Suggestions for child seat in my 2011 VW Jetta Sportwagen

[laderlover]

I've always had great response from TCL people on questions like this.

Does anyone have any personal experience/recommendation for child seats in my 2011 VW Jetta Sportwagen?

The problem I'm experiencing is when I have my current child seat facing backwards you have to move the passengers front seat all the way forward to make it fit and then nobody can sit in that front seat.

Thanks TCLers!

[zhenya00]

If you only have one child, can't you mount it in the middle?

[helement2003]

Do some research on seats (and their sizes). You should have no trouble fitting various seats behind the front seats of a newer Jetta (and NOT have to move your seats up). There are actually insane forums on car seat fits.

I've been researching a TON for seats that will fit with no issue in the R32, and there are a few out there. Chicco Keyfit 30 is what I'll be purchasing here soon. Many owners reporting no problems fitting behind GTI/Jetta seats, and even 3 series coupes.

I don't know how big your little one is, as that Keyfit is for up to 30 lbs rear facing (it's an infant seat).

Some of the "small" front to back seats I've found in research:
Graco Snugride 35
Chicco Keyfit 30
Combi Coccoro Convertible
1st Years True Fit (a lady with a 2 door GTI reported no issues with her being 5' 10" and husband 6")
Britax Roudabout 55
Britax Marathon 70

Hope that helps. There are "small" seats out there (typically european brands, as they don't go buy minivans when they have 1 kid )

[PlatinumGLS]

How old is your kid? Are you looking for a convertible seat or an infant seat that doesn't stay in the car?

[helement2003]

If this helps as well...some pictures I had saved of the various seats in cars:

Keyfit in a 3 series coupe:




Graco Snugride in a Jetta/GTI (I forget...should be the same amount of room as your Sportwagen):

[keithR32]

Keyfit

[rich!]

we had a sunrider 35 in the JSW - a little tight but manageable. (in the middle)

jr is a big boy - so we went to a Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat with a 5 point harness that allowed forward facing (i think the min was 20lb) ... which became a moot point when we "upgraded" to the Touareg.

[FigureFive]

I've got a Graco Snugride 35 behind the passenger seat in my R32 for our 1 year-old. The seat is up pretty far but not quite all the way. I've had people of around 5'6" ride shot gun without complaint.

Yesterday I had to swap our older daughter's Britax Marathon 70 to that position (it's normally front facing behind me). The Marathon had about an inch more clearance when rear facing than the Snugride.

[GTI 20v]

We have a 2010 JSW. Both our Chicco Keyfit 30 and our Recaro ProRide convertible seat fit in the back.

It all depends, though, on how far back you need to have the rear seats. A rear facing seat of any kind definitely won't fit with the front seats back all the way. If you need to have them farther back than will fit...put the seat in the center, as we did with my old Mazda3:

[heebz]

I have an 08 GTI. Loved the Chicco Key Fit 30 and then moved to the Britax Boulevard 70. I would recommend both.

[stevenvr6]

Keyfit seat is the way to go. That of course depends on the age and weight of you little one.
But overall it is a very good seat. I also had the seat in my R32 with no problems.

[modiGTI]

We have a 2010 JSW. Both our Chicco Keyfit 30 and our Recaro ProRide convertible seat fit in the back.

It all depends, though, on how far back you need to have the rear seats. A rear facing seat of any kind definitely won't fit with the front seats back all the way. If you need to have them farther back than will fit...put the seat in the center, as we did with my old Mazda3:

I have the Recaro ProRide as well and it fits in the back with no problem in my GTI. I have it front racing now behind my seat actually and I have plenty of leg room.

[A-Bugg]

We had the Combi Coccoro in the rear of our 03GTI and 04jetta wagon. The front passenger seat still had to be up a little closer than normal, knees touching for the wife(5'-6"?). The reasoning behind it was that it was a good 3" thinner than most everything else.

[Diamond Dave]

The problem I'm experiencing is when I have my current child seat facing backwards you have to move the passengers front seat all the way forward to make it fit and then nobody can sit in that front seat.

Who's the new guy! J/k. That's the reason rear facing seats are a bummer. You might need to try several out, but I wouldnt expect you'd have many options.

[laderlover]

All of this information has been so helpful!!

TY everyone for your replies

[Professor Gascan]

I have an 08 GTI. Loved the Chicco Key Fit 30 and then moved to the Britax Boulevard 70. I would recommend both.

