What kind of car seats?

Bro, you just said you were already buying a stroller, you got a pickup for a reason!

 

Our infant seat was a Chicco Keyfit 30. Got an extra base for the 2nd car. Excellent design, adjustability, and ease of use, among the lightest available, and clicked into our Bob and a Chicco Keyfit Caddy.

Left a decent amount of front seat room.




2 days postpartum, leaving hospital.

 

We used the Nuna Pipa. Choose it for the stability leg, rigid latch system, and its one of the lightest carriers on the market since all the locking and latch mechanisms are in the base and not the carrier. For a carseat, it is also pretty good looking.

 

Our son grew out of an Britax B-Safe Elite after 4 months so I never got to try it in the Tacoma.

When your shopping for convertible car seats:

Test fitted my wife's chicco nextzip and it fits behind the passenger seat with the seat slightly forward. It's doable since the wife sits in the back with our son anyways. Infant carrier need more space but doable if the wife sits in the back.

I went with a diono radian r120. It fits great in the middle, however I got the booster pad and I have it behind the driver seat. I find it doesn't inpair my rear field of vision when it's behind my seat. I'm 5'8" and I have good leg room. The Diono is also foldable so it becomes our travel carseat in case we fly anywhere.

 

Same setup here! +1 on recommendation!

 

Lots of incredible recommendations - thank you so much! As I dig into some of these I'll probably have more questions when I have the time.

Anyone have any experience with the Thule Urban Glide jogging strollers and used the attachment to easily move the car seat onto that stroller during the infant stages? We love the nimbleness and suspension of those Thule strollers so, in typical gear junkie fashion working to put together the right full solution for my Tacoma, wife's CRV, and portability for our active, outdoor lifestyles.

This helps a lot - thanks again Taco family!

 

I highly highly highly recommend that you go to a store like Buy Buy Baby where they have good variety and will bring out seats to test fit in both your cars. And throw in a 20 lb sack of potatoes for the reality check.

 

No experience with the Thule, but we use a Burley Solstice stroller and the infant seat sits on it perfectly (with the infant seat attachment) and makes easy transitioning, anywhere.

No complaints with the Burley, either. Tons of storage space, folds, and not overly heavy. Would recommend.

 

We used a Chicco KeyFit system for a while until my son outgrew the car seat. My advise is to not get too hung up on short term use items (i.e. infant seats and/or systems designed around them) because they get outgrown pretty quick. Once the boy outgrew the seat and we moved up to the NextFit, we used the KeyFit stroller for a while but ended up going with a Britax because it was nicer and fit our needs better.

If I had to do it all over again (God forbid), I'd personally do the best of each individual item (seat, stroller, etc.) and stay away from the "system" type solutions.

 

This, because you can fit 3 across if you need. And they are built ridiculously well. They are stupid heavy though.

 

Our infant seat was also a Chico KeyFit seat/carrier combo that we liked quite a bit. We had 2 bases so that was nice, and I could make it secure with the BOB stroller some friends gave us (bitchin stroller, I'd never spend the $$$, but damn these things are nice). We have recently switched to a Chico NextFit, partially due to my son's growing size, and also because is super cushy and nice for him when we're bumping around offroad. However, that thing is friggin big. I'd definitely consider myself vertically impaired, and even with my seat in proper position for me, the Chico is up against the back of the seat, and the front of the back seat. Now I kind of like this because it's really secure, but getting him in and out is a super PITA. I'll try to snag a picture when I get back to the truck. It's a really great seat, but remember that it's fixed, so you've gotta hand carry them when you take them out of it, and hope that you didn't forget to put the stroller back in the bed of the truck after unloading your lumber.

 

I considered a NextFit after the Keyfit because I was so impressed by Chicco products. Once I test fit it in the truck, I said no friggin way. Appears super safe, much like a titanium bathtub. But the seat sides are so high and our Tacoma cab/door opening relatively small, I could not see it working.

