Car seat for Audi TT / 2 seaters?

[BMalc]

Hi all

I have an Audi TT with very little space at the back and am planning to buy a car seat for when the baby is born (Nov 2020). I am just not sure if I should get a rear-facing one to place next to me on the passager seat with air-bags off or a forward-facing one to fit at the back.
Does anyone here have an Audi TT or a type of sports car that doesn't have space at the back for a full-grown human?

I am completely aware that the Audi TT isn't the most family-friendly car, but during the week will be just me and the baby. My husband has a company car that works well for the family to use on weekends so want some advice on what car seat to get!

Thank you so much!
B

You should not use a forward facing car seat until your dc is at least 2, definitely not with a baby. You should be fine fitting a rear facing seat into the back as long as the seat in front is pulled right forward. You could visit your local halfords store and ask their advice on a seat that would fit in the back that is rear facing, and they can help fit it too. all the best

Rear facing in the front is still much safer than forward facing in the back! The 25kg seats tend to be more compact as they’re seatbelt installed instead of isofix so less bulky so if I was you I’d go for that after the group 0+.

Good ones to have a look at are the Britax Two-Way Elite, Britax MaxWay, Axkid Move and Axkid MiniKid.

Tbh I think it would be easier to install in the front as we once had to install our car seat (joie bold) in the back of a TT and it’s not something I’d want to do again! Felt almost harder than doing a DofE expedition did

You can't use a forward facing seat from birth, it would have to be a rear facing one at least at first. They have to be rear facing until at least 9kg weight or 15 months in age, depending on which regulation your car seat is approved to - we have two sets of regulations running at the moment as the 9kg one is due to be phased out soon.

As others have said it's also not the best idea to move to front facing ASAP - you want to keep them rear facing for longer if possible. It's a big strain on their necks to be front facing because babies and toddlers have such big heads.

Halfords aren't the best for advice about non-standard situations, like sports cars. You'd get better advice and support at a specialist retailer, there's a good list here: www.carseatlibrariesuk.com/approved-retailers.html#/

Otherwise I would recommend to look for baby equipment shops near you which are independent rather than chain stores. They tend to have better training from the car seat manufacturers directly.

I think tea is probably spot on with the Group 0+ then 25kg rear facing seat advice!

Also worth noting - you need at least 55cm of space between the child seat and the seat in front to fit a forward facing seat safely. This is the distance in the legal standard that the child's head is allowed to come forwards out of the seat, so any less space and you risk them hitting their head in an accident which can be fatal. In most cars you wouldn't get close to that limit but in a sports car it's definitely worth being aware of.