FTO and baby seats

[CJ]

Guys, those of you with FTOs and young kids - talk to me about baby seats and room for associated paraphernalia in the boot. Mrs CJ is due in a few weeks so its time to get serious. We're looking at getting a Britax travel system (baby seat plugs into buggy, ISOFIX base and some other contraption), anyone use this brand? The ISOFIX base will be handy in the RX-8 but its belts all the way in the FTO. To be honest, I'm more concerned about the lack of bootspace in the RX-8, the FTOs boot is more than adequate by the looks of things. How hard is it to clean sick off the stock FTO seats?!

CJ

[Dave]

First off!! Congratulations, I didn't know the missus had a bun in the oven!!

I haven't personally used the britax one, but my brother has and it was very handy for them, sat in the base and just clicked in and out, and not to mention, the way they are angled, any sick will just go directly onto the baby rather than your seats!!! So it's a win win situation really!!

[Dragonheart]

Congrats CJ and Mrs. CJ too. Kept that quiet!

Firstly this is NOT my baby seat, its belong to Graces niece who we took for a spin one day, and its a booster seat not a baby seat, so should be a little bigger. There was plenty of room in the back for the seat with a comfortable sitting position for the passenger too. The pic prob isnt the best to highlight the space thats there but you can prob see it clear enough. Fitting a buggy in the boot doesnt work but thats cause of my strut bar I think, my neighbour tried putting one in there once and it was close but one of the wheels was sticking out and no amount of forcing would get it in, but obviously its dependant on the buggy and if you have a strut in the back.
I dont know the brands of any of this type of stuff either so cant help there I'm afraid.

[optical illusion]

First off!! Congratulations, I didn't know the missus had a bun in the oven!!

Always a way with words our Dave...

May be no harm to stick some kind of cover underneath if possible, but if I know kids at all, it'll probably have a trajectory of 5mph and hit the back of the front seat instead of around it. They're not that neat

I'd say congrats again but I knew!

[Dave]

First off!! Congratulations, I didn't know the missus had a bun in the oven!!

Always a way with words our Dave...

May be no harm to stick some kind of cover underneath if possible, but if I know kids at all, it'll probably have a trajectory of 5mph and hit the back of the front seat instead of around it. They're not that neat

I'd say congrats again but I knew!

I thought it was better than "up the duff".......which would be an expression commonly used in "The Pale"

[CJ]

I thought it was better than "up the duff".......which would be an expression commonly used in "The Pale"

Dave, get with the times, its referred to as 'up the Damo' (or 'up the bleedin' Damo') nowadays!

Thanks for the comments and kind words so far, I'm pretty sure we'll be OK in terms of seats etc, 2 doors and a 2+2 is obviously going to make things more difficult but not impossible. We both want to keep the FTO for the foreseeable future, time will tell how suitable the FTO is in terms of transporting 'bin lids'.

I've lost count of the number of people who have said ' You're going to have get rid of those coupes and get a proper car, youll never fit a buggy/baby seat/50 nappies in there'. I'll be hanging on to both if only to spite the naysayers!

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

[................

I've lost count of the number of people who have said ' You're going to have get rid of those coupes and get a proper car, youll never fit a buggy/baby seat/50 nappies in there'. I'll be hanging on to both if only to spite the naysayers!

CJ

Good man CJ - though I wonder how long those feelings will last when you've got a mountain of baby gear + baby + mammy in tow. Personally I think its important to have one vehicle in the house that can do the Mammywagon duties - And I've only realised this myself as I'm going through it at the moment. Marias Alfa is going in the next week for something that can carry the three of us plus baby gear.

[Bernard]

First off, Congratulations to you both.

As for the vomit versus upholstery dilemma... it'd be a perfect excuse to leather up!

[adrian]

CJ, congrats man.... getting close now! The RX8 is great for baby seats. I have had 2 MaxiCosy Tobi seats (big big seats) in the back of mine. Also, a Maclaren foldup buggy fits in the boot no hassle. You can keep baby bag and all that jazz in the footwell of the other back seat and so you are sorted!

Mind you, although I do use the REX for taking the kids on short trips I would be lost without the XC90 for anything else... so maybe 2 coupes will be though... but one is certainly do-able!

Good luck!!

A

[Kace]

CJ - Congrats !!

Baby seats and FTOs are no problem. I've had the small baby seat and have since transitioned to the intermediate full seat and now use the booster. I now let my eldest ride shotgun with a booster and the young lad sits behind.

Buggies can be a small problem if you go large - you should test this out before you buy a buggy. We went with a MacLaren Techno XT stroller which folds down so you can use from birth. You'll be getting a stroller anyway so you could bite bullet now and save yourself purchasing the big expensive system - these things are really quite bulky.

I know you won't want to for your first (most people don't) but I would really consider second hand buggy from Rollercoaster or Magicmum. You can get great deals and top condition on there - loads of stock to choose from also. Worth considering anyway.

[Muad_dib77]

Congrats to both of you!

Oh and you'll have to get rid of those coupes and get a proper car now ..

[Johnk]

Congrats to both of you

[Sebastian]

great stuff guys , congrats .

as i said before .. spotted a few years back a black FTO with 2 childseats fitted in the back so there should be enough space

[mcgon1979]

nice one CJ congrats

[TopCat]

I'm no help to you here, but congrats guys.

[CJ]

Thanks all. The RX-8 has more room in the rear but the FTO has more boot space, in hindsight, I reckon we'll struggle with 2 coupes (hence my Euro R thread revival ). I expect that we'll be hanging onto the current fleet until Christmas at least at which point it will become clear where we go from there. I wouldn't rule out a move from coupe/coupe to coupe/saloon in the near future, the choice will depend on a number of factors.

CJ

[Johnk]

you could always go coupe/saloon/coupe that's the way we are only it's not a saloon but 5 seat's needed ,Thinking of going for a 7 seater in the new year not room for the kid's friends when they stay over

[Massimo]

Congrats to both of you!

[CJ]

you could always go coupe/saloon/coupe

That would be the ideal situation John but not the most cost efficient option. We concurrently ran 3 cars a few years ago and it was a struggle. Fuel consumption I can live with but tax and insurance are a killer.

CJ

[karlf]

Congrats to you both.
You should be ok with a baby seat in the FTO. I often had my sis's three kids in the car and no issues. I've had combinations of 2 baby seats, a booster and a baby and 2 booster seats as the 2 youngest got older (they are a year apart and are 3 and 4 now). Would also have my other nephew in there too he's 8 now, the only problem with that is no seat belt in the middle so he went in the front occasionally. Its a bit tight getting them in and out with no rear doors when they are too small to get themselves out, its a lot easier when they hit 2 or 3 and can put the seat belts on and off themslves.
As for the upholstery I'd be more worried about bottles and food being spilled in the car. The smell of gone off milk is not nice especially on warm days. Luckily my sis's fella has a wet/dry cleaner which was used on more than one occasion.

[Dragonheart]

As long as this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgu4AZLHLrQ doesnt happen you'll be grand.

[miss-enzo]

congrats CJ and Mrs CJ!

[CJ]

Some of you will be aware already - baby Aisling was born last night weighting in at a healthy 7lbs 1oz, mother and baby are in great shape and are both doing well. Bring on the sleepless nights!

CJ

[paul2508]

Some of you will be aware already - baby Aisling was born last night weighting in at a healthy 7lbs 1oz, mother and baby are in great shape and are both doing well. Bring on the sleepless nights!

CJ

congratulations cj, new fto member in the making

[miss-enzo]

congrats u two!!

FTORex and his lady had a baby girl not long ago too!!