First kid on the way, considering vehiculars

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gathermewool

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The wife and I are expecting a baby in a few months and have talked about our vehicle situation (see signature.) When I upgraded from the STI I chose the Forester over something more fun, because of it's safety and practicality over the long haul (we hope to keep it as long as possible.)

What to do with the Civic coupe is a tougher nut to crack. I want to keep it for forever, but it's definitely not very practical as a baby or kid hauler, and it's obviously not as safe as even a slightly larger vehicle. We also live in a condo complex with limited parking, so having more than two vehicles isn't practical for now either -- We plan to stay here until our family grows to the point where a 2BR condo won't work.

This isn't a decision that needed to be made now and, realistically, can be put off for a good long while. My wife will stay home with the baby, and be a stay-at-home mom while our kids are young, so she, with the Forester, will be doing most of the kid hauling. I'll use the Civic as my DD. The Civic also CAN be used for baby/kid hauling, if needed, but it's not ideal.

Just looking for the experience of BITOG'ers. If you had kid vs vehicle decisions to make, how did you do that and what compromises did you end up making? Any and all advice and stories are appreciated!
 
Forester is a superb vehicle for the job

Might as well just keep on doing what your doing, no point in getting rid of the Civic now.

Congratulations, and the best of luck with your new family
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You have a new kid hauler, why would you need two?

One kid car, one economy car. A perfectly reasonable approach that many of us have adopted...

When my first was born, we had an '85 Trans-Am. My "fighter pilot car". Still wish I had it...anyway, it could not handle car seats, except in the front passenger seat, and no adult could fit in the rear. So it was replaced with a Volvo 240 Wagon. Budget was an issue, so I bought a used one. Lots of room for kids' stuff and easy to belt those car seats in the back. It also had the turbo engine and a manual transmission and was just as quick as the TA, but the cops didn't seem to notice it as often...
 
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Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
Forester is a superb vehicle for the job

Might as well just keep on doing what your doing, no point in getting rid of the Civic now.

Congratulations, and the best of luck with your new family
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+1

I'd keep doing what you are doing.


I don't see a problem with carting a kid around in the Civic. When I was little my parents had me and my younger sister. They had a Civic hatch and a VW Rabbit. It was a few years before my dad sold the Rabbit and bought his 1987 Jeep Cherokee, and even then my dad drove the Cherokee to work so most of the time we rode around with my mom in the Civic.

Unless you have 3 kids (might be a bit cramped in the back) I don't see the need for a minivan or larger vehicle. The cars you have are pretty safe. There will always be that "what if" scenario with a bigger vehicle, but then again there will always be something bigger than you. Even if you drove an army tank you could still die from getting hit by a train.
 
I have pictures of myself standing on my dads lap while he was driving a chevy pickup with a 3 speed on the column. I have pictures of myself wedged between a few bags of groceries in the back seat of a two door oldsmobile cutlass as well. This was normal stuff in the 70s and 80s...

Now that its 2015 there has to be 10 air bags per person..all wheel drive, antilock brakes, and michelin tires all the way around.

How did the baby boomers do it? What was so special about their cars?
 
Originally Posted By: mclasser
As long as you don't get a minivan, you're good.


Hogwash. Minivans are the ultimate in utility and convenience. We've had friends who refused to buy minivans who now all have them. The three row suv craze is idiotic for doing any real porting around with small kids.

The good news is that OP has a decent size vehicle in the forester. We're still getting by with the saab and vw rabbit, but we will add to the stable with a minivan.

The biggest issue is that if you're tall, the child seat forces the front seats to be pushed way too far forward to be comfortable and convenient.

Three row SUVs don't resolve that, evidenced by our friends buying a van after buying a three row suv and realizing it was worthless for cargo plus riders in the third row.
 
We had 2003 a pontiac vibe and eclipse gs. Sold one and traded the other in for a 2012 RAV4 V6 4WD. Fit the bill for more room, higher from the ground (our backs were thanking us), more safety features, and new.

If I could do it all over again I think I would have looked at used. Probably max of 4 years old to get more features for less. Maybe even possibly two newer used vehicles depending what would be available and price.

Just reading over what you have again. Like everyone else has said you're set.
 
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We have one little guy (okay, he's six
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) and I've had my Cobalt (which is a coupe as well) since he was born. Carseats work just fine in these things! The biggest pain I've found is that flipping the seat back can be annoying, but it's not a big deal once you are used to it-even better when they can get out themselves. Other than that-like others have said-you already have one family car...pretty much all you need for now. Besides, you can enjoy the money saved....you'll need it-kids aren't cheap!
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I figure one less bill on dad's mind....you you can enjoy being a dad a little more!

Heck, we will finally be getting our second sedan this year...
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You'll be fine my friend.....
 
One kid? Do nothing. It's the 3rd kid that is the killer. Two car seats will fit in the Forester and if both kids are the same gender they can share Bedroom #2.

Kid #3 or a different gender kid requires a 3-4 BR home and a minivan.
 