We made the exact same progression, just in an 07 GTI. They're both excellent seats.

[THE TRUE FASTGTI]

I've always had great response from TCL people on questions like this.

Does anyone have any personal experience/recommendation for child seats in my 2011 VW Jetta Sportwagen?

The problem I'm experiencing is when I have my current child seat facing backwards you have to move the passengers front seat all the way forward to make it fit and then nobody can sit in that front seat.

Thanks TCLers!

We have the britex chaperone car seat and it is great. We put it in the gti and the 2012 jetta. It is a little big but it was a really safe one. I adjusted my seat to where it is comftorable while driving and when the wife is driving the jetta i slide forward a little bit in the passenger seat but to where i have no problems sitting for a long time.
I have the red one.

http://www.google.com/m/products/cat...=0CJ8BEPMCMAQ#

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[VAsteve]

The only seat I could find that would fit backwards-facing in my R32 ('04) was the Recaro... seeing as how the JSW has more space than my R does, I'd imagine you'll have no trouble at all with it. The Recaro is a little more upright than other seats, making it shorter front-to-back.

[Aonarch]

Recaro ftw.

[THE TRUE FASTGTI]

Recaro.makes these. These are only sold in europe. I am getting one next may when i go visite family


http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2009/05...child.html?m=1

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[Aonarch]

^ I've got the UK part number for that if anyone needs it.

[AKADriver]

The only seat I could find that would fit backwards-facing in my R32 ('04) was the Recaro... seeing as how the JSW has more space than my R does, I'd imagine you'll have no trouble at all with it. The Recaro is a little more upright than other seats, making it shorter front-to-back.

Eh, in rear-facing config the backrest should pretty much always be at a 45-degree angle. I'd bet the Recaro's owner's manual says that (but I'm happy to be corrected if it doesn't). You might need to add a wedge or a rolled towel? I dunno.

The main difference in fit for a convertible toddler seat is going to be the overall height. Because of the "keep kids rear-facing until they're in college" mentality some folks have, a lot of these convertible seats are bigger than they're required to be so they can stay rear-facing until they're 50lb+.

Call me a horrible dad, but I intentionally bought one that didn't have a super-high weight limit like that. I have an Evenflo Titan which is rear-facing up to 35lb, which should take almost any kid up to his 2nd birthday before it has to be swapped around, and that's 100% fine with me (and the AAP). It's lasted through two kids. My only gripe is that the LATCH clips suck compared to the slick OEM-style pushbutton latches on the Chiccos and Recaros. They're more like carabiners, so they're harder to remove.

I've currently got it mounted in my 2009 Forester on the driver's side and there's still an inch to spare with my 5'10" self in front of it. I can't imagine the JSW is that much smaller than a Forester.

For <1 year old babies, the Chicco Keyfit should be freaking issued at the hospital. It's the gold standard. Well-made and compact. When my daughter was born, I had one in a 2001 Corolla with room to spare.

[VAsteve]

Yep... I used a wedge to get the right angle of the seatback in the R, had it installed by Montgomery County fire/rescue folks at one of the weekly inspection/install events. The Recaro also has a 35lbs limit for rear facing, but as I said it's shorter front-to-back than others. My little one turned 2 two months ago and we've got her facing forward now... albeit in an XC70, no longer the R...

[AKADriver]

Nice. I wanted the Recaro originally but settled on something I could buy locally, because the big-box baby store was having a sale (and car seats NEVER go on sale).

[HASSELHOF]

I'm 6'2" and have the massive orbit g2 infant seat in my jsw without having to move the seats forward that much. The passenger seat had to move a hair to facilitate rotating the seat in its base to lock it in. The ability to do that also allows more front leg room as you don't need to position the seat first to lock it in.

[Oettinger18T]

You guys are extremely helpful and informative. I've been trying to research this same question for my Audi A4 and couldn't find information on any of the mommy message boards even remotely as helpful as this thread. My son is outgrowing the Chicco keyfit 30 and I was worried the Britax seats would be too big, but I'll go with that.

[THE TRUE FASTGTI]

You guys are extremely helpful and informative. I've been trying to research this same question for my Audi A4 and couldn't find information on any of the mommy message boards even remotely as helpful as this thread. My son is outgrowing the Chicco keyfit 30 and I was worried the Britax seats would be too big, but I'll go with that.

I am glad that we could help. Britax is a good brand also so you are making a good choice. And safe decision for your children is a great decision and should not be taken lightly.

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