Ya my wife didn't like it either but I was like, suck it up. Its also the best place when offroading because its almost center axis, so they feel minimal movement.

 

I had two rear facing car seats in the back of my double cab at one point. I have lived to tell the tale and survived without purchasing a 4Runner, Tundra or F150. Being that the kids are in booster seats now I’m glad I weathered the storm. Just make sure to purchase a simple more minimal style of car seat instead of the deluxe models which can be much larger.

 

Depends on your height/wife's height (for passenger vs driver side). We had a nuna pipa lite FYI.

If your wife isn't tall then putting it behind the passenger should be fine. Yeah she won't be able to lean all the way back but the baby will be safe.
However, putting it in the middle seat is perfectly fine and as others have said is safer in some cases due to no side impact. You cannot use the seat anchors if you have it in the middle (dont try to stretch to fit the other anchors), rather you can use the seatbelt to hold your car seat in.

Before covid you could go to buybuybaby and they'd let you test fit it, now they dont and they won't let you return it if the box is open. I'd recommend buying a seat from Amazon because you can return it no questions asked, and just try and test fit it in your truck.

I've got two kids (age 1 and 4) in my taco and we all fit just fine. Its not a full size of course but you can definitely fit kids in your truck. Unless your giants and both of you are like 6'4"+ lol

EDIT: also if you are okay using a Convertible car seat from the start vs one that you can remove and clip into a base i'd 100% recommend the Nuna Rava. Its more expensive, however you can fit it rear facing behind the passenger and give them almost all of the space up front still. It'll fit perfectly and are super easy to install. 10/10 my favorite car seat and would recommend.