# Safest "slim" infant car seat available in Canada?



## ~Nikki~ (Aug 4, 2004)

Hi all,

Skimmed through the boards and didn't see an answer for this one so I stopped looking. 

I have two kiddos currently in boosters, and need to be able to fit an infant seat between the two of them in the back of a Ford Escape come June when the new baby arrives. I was looking in the back seat yesterday and was overwhelmed at how to make it work! My daughter will be 8 in June, which means she CAN graduate from the booster seat which will free up some room.

All the infant seats I'm looking at are fairly clunky, so I'm trying to find the best one that'll fit back there and still allow the two other kids to access their seatbelt buckles. =P

Any thoughts?

OH YEAH: Should edit to add that I'm looking for something available in Canada.  Can't find a lot of the american brands up here, though I may be able to manage a shopping trip down there at some point. Can't count on it, though.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

There are several narrow infant seats on the market: the Chicco Keyfit, the Combi infant seats, and the Baby Trend. Any of those should fit fine between two boosters.

FWIW, it's extremely unlikely that an 8 year old fits the adult belt properly, so keep her in a booster a bit longer. Here is the criteria for skipping the booster: http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm


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## ~Nikki~ (Aug 4, 2004)

I've never heard of Chicco up here, but will check around for the other two.

I'm planning on keeping her in the booster as long as I can. The law up here is 80lbs or age 8 for the booster seat, and she happens to know that she's "allowed" out of the booster at age 8 as most of her friends are already out of theirs. Poor kid just wants to be bigger, heh. She was still in a full-on carseat a year longer than everyone in her class. But I'll try and convince her it's a good idea to stay in it for a bit longer. =)


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## HappyMommy2 (Jan 27, 2007)

I think the Radian is a slim one... I hope I am remembering the name correctly.


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## sunnymw (Feb 28, 2007)

The Radian is very slim but it's a convertible seat, meaning it can't be taken out of the vehicle for every ride (well, it can, but with a hard install and 25+lbs worth of steel-reinforced seat, it would be a major PITA!!).

The narrowest infant seats have already been listed. As for coming across the border, I believe Canada is very strict about using an American seat on your side of the border, and they could be confiscated on the spot or you could be heavily fined.

There are plenty of narrow backless and high back boosters available too. What kind do you currently have and what kind of vehicle are you driving?


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## ~Nikki~ (Aug 4, 2004)

I'm in a Ford Escape, and have Graco boosters for the two kids I currently have. 

Maybe I'll have to hit up a few stores with a measuring tape to see which are the slimmest! I've never seen Chicco or Radian before.

The brands I have available to choose from, as far as I can tell, are limited to:


Baby Trend
Costco
Evenflo
Graco
Maxi-Cosi
Peg Perego
Safety 1st
Quinny

Any familiarity with any of these brands?


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *~Nikki~*
> 
> I'm in a Ford Escape, and have Graco boosters for the two kids I currently have.
> 
> ...


Hi, Chicco Keyfit and the Sunshine Kids Radian are both available in Canada but generally only at specialty stores and online order.

It is not legal or recommended to use a US carseat in Canada.

If you want an infant seat I would recommend the Babytrend seat. It's around $100 at Walmart and has a very slim base.


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