Also, consider the kid's temperature comfort. A bath tub like seat on long journeys will get hot and they will get grumpy. Sides that allow better airflow and ventilation, such as deep side cuts for the belts or whatever, will help maintain ventilation.

We ended up with a Graco 4ever for the convertible when it was time for a larger seat. Even that is sometimes a biut challenging to fold up the litter guys to squeeze him in. I think it is almost time to turn it forward, but best to keep it rear-facing for as long as possible.

That said, Graco 4ever has an annoying rattle that is very difficult to locate and isolate.

On the Bob, check Craigslist. We found someone who tunes up used ones and resells at about 50% of new cost. The one we got from her looked brand new.

 

Even with the double cab it's a pain. Surprisingly he doesn't get too hot in it. The thick pads are pretty well ventilated. He actually got hotter in the keyfit, his back would sweat pretty good after a short while. So far, we've done some all day trips where he's gone for probably 3 hours seated, and he was fairly normal temp.

The NextFit is actually for my wife's Outback, which it fits in perfectly. For daily travel, I still use the keyfit while he still fits in it, then swap for the NextFit when we're taking the truck off road.

That's pretty interesting with the Bob. I honestly would have never even considered a stroller in that price range. The only reason we have it is because some real good friends passed it on to us when their child was too large. But I'll keep that info in mind the next time someone who likes it asks about getting one.

 

I have a Brittax marathon and a booster in the truck. It pulls backup duty to the Tahoe for hauling kids. The marathon is pretty bulky but fits fine in the forward configuration. I have not had it rear facing, but I imagine the passenger seat would have to be moved forward.

 

Be aware of the PITA rear tether tie in points. Both my kids are old enough now that they sit forward facing. I use two of the cheep-o $35 Walmart Cosco high back booster seats. For $35 you're covered from 22lbs-80lb. Use as a booster after 40lbs. One thing to note is how the rear tether strap adjusts. This is a pain in the ass with these seats because the adjustment is near the clip, and when you clip behind the rear seat you have to push the seat back closed and lose access to the adjustment that tightens the tether. In my old Subaru or my wife's SUV you always have access to the rear tether tie in point by opening the rear hatch. Not so much in the Tacoma. I used a rock climbing sling to extend the tie in point closer to the top of the rear seat so that I could then have access to the rear tether adjuster. Some car seats have the rear tether adjuster closer to the seat so this wouldn't be an issue. I know you're probably only looking at infant carriers at this point, but blink and the next thing you know you'll have forward facing kiddos.

 

Graco Click Connect for when the baby is tiny.

Graco SnugRide 35 Infant Car Seat | Baby Car Seat, Gotham

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H8MQ4US for the seat, and https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BNQEZXS for the base.

• Detachable base. Way easier than dealing with LATCH every time you need to move the seat.
• Buy one base per car, and put one in each. Heck, get one for the babysitter and in-law too. We bought 5 bases for our one car seat, and all of them got used.
  
• Since it disconnects easily, load the infant inside, carry the seat, and just click in.
  
• Buy the stroller too, it's worthwhile.

When your tiny poopmonster becomes a threenager and needs to flip around, we went through several seats until we decided this worked best:

Evenflo Tribute Sport Convertible Car Seat, Maxwell

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GS1H9XG/

• It is cheap and uses LATCH. Just get one per car, mount it right, and leave it.
• The cover comes off easily and washes great in the washing machine.
• The seat isn't absolutely ENORMOUS like most of the boosters others have mentioned.

 

Graco snugrides for the newborn.. easy in and out and can get bases for your other vehicles.

Britax marathons currently.

Next up a booster seat.

 

You have a steamer, the foam will return to its original state if you apply a little bit of steam.

 

Mr fancy pants

 

This needs more attention, if you buy a carseat that has the crappy metal hook/tab versions do yourself and your sanity a favor and get these:

https://www.amazon.com/Wolfride-Saf...id=1495137970&sr=8-1&keywords=anchor+car+seat

I realized that was a thing way too late in the game, but seriously super easy to remove/install a carseat and more importantly you can actually cinch them tight for a proper install.