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Originally Posted By: mclasser
As long as you don't get a minivan, you're good.


Total Bee S...had 3 mini vans and loved them.
 
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Just reading the thread title, my first thought was "Subaru Forester". You already have that, so I think you're good for a while. Keep what you got, you've got a great set up.
 
I say keep what you have for now. Put the car seat on the passenger side and move the front seat forward for more room. You may have to test fit a few different car seats for a good fit, and try to get one where the base stays in the car. They are so much easier to use in a 2 door and is cheaper than a new car. You want Both cars to work out in case one breaks down or something else goes wrong down the road. Then who ever has the baby can drive the Forester. That way you have the back doors, more space and all of the other kid stuff that gets left in a car. And keep supplies in both cars.

Here is a story about that. When my oldest daughter was still in diapers, and her mom drove past my work on her way to work. She would drop her off at my work as I was leaving and I would take her home. One day she had a blow out in her diaper and covered her clothes and of course her mom forgot to leave the diaper bag. I had to clean her up with damp paper towels and put her in one of my work shirts. I kept a small diaper bag in my car after that, and I still keep a change of clothes for myself, which has come in handy more than a few times.

We both had Celebrity wagons then, which were really handy with kids. Hers had the 3rd row which was great for birthday parties as the kids got older. That's where a minivan really pays off. Decent fuel economy, which new parent budgets can use, and room for parties, scouts, trips and shopping, as well as a lower initial cost than most SUVs. But I still prefer wagons myself. Even as my kids got older, The Focus wagon did a great job in town. But we did have to take 2 vehicles for parties and scouts.
 
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Originally Posted By: mclasser
As long as you don't get a minivan, you're good.


This sentiment is often stated by those without kids.

If you've ever had kids, and a minivan, you know just how great they are.

We sold the Chrysler T&C a few years back, when our youngest got her license and started driving the Corolla. The T&C had been great up to that point. Incredibly useful and easy to load. From the age of diapers and play dates to the age of lacrosse gear and college furniture, there is no better combination of practicality and volume out there.

When it was just us, we still wanted some practicability, and the Volvo XC replaced the T&C, which had "only" 190,000 miles on it. All the steam cleaning in the world couldn't get the last juice box spills and high school athlete stains out of the carpet, but it still ran well and we gave it to a mechanic that was employed by my neighbor's garage (NAPA Auto Care Center) because he needed a car. I saw it not long ago, still on the road, still hauling around kids' stuff....
 
Just wanted to add another vote for a mini-van; especially if might have more kids in the future. I was also one that swore I would never get a mini-van but once the kids started to arrive, it was the greatest thing.

Putting a child seat into a mini-van is a lot easier than in a car. You're not hunched over and lifting with you back every time you put the child in or take him out. Your wife will really appreciate that after the kid gains a few lbs.

Plus there was a stream of family (new grandparents) that were visiting. Some fly in, some drive but it's often easier to go out to dinner in one vehicle.

The newer vans with video screens built in are awesome. I strapped a portable DVD player to the back of my seat to play Disney movies non-stop on road trips.

Loading cases of diapers, diaper bags, a cooler, and all the accessories that go with kids are a lot easier with the big sliding doors of a mini-van.

If you get a van, get one that will open the doors with the key fob. When the wife has the kid in one arm and a bag in the other, she will love it. On a hot day, open all the doors before you get to the van and it will be a lot cooler after it's had a few seconds to air out.
 
Infant with a coupe isn't a big deal. You've got the baby bucket and that just clicks into the base that's installed in the car. Super easy.

Toddler in a coupe is horrible. Most states are now adopting the AAP's recommendations that kids should be in a rear-facing seat until age 2. That means a massive honking rear-facing convertible car seat. Couple that with putting the seat in the middle of the car, where the kid is safest and the seat fits best, and it's a royal pain without the access afforded by rear doors.

I was so happy when I could turn the car seats around and have the kids face forward.
 
Research car seats in small cars. The graco "bucket" everyone gets for newborns fits great in the middle rear of most anything. You'll want to access through the passenger flip forward seat of the civic.

But if/when you have two kids, it gets a lot more complex. You'll want the seats outboard so the older kid won't reach/slap the younger. The width of modern car seats is subtantial. Often a glowing parent will drop $350 on a car seat, see it not fit their "X" car, and assume they need a Suburban. They could have simply found a slimmer seat.

Car seats have a shelf life, 3-5 years before the plastic gets brittle, so don't buy a fortress that claims to do everything. It'll be expired/ obsolete before you finish using it. New moms tend to like buying tons of new car seats every six months because of some minor recommended change they read about on facebook. For example they upped the top age for rear facing from 1 to 2 years when my kid was a year and a half.

WHat I would do is get the typical graco bucket, install its quick release base in the forester. It still has slots for the lap belt, try its fit without the base in your civic. You might need a rolled up towel or pool noodle to get it to fit right.

car-seat.org has lots, lots more.

I moved my kids around in the backseats of several saturn s-series... ow, my back.
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