Baby seats and the Mazda5

[gregzilla]

Hi. I'm currently looking at the Mazda5 (and Rondo). My wife is pregnant and we're trying to find a roomy car (we've got a dog too) without going for an SUV/minivan. My biggest concern about the 5 is the front legroom. We both found it a bit tight on the passenger side in particular. I would like to know how much room there is with a rear-facing convertible kids seat in the second row. I'm 6"2 and my wife is 5"8. If anyone has any comments, I'd appreciate all the information I can get.

[chaztor]

Bring your car seats to the dealer and try them out. It is a bit tight in there (don't own, trying at the dealer) but that vehicle makes a lot of sense, we couldn't find a good used one. We ended up going from a Chry.T&C to a Forester.

[mazdaspeedster3]

I am 6'1" and am looking at turning our CX7 in and getting the 5 as well. Front seat space is a little tight but tolerable. Did you get to drive it? I liked the ride and the back is what I like the best. My son will be 9 months tomorrow and the rear facing convertible car seat is the worst and takes up a lot of room but seems to fit. Not much help for you but know your pain!

[skyhawk]

We have the baby seat 'permanently' installed in driver side of 2nd row. Baby don't need legroom so driver seat can be moved farthest if needed.

In a shortwhile the baby sit becomes a booster seat.. and it will be no problem.

And yes the little ones do like sitting in the 3rd row window side. good that there is no 7th seat.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=134493

[mountjonas]

yup. with the driver seat all the way back, and all the way down (seat height), there was still room for our rear facing graco metro lite travel system.

avoid bob baker mazda in oceanside, they're pushy as hell and their manager thinks that even though he's in a cubicle, no one can hear him yell.

[gregzilla]

We haven't bought a car seat yet, my wife isn't due until December. So any seat recommendations are welcome as well :-). We looked at the Forester and Outback. Both a bit more expensive than we'd like and seem to have less room in the back than the 5 (or Rondo). I am really only concerned about the time the kid will be in the rear-facing convertible.

[gregzilla]

We've been dealing with Westcott Mazda in National City. The guys there have been very helpful, upfront and really relaxed about everything. A pleasure to deal with.

I'm not worried about an infant carrier fitting, more worried about when the kid doesn't fit in the carrier any more and needs to be in a convertible and still be rear facing.



yup. with the driver seat all the way back, and all the way down (seat height), there was still room for our rear facing graco metro lite travel system.

avoid bob baker mazda in oceanside, they're pushy as hell and their manager thinks that even though he's in a cubicle, no one can hear him yell.

[gregzilla]

I am looking at this seat, as the headrest is removable:
http://www.learningcurve.com/product/detail/Y11006

[straw10]

Greg,

We've had great luck with our Britax car seats. They are expensive, but are excellent. Hopefully my Britax will be in my new Mazda5 within a week or 2. Still pricing them out to let the dealerships battle it out.

[coolmazda5]

You may have seen this already, but for the rest of the folks...

I'm close to 6' and wife is around 5'7" or so. The front passenger seat has to be around 2 clicks before the last position and some recline up to make the seat fit, but is not as bad as my old car (a civic) or SUVs I've seen. Wife can make 6hr trips or so on it, so no big thing. I can fit as well and is a little bit tight, but OK for short trips. Both seats are humongous Britax Marathons.

Here are my car seats' pics, hope this helps...
http://www.mazdav.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=130475&d=1210083042
http://www.mazdav.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=130474&d=1210083042

Stores usually have some demo seats that you can use before buy. They WON'T let you buy one and return it, mostly for safety reasons, just in case a car seat gets into an accident and then returned (who knows)

[whosurdaddy]

"I would like to know how much room there is with a rear-facing convertible kids seat in the second row"
FYI, the 2nd row also can be shifted forward or backwards. So if you don't have anyone in the 3rd row, you can shift each row back.

[jeebusm3]

I'm 6'3 and I have no trouble with room in the front, nor do I have trouble with the babyseat in the middle row. Plenty of room for all.

[gregzilla]

Hi Jeebusm3. Do you have a rear-facing convertible behind you? If so, what make/model of car seat is it?



I'm 6'3 and I have no trouble with room in the front, nor do I have trouble with the babyseat in the middle row. Plenty of room for all.

[AIMWO4]

I've had my 5 since Feb '07. I have 3 kids, now 7, 2 & 1. I haven't had any problems with rear-facing seats. I have a Graco that I just turned to the forward direction.

[mrbwa1]

We have an Evenflow Titan Elite. It's a bit more basic than a lot of convertibles, but works great and has a smaller footprint:

http://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Titan-Elite-Convertible-Seat/dp/B000YZ7ZRM

I was really thinking about the Britax seats, but (and I know this will stir the pot a bit) the budget didn't allow room to buy 2 Britax seats at $200+ each. the Tit5an was only $99 due to it's "old-style" adjusters, but has been very easy to adjust so far.

We had a Sateyfirst seat that didn't fit and we returned for the Evenflow. The 5 isn't too bad for room, but the Titan is about the only thing to squeeze into my '01 Toyota Echo (though the passenger seat is unusable). The Saftey first didn't even fit int eh ECHO without the passenger seat leaned forward.

