[Jgordon]

It's a year and a half later, and I'm happy to report that we've survived and flourished with the infant seat in the 911. I honestly don't get the tisk-tisking that occurred here. I could obviously get a suburban and put a roll cage in it, along with foam, but I've never felt unsafe in the 911. As I said above, I'm a fairly risk-averse person, and I take great precautions with my son, but I really never felt that I was compromising his safety. I've even gotten secretive requests for my parts list and step by step instructions, but I won't out anyone.

By the way we had him, his car seat, his stroller (full size bugaboo chameleon), diapers, wipes, clothing, etc. etc. etc. and all of our stuff for a week's worth of vacation in the car. Took some logistics but everything fit. These cars are much more versatile and capable than people give them credit for.

Things are a bit more complicated now, as I'm searching for a toddler seat. I feel fairly confident about fitting a front-facing seat in the car, but it's the rear-facing I'm concerned about. He's more or less outgrown the infant seat, but kids apparently don't have enough neck strength to withstand a hit while front facing at this age. I'll likely do the same thing and take the base off, then use my race belts to secure the seat in place. I may just stretch the infant seat time until I feel comfortable putting him front-facing, but ideally we'd find a way to do it while following all guidelines.

Any suggestions on good, compact-yet-safe, current toddler seats?

Thanks again to those who contributed thoughts and suggestions. It's been rewarding to be able to use the car throughout mine and his lives, and to contribute to something that means so much to me (and obviously to others) here on the forum.