15951

You're right - in the back seat and secured in a child seat is the law in most states. I'll amend my comment:

"You pretty much suck as a parent if you don't put your infant in a rear-facing car seat until he/she is at least twenty pounds AND one year old."

When you go front facing is NOT a medical issue, it's a child development issue. The guidelines above are there because they are established thresholds for when a child has a better chance of surviving a crash when seated facing the front of the vehicle.

15951

I use one in my IS daily. Rear-facing is a PIA unless your family is made up of oompa loompas.

tex2670

I'm not sure how splitting hairs b/t "medical" and "child development" makes much difference, but we are in agreement--I would not turn the seat around before 1 year without a doctor's ok, BUT, when I had that Saturn, I couldn't wait for that day to come.

C5Longhorn

Thanks for all the replies folks. We are going to go test drive the IS and G today. We don't have kids yet, but will hopefully in the near future. This will be an issue and one reason we are slightly leaning towards the G at this point (although we both really like the IS350 in Matador Red

Rick

08mica

iTrader: (1)

I'll find out how well they fit soon enough. I pick up my car in a week, and will "pick up" my first child in two months

jdoolitt

Just went out and checked. It's a Britax Marathon. It fits fine, and my wife (5'8") has no problems sitting comfortably in the front seat when we are transporting our grandaughter. I am not sure what you meant by getting a child in and out of the seat if you are above a certain height. Anyway - those are the facts as I know em. Frankly, if you have a car seat that is too large for your IS, maybe you should look for another brand. I can only post what has worked for me, and that I have experienced.

jdoolitt

Not sure what a compa lumompas is. Did you mean something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Insulting folks is far more effective when you don't typo.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

My daughter's infant seat fits nicely in the wife's RAV4.It is not a Britax Marathon.We never transport the baby in the IS.As far as the getting the seat in and out,the door opening is small which makes it difficult.
I still can't see how that brand fits unless it's really a small infant seat.You're the first person I've read that doesn't have an issue with a rear facing infant seat.Front facing seats are fine.

tex2670

Britax is one of the best rated seats on the market. That's probably why you have it. I wouldn't want to get a lesser rated seat just so it would fit.

likwid8

I went through the same situation you're going through a few years ago. I bought the car with the plan of having kids in the near future. Now I wish I would've gotten a bigger car. The IS is a great car, but it's not a great car to haul the kids around on a daily basis. My son just switched over to a convertible and it is a very tight fit. I still have him rear facing in the middle (to me its the safest spot and I'm going to keep him rear-facing as long as I can) and the seat fits fine, but its a pain getting him in and out on a daily basis. There isn't much clearance from the roof of the car to the top of the car seat, so its tough getting him in and out without hitting his head on the ceiling. It'll be a little easier when I switch him to front facing, but then I'll have the problem with him kicking the seat. I have a second on the way and I don't even want to think about fitting 2 seats in there. Luckily I have a 4runner too, but that thing eats up gas so I try to take my IS as much as possible. If you like the IS that much and don't think you'll mind the daily difficulties of getting a kid in and out and dealing with kicking of your back seat then go for the IS. From personal everyday experience, I would suggest looking for a bigger vehicle.

Here's a pic of my recaro signo rear facing:

Scottina08

iTrader: (1)

anyone have the recaro young sport forward facing? We have the Britax marathon in my Jeep Grand Cherokee and was thinking of getting the Recaro for the IS. The rear seat looks fine to me for car seats....just curious really.

15951

Compa lumompas? Huh? My quote spelled it correctly, but maybe there's a text editor issue or something.

Regardless, I didn't mean to insult you at all. My family is on the short side, and have problems fitting in the IS with a baby seat in the back, so I was surprised to read your post.

likwid8

This guy is using a recaro young sport.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...48&postcount=8

borg1of2

I've been reading the thread as an observer as I just got an IS and we don't have kids, but are trying, so the topic is great timing.

My question is if the IS is too small, how does it compare against the competition like the BMW 3 series, Infiniti G and Acura TL? Each of these are classified as Sports Sedans, but in sitting them as a rear passenger during test drives, I found the room to be just as tight, only difference is the IS door entry seemed the smallest.

Thoughts?

likwid8

Any compact/sports sedan is going to tight fit for a child/infant seat. It's a lot easier with a larger rear seat to get kids in and out of cars on a daily basis. It's not impossible, I'm doing it now. It's definitely a lot easier to transport kids in my 4runner. I think with sport sedans, the front seats are much larger than normal sedans to give more support and that takes away from the rear space. I have a friend with a civic and it seems to have more rear space than my IS. In the end, it all depends on the person. For me, I'd probably would go with something else if I could do it again. The G and TL seem to have a little more space than the IS, but not by much.