Question for mummy and daddy Cougar owners!

[unkychris]

I am currently looking to buy a Cougar but have a simple requirement.
We have a 10 month old son, and whilst the Cougar would not be the main car he would be driven in, we need to have the option to put a forward facing child seat in the back seat very occasionally.
Does anyone know if there is any brand of child seat which fits the Cougar?

Thanks

[GCatz]

Im no daddy yet but when I am I will start them off on the right feet with this classy Recaro baby seat!

Recaro Baby Seat (http://www.recaro-nao.com/seattechnologies/boosterseat/main.htm)

[timjford]

Hi,

Yes, I think most would fit. We have a Maxi Cosi Priori which fits nicely in the back and is reasonably easy to get our baby in and out. This is quite a smart looking seat available from Mothercare for £90-£100 and is finished in black and grey cloth. You can get it in black leather to match the Cougar seats although it costs about £300, but is obviously a lot cheaper if you get it from the states.

You can also put this in the front if you disable the airbags. Don't think you can isolate the passenger airbags, but I do believe you can disable all airbags simply by pulling out the fuse.

I did check at the Ford dealers in case they recommended any specific brand, but they said all should be fine.

Good luck,

Tim.

[unkychris]

Tim

When you have the Maxi Cosi Priori in the back of the Cougar does the base of the child seat sit flat on the bottom of the Cougar rear seat, or is there a gap underneath the child seat base? We tried a Britax Club Class today and the base wasn't sitting flush with the heavily contoured Cougar seat, it was basically too wide to be pushed right down into the Cougar seat.

If the Maxi Cosi Priori does fit well then the Cougar may still be an option, I hope it is!

Chris

[timjford]

Chris,

Seems to fit quite well although there may be a small gap underneath. When our baby was smaller we used a different, rear facing seat and there was a massive gap underneath. We just put a firm cushion in the gap and that solved the problem, so I suppose you could use a cushion with any seat.

The seatbelt holds the Maxi Cosi seat pretty securely, but if you want to be double safe, have a look at the Priori XP model which includes a seat belt tensioner and costs about £120-£130 (also looks pretty snazzy).

I bought the Cougar after our baby was born and everyone thought I was mad, but it has actually turned out to be quite practical.

Go for it !

Tim.

[AlanN]

Hi,
I've got a Graco child seat with it's Base fitted perfectly well in the back of my Cougar.
The base fits in semi-permanently and the seat just pops in and out as need be.
The base also lies quite flat as it has extendable legs to further stabilise it. They don't recommend using cushions beneath the seat, and they also say that it doesn't have to sit perfectly on the bottom of the seat.
Hope this is of some use.

[unkychris]

Thanks Tim and AlanN for the info.

AlanN - Do you know what model Graco seat you have?
Did either of you get your seats fitted at a shop (eg Mothercare), I was wondering if they would recommend what seat would fit the Cougar.

Thanks

Chris

[AlanN]

Hi Chris,
It's a Graco metrosport with the autobaby base.
Mothercare have a demo base & seat in store, and allowed us to try it and see in the carpark !
Hope this helps,
Alan