bayridgeguy

I am about to be new to this whole fatherhood thing (very excited by the way), so those with experience enlighten me please...

I started looking into car seats. So far, wife and I have our minds set on the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 infant only rear facing system and I want to have it in the center of the rear seat. This car seat can be fastened both using the latch system and the seatbelt. This question is more for those who have this particular setup or have any experience with it... can I place the car seat in the middle and use the outer latches from each of the sides? or is that not considered safe?

How is the sizing of this car seat? Is there enough room in the Q5 for this seat? I know that Britax is another really good one, but Uppa Baby (the maker of the stroller that we want to get) doesn't make adapters for the Britax.

If you don't have any experience to answer questions from above, which infant car seat are you using in your Q5? Are you happy with it? Is it made of high quality materials? How do you have it installed?

Thanks!

georgehf

Congratulations!

It is my understanding that it is not safe to use the latch system in the center. i.e. using one from each side. We use the latch system on the passenger side which seems to us to be safer than just using the belt in either position. I like having the little dude on the passenger side because it easier to see him or hand him something at stop lights, etc. YMMV. One thing that makes our lives a lot easier is having a 2 piece system. We have a base mounted in both of our cars and then then infant seat that just clicks in place.


FYI: You can go to your local police or fire station and they will have a dedicated infant seat checker to let you know if it's safely installed.

kleinbus

We tried to keep ours on middle but the latches are so far on each side and makes long distance sitting annoying when the latch lock is poking ones butt.

If you use ISO-FIX latches then you don't need the belt at all.

For just born we had rear facing Graco snugride.

Now old enough to be forward facing so we got her Recaro Proride.

hmn4858

I got that car seat for first born and hated it. It's one if not the heaviest infant seats around. I thought it would be nice to adjust the straps via dial vs having to manually thread them but it was so not worth it. This go around it's collecting dust and I got two chicco keyfits 30s in it's place. Also, at the time I got the Peg it was the only 30/30 on the market. Honestly though, who is going to lug an infant seat around with a 30 lb kid inside. Mine used her's for about eight months and then went into a britax marathon. I much prefer latch to a belt, so I had mine on the passenger side as well. The middle seats on both vehicles we own have anchors but no latch. Not sure why this is the case. Maybe something to do with required spacing of the latches?

If you find a stroller you want but an infant seat that doesn't fit you can always buy one of those snap rides. I think they're like sixty for a single and pretty much will work with any car seat. Just remember you're going to be using the stroller long after you've forgotten about the infant carrier.

bayridgeguy

Thank you all for your insights, very helpfull indeed.

@hmn4858, great idea about buying a cheap snap ride... didn't even think of that...

@georgehf, thank you! Being a newbie to this, I will definitely stop by the NYPD or FDNY and have them inspect my setup.

@kleinbus, iso-fix latches are what I am talking about in my question right? The ones in the outer seats in our Q5s?

Thanks again!

vwtoys

We have SIP 30-30 seat in the middle right now. My wife being only 5'1" is having a heck of a time carrying that heavy car seat around with our 10lb infant son since she's on the petite side. She's literally lugging it around. It's pretty difficult to reach and mount the car seat in the center position because the thing is pretty heavy to begin with. The center mounting is less than ideal because the ISOFIX anchors are for the side seats. I have the 3-point belt mounted plus I extended the ISOFIX buckles so they'll reach both inside ISOFIX anchors from the left and right seats. I will switch to side mounting the car seat when my folks leave town so my wife can handle the seat easier.
The good thing with the SIP 30-30 is that it works with our Bugaboo so we can just snap the car seat onto the Bugaboo frame and be on our way. But so does Graco and another brand.

Reisen

I have a 15 month old daughter, so went through all of this last year. I'll caveat that we didn't get our Q5 until our daughter was 13 months old, so we did the first year in our E46 BMW coupe. We were in Hoboken, and I see you're in Brooklyn (knew you were a New Yorker from the product names in your post!).

HMN4858 is completely right about the weight limit. One thing to think about is that there is a good chance your child will hit the height limit on the infant carrier before they hit the weight limit (mine did). Also, it would be really heavy and awkward to carry around a 25 or 30 pound infant in one of those infant car seat carriers.

My recommendation is to go with the Graco Snugride. It's so popular for a reason. We were very pleased with ours.

The bigger question is the snap-n-go stroller versus the UppaBaby (I assume you're looking at the Vista, which came in #2 in our stroller selection process). We had the snap-n-go, which was convenient and light, but there's no suspension, and the ride is pretty rough around the NYC area. Once we started using our main stroller (we went with the Bumbleride Indie), we were much happier with the ride (and so was our daughter).

In terms of the middle seat, it's my belief that's the safest place for the infant, as a side intrusion in the case of getting T-Boned is less likely to impact them. I had no problem using the inner (you wrote outer, I assume you mean inner) latch anchors from each side with the Graco Snugride. We moved her front-facing at 13 months, and now use a Recaro Proride with the upper tether, in both the BMW and the Q5. Works great. I never noticed it poking you in the butt, although it's definitely tight in the back of the BMW. One downside is you have to reach a little farther into the center to get to the seat. The big upside is you can put both the driver's and passenger's seats back farther, and both of you can interact easier with the baby.

We went with the Snugride into the ProRide rear facing, into the ProRide front-facing. I can't say enough great things about the Pro Ride... really, really well-made seat. For comparison, we bought a Graco Nautilus a few weeks ago as a backup car seat for the BMW. It works fine, but the ProRide is really much nicer. Better materials, more comfortable, better buckles, better Latch connectors, etc. The only nice thing the Nautilus has that the Recaro doesn't is a cupholder!

Lastly, it's up to you, but I think all the recommendation on having the fire department or the police department check your car seat installation is way overkill. If you're smart enough to figure out the Audi's technology features (MMI, etc.), you're way more than smart enough to install a car seat. Take the time and get it tight, and you'll be good.

bayridgeguy

@Reisen, it is pretty funny that by stroller/car seat brands you can kind of guess where one is from. Bugaboo Cameleon - tons of them in Manhattan. Uppa Baby Vista - lots of them in my area of Brooklyn - Bay Ridge.

Regarding latches - when i said outer latches, I was considering the distance away from each door, but I understand what you mean.

Did you go with the Snugride 30 or the regular one?

I kind of like the Chicco Keyfit 30 as well...

@vwtoys what about the safety aspect of it? The side cushions? Would you say that those features overweigh the negative aspect of the weight? if you were to do it over again, would you go for the sip 30-30 again?

Q5Dawg

Currently using a Chico Keyfit 30 and really like it - have a base in the Q5 and the Jeep GC, both located in the center using the latch system. Wife had the same concern with a side impact so baby goes in the middle. Haven't had passengers and baby at the same time in the Q5 yet, so not sure on the seating room.

vwtoys

Are you talking about the head restraint/support?
Our SIP is an older model, with flimsier head support. Our little one's head tilt to the side since his neck is still a little weak. Truthfully I didn't think it was optimal for side impact protection, given that the head support pads are not too rigid. I have since added foam on either side so the head slot is only about 5-6 inches across and his head will be straight. I think he will be more comfortable. And add a little cushioning for side impact. If I were you I would check out the Graco seats since they're a bit cheaper and may just work fine.