[skyhawk]

We have the britax too. You might want to have one of those 'rubber seat protector..' between Britax and car seat.

[cprtrainer]

I can help you on this one...

We have a 7 yr old in a booster behind the driver, and a 7 month old behind the passenger.

He has been riding in this:

http://www.elitecarseats.com/Peg-Perego-Primo-Viaggio-SIP-30-30.pro

And we are switching him to this seat on Saturday:

http://www.elitecarseats.com/Maxi-Cosi-Priori.pro

With the infant seat, we have the passenger seat up about 4 notches (it's quite big)- my wife is 5'5" and fits just fine. It's a bit tight for me at 6' with long legs. It is really tight in our 3- with the seat up and the airbag is too close for comfort.

The new seat fits very well with our trial tests. The front seat is up 2 notches and can be reclined just slightly. We shopped long and hard to find a safe convertible with a small "footprint" but will still be comfortable for him. It is European and is designed for smaller cars. It reclines to allow him to sleep but does not impact the space required- pretty slick.

Overall the 5 is an excellent family car. My wife loves the sliders for loading the kid in parking lots, and it holds everything needed for the little ones. We love the driving capabilities of the car, and it gets great mileage (avg 26). If you find one you like- grab it!

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions! Congrats on the forthcoming child!!

[Distinct]

Hi there, been a number of questions about child seat configuration so I thought I'd share and actually went out to take pictures to show people. We have my 4.5 year old child in a forward facing seat and my 7 month old in a rear facing. They are situated left and right only because I park on the left and it's easier to place the baby in from the middle aisle which is wider than being against a wall. BTW, I bought the Mazda5 because it's the smallest car out there with sliding doors, in tight garages there is no other vehicle that allows such easy entry and exit.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2769/img1284wi4.jpg

Both 2nd row seats are pushed all the way back and the tops are slightly reclined. Both front seats are pushed forward slightly. I'm about 5'9" and my Wife is probably 5'6". Neither of our knees are right up against the dash and we also sit upright properly and don't recline the seats at all.

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4562/img1285cm2.jpg

Hope these pictures help people who are figuring out how to place the seats and what will fit.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5435/img1283jx9.jpg

I absolutely love this car.

[jeebusm3]

Hi Jeebusm3. Do you have a rear-facing convertible behind you? If so, what make/model of car seat is it?

We actually have a forward-facing Recaro (like the one posted above) right now. But we have another kiddo on the way and we'll pull out the rear-facing one again. I think it's a graco of some sorts. I'll look.

[chaztor]

+2 on the Britax Marathons. We have two and neither show any wear.
Started out with one Combi, that was good for newborn-~1yr old. It had the matching stroller and it was smaller than the Britax.
You can get a pretty good deal on ebay for a Britax (new of course) so its not quite so hard on the wallet esp. if its an odd color/pattern. Colors/patterns do not affect crash worthiness. :)

[chaztor]

...the Forester and Outback. Both a bit more expensive than we'd like and seem to have less room in the back than the 5 (or Rondo). I am really only concerned about the time the kid will be in the rear-facing convertible.

True, luckily our eldest was already front facing when we bought the Forester so only the passenger had to suffer (slightly). Now both are front facing so we have tons of room (ha-ha).

[therov]

For more responses, check out http://carseatdata.org/. It's a consumer-reporting site where parents rate the installation and fit of their car seat into various car models. Most of the Mazda5 feedback is on Britax and Sunshine Kids Radian car seats.

[Knox Joe]

I just had a 5 as a loaner while my Speed6 was in for service at Mazda, and it was wonderful getting the baby seat in and out. Worlds better than the 6 in that department.

My brother (6') sat shotgun with the baby behind him, and momma(5'4") sat behind me(6'1"), and we all were very comfortable.

[coolmazda5]

I just had a 5 as a loaner while my Speed6 was in for service at Mazda, and it was wonderful getting the baby seat in and out. Worlds better than the 6 in that department.

My brother (6') sat shotgun with the baby behind him, and momma(5'4") sat behind me(6'1"), and we all were very comfortable.

Yeah, best thing since sliced bread with kids on car seats. Sliding doors also add to the factor, especially on Winter and tight garages :D.

BTW, I have an extra Mazda5, PM me if you wanna trade your "uncomfortable" MS6, LOL (lol2)

[skyhawk]

After awhile, you don't think about it anymore. Just slide the door open, and install baby on the seat. No bending down. And if baby seat is at driver side 2nd row, other passenger can come in and out and no need to move baby.

[mrbwa1]

Yeah, best thing since sliced bread with kids on car seats. Sliding doors also add to the factor, especially on Winter and tight garages :D.

Especially my garage! I can even get to the passenger side of my car so I have to climb across to belt my son in!

[NISMOrob]

Intrested in why you would want a convertible car seat in stead of a infant carrier. The convertible will take up much more room, plus you will have to buckle the baby in and out every time you get in and out of the car.

