Least manly truck question...

We did the trade in at Babies r us but it was only for 25%. I've never heard of them doing 50%. We still got some great deals, did this for the baby furniture and the travel system. Now we are out of old stuff to trade in. But if they do this again might hit up some yard sales for more trade in items.

 

Same, Graco Snug ride. I had the rear facing in the middle for the first, she is now forward facing in a Britax behind me for convenience of loading/unloading.
When the second comes, the rear facing will go behind the pass seat because it will have to be moved up significantly.

Oh the things we do for kids.

Overhead dvd player installation next week!

 

OP, IMHO, you should change the title to MOST instead of Least.

 

I have an access cab so here's my set up, my daughter is on the passenger side in a Chico keyfit 30, and my 3-1/2 year old son is behind me in a Brittex high back booster seat.
I used to have him on the passenger side in a first years car seat. When my daughter came around I needed to shift him over but the driver side had no anchor points. Thank goodness he was big enough to fit in the booster seat

 

I have an Evenflo Symphony convertible seat for my 6 month old and it fits really well in my double cab behind the passenger seat. Before that, I had a Graco carrier that I put in the middle of the back seat.

 

OMG pics please! Seriously.

 

Just to address the thread title: Parenting your kids is plenty manly, if you are invested and care about doing it well.

Just don't be a fuckup, because then you're moving us into Idiocracy territory.

 

We've got graco (taco) and recaro (sequioa) for the two year old. The recaro has alot more padding and seems safer. The padding can be removed as your kid gets bigger. I started with nhtsa ratings to make my selections for both of my boys. Good luck theres hundreds to choose from. And Congrats.

 

Don't sweat the convertible car seat too much. The bases are huge and they barely fit in almost all cars.

Blink of an eye and you'll never use the convertible car seat again. Your wrist will break while trying to carry the giant baby in a car seat.

The rear facing seats still take up room but not nearly as much as convertible ones. Another blink of an eye and they're facing forward which leaves plenty of room for everyone.

 

I have two boys, 1.5 and 3.5. They both grew up in Britax's because they finish first in pretty much every safety test/award. More expensive, but worth it. We really liked the Marathon series. Nothing fit well facing backwards, the marathon was the best. But by 1 they can face forward and fit a lot better. These are in my access cab.

The little guy is still in his Marathon 70 and my oldest is now in a Graco Nautius which fits in my truck great. This one goes from 5pt harness to seat belt, to just booster seat.

Here's my oldest in the Nautilus ..



And the Marathon .. Notice the full steel support on the Marathon, almost all of the others are plastic. The tests results on this things are amazing.

 

Oh and least manly, I know probably joking but IMO it's the most manly and important question.

 

Impressive. My 1-yr old wears out the back of my seat in a DC.

In an AC, she'd be knocking me into the steering wheel.

 

I was surprised with the actual amount of room difference in the AC/DC. For people sitting in the seats it's nice .. for car seats I found it really didn't matter. He pushes his feet into my seat on occasion, I don't mind just a little back massage.

 

Our kids are right at the same age, we have 2 of the Nautilis car seats, one in each car about to get one two more. Great seats, I would highly recommend for when they are older.

OP, like before mentioned, the convertibles do not fit in very many cars when used as a rear-facing seat. I wouldn't recommend it in the Tacoma especially

 

I know you're not quite at this stage yet but when my daughter moved from a car seat to a booster seat, she absolutely loved sitting in the front with daddy (the sensor disables the airbag automatically). She thought it was awesome being able to sit up front and see everything because she was up high. I got my truck just a little before she went from the car seat to the booster seat and the full car seat was a little tight in an AC but it's definitely workable. I second the comment about having something underneath the base of the seat though so it doesn't dent the padding.

I go a lot of places with my daughter w/o my wife so a lot of times it's just us 2 cruising around and it's a lot more fun having her sit beside me than in the back of my AC. Now we can bug the crap out of each other and generally have a lot more fun joking around when we're going places.

She even loves to turn the bed of my truck into a makeshift fort ... it's not unusual to see it parked in the driveway full of toys and some of her friends hanging out because on cool days the black bed is warmer and blocks the wind a little so it makes a good little hideout.

 

My 6 yo is in a booster seat now but i still keep it in the middle of the back seats. Good thread

 

Graco booster seat for my 3 1/2 yr old daughter. I wish my D-cab came with plastic seat-backs on the front seats, likes yours. I guess that's an access cab thing? We just bought 2 covers that protect the seat-back from muddy shoes. Brica? I think.

 

Oh yeah my kids are not allowed to eat or drink anything in my truck. My wifes Camery is totally stained up.

 

These work great:

http://www.target.com/p/Black-Two-Stage-Seatsaver/-/A-521919#?lnk=sc_qi_detailimage

The way it is cupped up at the back it cathces spills and other things.
My wifes Camry was just a week or two old when our 3 year old got sick and vomitted. These saved our new leather seats from forever being tainted with bits of vomit in all the little pores of the leather. They come in several different colors to match your vehicle.

 

I had the Peg infant seat in my DC it fit good even behind the drivers seat. Now my kid are 1 and 5. My 1 year old is in Alpha omega elite and the other is in a booster and the both fit good.