Civic baby?

January 3, 2008 10:53 AM

Will our Honda Civic get along with our newborn?

The wife is pregnant and is due in a few months. We currently share a Honda Civic EX 2002, which has been a dream of reliability and ease of use. (It's been the first and only car for either of us, and we're both in our 30s.) It looks like there's more than ample room for the car seat in the back, but how have those of you Civic drivers with actual experience doing this fared? We love our Civic; will it love our child?

Most likely we will also have to buy a second car as well. I'd prefer not to commit to a minivan or something behemoth-y. Obviously safety is the primary consideration, but I also would like something that gets relatively good gas mileage and won't break the bank, as we need the money to spend on other things as well. Any suggestions for what we might look at?

posted by azure_swing to travel & transportation (27 answers total)

I had a civic for years and moved to a new city twice in it. So, considering I fit all my worldly possessions in it and strapped a mattress to the roof I imagine you can fit baby, carseat, stroller, nap bin (whatever you call those sleep cages), diaper bag, toys, and what ever you two need and remember.

Enjoy parenthood
posted by munchingzombie at 11:20 AM on January 3, 2008

Totally doable. I have a few friends with Civics (and babies) and they haven't complained any more than the average "man this carseat weighs a ton." Toddlerhood is when it starts to get a little trickier, and that's when people I know consider moving to a larger car. Partly because even in a toddler seat or convertible seat, toddlers start eating into legroom and can make it hard for the person in front to move their seat back or recline (I have a Volvo wagon and the front passenger seat in the car is cramped even for me at 5'4"). And partly because there's just more stuff in the car when you travel, or it's around the time you have a second kid so, why not? I think you'll be completely fine with an infant.

For a second car, you might check out a new or used Prius or Subaru. I've owned neither, but belong to a few car enthusiast groups and those two cars consistently float to the top for the criteria you mention. Subaru especially for good maintenance track records and long-term reliability.
posted by cocoagirl at 11:22 AM on January 3, 2008

Why not get another Civic? They've become much roomier and even more safe since 2002. Don't believe that you need a big SUV in order to be safe. There is increased rollover risk in an SUV and, oddly enough, increased risk of backing over your own kid in the driveway.

Otherwise, I love all the little sports wagons on the market. When we have a kid, I'd probably pick up one of those, like a Mazda3 hatchback or Mazda6 wagon.
posted by AaRdVarK at 11:25 AM on January 3, 2008

You'll be fine with the Civic.
posted by The World Famous at 11:25 AM on January 3, 2008

If it's a 4 door Civic you'll be fine. We had a 4 door Mazda Protege with our first child and never felt overly cramped.
posted by COD at 11:26 AM on January 3, 2008

My wife had a 2-door civic, which we determined was not going to be baby-friendly.
For another data point, we traded it in for a Pontiac Vibe (which is identical to the Toyota Matrix).
posted by jozxyqk at 11:28 AM on January 3, 2008

Using a rear-facing car seat in the back seat of a two-door can be challenging. When we did it with a Ford Festiva hatchback, we put the baby into the seat via the hatch.
posted by winston at 11:31 AM on January 3, 2008

Thanks all. I should have specified that our Civic is indeed a 4 door.
posted by azure_swing at 11:34 AM on January 3, 2008

Ah, well, if it's a 4-door, you're good-to-go! Had it been a 2-door, you would've quickly gotten very, very tired of doing that load/unload-the-kid-from-the-backseat-through-the-front-door spine twist.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:38 AM on January 3, 2008

My kids have always fit just fine in my mom's '96 Civic coupe from infancy to booster-age, and as others have noted, they've gotten bigger and roomier since.

Also, the trunk on any Honda seems to have room for all possible baby gear, plus some bodies.
posted by padraigin at 11:39 AM on January 3, 2008

Totally do-able, not a problem.

That being said ...

If you do plan on buying a car, test out a minivan, and specifically the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna.

Reason: You will find it 1000 times easier to manage car seat transfers with the big sliding doors. So much so that you might ditch your otherwise perfectly fine Civic right there on the spot, as my "I hate minivans" wife did.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:48 AM on January 3, 2008

If you like your Civic and want a new car that's not a minivan, I highly recommend an Accord. We have a 2005 Accord - I'm dumb and don't know what the letters are (EX, LX?) but it's the most pimped out you can get, minus the V6 or navigation. It was 23K.

It's awesome and fits a Britax Roundabout in the middle back seat, and 2 adults still fit on either side (I'm not going to say they are riding in super-comfort, though). The Marathon seat is bigger and I don't know how that would fit.
posted by peep at 12:00 PM on January 3, 2008

I take my 10-week-old everywhere in my Civic hybrid.
posted by GaelFC at 12:06 PM on January 3, 2008

Totally doable. Got all the way through the car seat/booster seat phase with two kids in an Escort.... approximately the same size vehicle. The biggest hurdle is whether you have enough room for the BSE (baby support equipment) you may need to carry.
posted by Doohickie at 12:11 PM on January 3, 2008

My wife and I shared one car (a 4 door civic). The car seat and stroller/misc fit fine. The larger issue for us became just needing a second car because our kid wasn't perfectly healthy and that necessitated her having many Dr. appointments.