I have twin 8 week olds that sit in the second row in these seats http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2979403 I picked tese seats because they have a less length between the seat back and the end of the infant seat. Also twin 5 year olds on the third row, in booster seats. now Im only 5'9" and my wife is only 5' but we also have this sitting between the passanger front and passanger middle row with carrier loaded http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2958408

If you have never taken a new born in and out of the straps of a car seat, let me tell you that its not something you want to do every time you get out of the car. This goes double in cold weather.

For use of the third row the sliding doors are leaps and bounds above fold/slide forward 2nd row like the Rondo. Plus when the kid is big enough to strap themself in booster you can put it in third row and they have easy pass through.

With all my kids this car is awesome, we have to get creative with cargo sometimes but hey for 10K less and 5-6 more mpg than a seiena or odyssey, Im loving it. Plus mine is a stick whhooo hooo!!!

[mrbwa1]

Intrested in why you would want a convertible car seat in stead of a infant carrier. The convertible will take up much more room, plus you will have to buckle the baby in and out every time you get in and out of the car.

Good question. We started with a Graco infant carrier. Invaluable for the first few months, but our son outgrew it by 5 months. I would advise getting the largest infant carrier (at least I seem to remember some being a little bigger).

The big reason for the convertible seat is that most boosters anymore are front facing. In our case, front facing a 6mo old was not in the cards. Thankfully, sliding doors, plus the ride height of the 5 make ingress/egress pretty effortless.

[coolmazda5]

I have twin 8 week olds that sit in the second row in these seats. I picked tese seats because they have a less length between the seat back and the end of the infant seat. Also twin 5 year olds on the third row, in booster seats

My only comment is: Double twins! Wow and congrats on the 2nd batch of little ones :D

[twentysixtwo]

To protect the (cloth) seat in our 5 I have a bath sized towel, doubled up, under each of the 3 child seats......Handy too if you need a quick clean up or even a blanket! Forgot to bring a towel to our daughter's swim lesson once - Voila!!!!

[elbastardocalvo]

Greg,

We've had great luck with our Britax car seats. They are expensive, but are excellent. Hopefully my Britax will be in my new Mazda5 within a week or 2. Still pricing them out to let the dealerships battle it out.

I will second that. We've had three britax seats, and they have been excellent. They're a bit larger than some others on the market, but they are very comfortable and very protective.

[Kojack]

I traded my caddy CTS in on the 5 for the very reason it was the only car that the car seat would fit in. makes more sense to put the seat behind the passenger, however, I had it behind me, and it fit fine....

the 5 is the best family car available. I love it. we bought ours may 07 and paid it off this past nov. Now we have the family mover that dont cost us a cent.

that means I can get my mid life crisis car sooner he he. A stang v6 superchaged with the "elenor" kit on it.

[Jay Gloab]

Car seat fit was near the top of my list of things to look for when shopping for a new car, with an 8-month-old and another on the way.

Our Evenflo convertible (rear-facing for now) fits fine behind either driver or passenger side with the front seat all the way back, and leaves room for some reclining, which is a big improvement over our Protege5. The new baby will be in a Graco SnugRide at first, which we know from previous experience takes up less room than the convertible.

[Katner]

...with an 8-month-old and another on the way.
Lucky man! Before baby#1 my wife was saying "can we have a baby?" and I was saying "no way." Now I'm saying "can we have 6 more?" and she's like "no way."

I'm working on her though. :-)

[Jay Gloab]

Lucky man! Before baby#1 my wife was saying "can we have a baby?" and I was saying "no way." Now I'm saying "can we have 6 more?" and she's like "no way."

I'm working on her though. :-)

If only we'd planned it that way... :)

[coolmazda5]

Now I'm saying "can we have 6 more?"

(boom01) Katner's family volleyball team including the bench, huh? :)

[SDenn]

I have a Britax boulevard in my Mazda5 and I was curious if anyone has had problems with car seats on leather? I've read that the cupboard liner stuff actually melts onto leather and that some of the car seat protectors/towels are unsafe. Baby is top priority, but if I can save my new seat, I will do that, too.

[switek]

I use a waffle microfiber chamios under my kids seats mostly to absorb the inevitable spills but they also protect the seats pretty well from car seat dents.

[canadianexpress]

I have a Britax boulevard in my Mazda5 and I was curious if anyone has had problems with car seats on leather? I've read that the cupboard liner stuff actually melts onto leather and that some of the car seat protectors/towels are unsafe. Baby is top priority, but if I can save my new seat, I will do that, too.

I find the anti slip car seat mats (comes in 2 piece) work best. They will help protect the leather and prevent the child seat from slipping.

[skyhawk]

I find the anti slip car seat mats (comes in 2 piece) work best. They will help protect the leather and prevent the child seat from slipping.

I got mine from the baby section of toys 'r us. Unprotected, the bottom of the brittax can cause indentation on the seat cushion..

[SDenn]

I actually had purchased that one, and after reading some reviews, decided to return it. One woman had it melt onto her leather seats and several car seat installers thought it adversely affected safety.

[canadianexpress]

I volunteer with St John Ambulance installing baby seats and from my 3 years of experience, I haven't heard of any problems. But that is not to say that a problem doesn't exist, just that we find them to be pretty good.