Can you use car seat extenders with car seats??

[mama2moo]

My parents have a Ford Focus and we really struggle with car seats.

I have a Britax Trio for them but it will not fit.

I have found car seat extenders on Amazon but they dont state if you can use them with car seats.

Does anyone know?? Thanks.

[mistlethrush]

What's the problem you're having with the seats?

Dh has travelled with ds in a focus and didn't have any problem getting his seat fitted properly.

[FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010]

Car seat extenders that don't state you can use them with car seats? What would you use them with and what do they do?

IMO if it doesn't fit as it is, then I would get another seat and not start altering the seat in any way.

[mama2moo]

The seat belt is too short. My sister has a different Focus and the seat we cant fit in my Parents car fits fine!

We will buy another seat if need be but I wondered if there was anything else we could do. A friend mentioned car seat extenders but I cant see that they would be safe so thought I would ask

[kellyatbabyguds]

It sounds like this seat does not fit your car and has probably not passed safety testing for this. Have a look at the Britax fit finder to check it out

[BertieBotts]

Do you mean a seat belt extender? I would not have thought they would be safe - you have the issue of buckle crunch (which is when the plastic part of the buckle is in contact with the carseat) doubled, and also the buckle itself is a weakness - again this is doubled, not what you want really. And not how the seat is designed to be strapped in.

Are you kneeling on the seat and really pushing all your weight into it before tightening the belt at each step? Also as Kelly mentioned, Britax have a fit finder on their website which should tell you if the seat has been tested by Britax to fit that car.

[differentID]

what car seat do you have?

If it is base compatable you need to use it with a base. Tampering with the seat belt in any way means it will not work as it's supposed to and not just your child but everyone else in the car could be put in danger.

[mama2moo]

This one is the one we cant fit.

TBH I havent tried putting a lot of weight in it to fit it. Im 39 weeks pg and seem to the only one in the family who can fit them (no one else even bothers to try)

Once I have had this baby I will give it another go and put my weight in it.

Great idea about the Britax car seat finder, I will do that now

[usernametaken]

We have the Evolva 123. It fitted well into my Ford Ka, but we just could not get it into my mum's Ka. The Kas were roughly the same age, but the seatbelts in my Ka were about 10cm longer. I thought these things came as standard.
In the end I used a different seat in my mums Ka. I guess we could have used the Evolva 123 as a booster, but I wanted DD in the harness.

[andirobobo]

You can get new seatbelts fitted that are longer - your Ford garage should be able to give you price for that - should be less than the cost of a new car seat!