The last thing in the world you will want to do is take a hopefully sleeping baby out in the car to drop the other off at work. Living in MN also means dealing with a cold car at the same time.

We ended up buying an 07 accord lx as our second car. The trunk is much bigger than the civic but for some reason the back seat seems about the same size. So my advice is to get a second car, and consider getting another civic (as long as you both fit fine in your current civic).
posted by rdurbin at 12:15 PM on January 3, 2008

Should work in a Civic. Get the car seat early. The baby may come early, and you will need the car seat to get him or her home. As for a new car, the only things to watch out for as far as the car seat is concerned are leather seats and deep bucket like seats. A car seat can damage the leather and some of those deep bucket seats have the belts extending not from the crack between the bottom and back cushions, but from little arms sticking out. Those little arms will prevent you from getting the car seat firmly back against the back cushion. That is a safety issue.
posted by caddis at 12:16 PM on January 3, 2008

I've had my Civic since my first was born and now we have two. No real problem with space. Honda Civics are deceptively roomy.
posted by any major dude at 12:37 PM on January 3, 2008

RE: Getting a second car -

Seems you're already a Honda family, and I just thought I'd chime in that my kids have ridden around almost exclusively in our four (consecutive) Accords.

The boy is six now, and the girl four, and they both dig the most recent Accord, a 2008. But the 2003, 1999, and 1997 models were fine for them as well.
posted by SlyBevel at 12:41 PM on January 3, 2008

Totally doable. We have a preschooler and an infant in one from 2000. Our http://www.tsfbcaa.com/child_safety_seats
>traffic safety foundation offers car seat clinics and a 1-800 number. They will give advice about what car seats are safest and easiest for particular cars. You might want to see if there is a (free) service like this in your area. And take advantage of any free installation that the traffic safety foundation or store offers. In our case, you don't even have to be a member of the auto club to take advantage of these services.

BTW, our traffic safety people and community health authority both suggest that 3-in-1 car seats are not ideal. It is hard to excel at all 3.
posted by acoutu at 12:44 PM on January 3, 2008

Twins in a 1993 Protege LX 4-door, no problem. Your Civic is safer than that, and I believe larger too (provided it's a 4-door), plus you only have one kid.

The Honda Fit gets great mileage and is very, very roomy; I don't know what safety is like, but if we needed to replace the Protege in a child-friendly way I'd give it a look.
posted by davejay at 1:10 PM on January 3, 2008

Me = 4 month old boy. 4 door (2000) Civic. All good. You'll be fine - best of luck!!
posted by dmt at 1:57 PM on January 3, 2008

Your Civic will be fine. They are great cars.

Our second car was a used Hyundai Santa Fe. It's very dependable, very safe, 4WD and easy to buckle the kiddo into the carseat. Hyundais depreciate very fast, so you should be able to find a 1-2 year-old one for significantly less than a new one. Gas mileage is ok but not great - around 24 mpg on the highway. However our Civic makes up for it at around 38 mpg on the highway.
posted by Ostara at 2:33 PM on January 3, 2008

Nthing the Civic as sufficient for car seats, and children all the way up to gangly teenagers. The only difficulty you will encounter is the opening for the trunk may not be large enough for a stroller, or other large bulky baby item (although the trunk itself is roomy). I would definitely test this out with a friend's stroller, or at least get some measurements on the items you would be carrying around regularly.

My father-in-law has a new Fit. He carries his bicycle and tool box (large - he's a carpenter) in it and loves the car to death. I would go for something like that before a van if you look into second cars.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 3:40 PM on January 3, 2008

We have a four-door Civic and a four+ month old.

The 'convertible' car seat we got takes up a ridiculous amount of space -- ridiculous! test your car seat in your car before buying if at all possible -- but it's still quite doable.
posted by kmennie at 4:03 PM on January 3, 2008

Seconding the Santa Fe, especially since they came out with a new body style in... 07 I think. So the 05s and maybe 06s are the old body style. Not as stylish but DIRT cheap compared to other comparable cars. And the basic, bumper-to-bumper warranty is transferrable to all owners (5 years, 60,000 miles)
posted by Doohickie at 5:19 PM on January 3, 2008

Another yeh on the civic. We've had two since our oldest was born. Never been a problem. had a mini-van briefly way back at the beginning as well & don't miss it a whit. You'll be fine.
posted by susanbeeswax at 11:15 PM on January 3, 2008

I had a Civic and loved it well, and my husband had a Protege, but in my last trimester I had a really hard time getting out of the Civic (and the Prot was on its last legs). We bought an Accord LX and loved it -- it was good for us while our daughter was a baby, and into early toddlerhood, but she is exceptionally tall..... and once she turned tantrum-y and started refusing to get into her seat, it got harder and harder for me to twist and get her into her seat. Add a second pregnancy and I really couldn't twist at all.

Why don't you test your car? Get your baby carrier, load it up with several pounds of books or whatever (smart to put the weight limit in -- the baby does grow over the year...) and practice slinging it int and out of the seat several times a day.

FWIW, we bought a 2007 Honda Odyssey about 6 weeks ago and MAN I love it. No twisting for me to get her into her seat. Easy in and out with a big pregnant belly.
posted by mdiskin at 6:38 AM on January 4, 2008