Hello, this is my first forum post so hopefully it turns out like I expect. In this post I'll be taking you through fitting rear-facing and front-facing childrens car seats simultaneously in my 2017 Mustang GT/CS.
Disclaimers:
There is a lot of evidence that children are more safe riding in rear-facing seats. Make sure to do your own research to educate yourself so you can make informed decisions about when it's appropriate for you to switch to front facing seats. Also be sure to check current crash safety ratings for your particular make/model to determine if it is safe to have kids ride in the back seats. I've heard people joke that rear seats can be only included in cars to reduce the insurance premium. I've spent 10's of hours researching information in order to feel comfortable with my setup. If you deem it too dangerous to transport your kids in your mustang, that's ok. Different strokes for different folks. All of my research was done between 2020-2023, the weight information I reference is from the Graco user manuals.
Technical Information:
Let's start with some background info. I am relatively fit, 6'1 and 180lbs. My kids are 3(30lbs) and 1(18lbs).
The car seats I am using are the Graco SnugRide SnugLock infant car seat, Graco Slimfit 3-in-1 convertible car seat, and Graco Tranzitions 3-in-1 harness booster.
Install History:
The SnugRide was our first car seat purchase and is the seat we used to take our kids home from the hospital. The SnugRide will work for kids 4-35lbs and is by far the most EASY method for transporting kids. Once my older kid outgrew the SnugRide he was upgraded to the Slimfit in rear-facing orientation which works for kids 5-40lbs. This is by FAR the most DIFFICULT orientation for loading kids. Next up was rotating the Slimfit to the front-facing orientation, which can be used for kids 22-65lbs. Once my younger kid got bigger he was upgraded from the SnugRide to the Slimfit in rear-orientation. My older kid was upgraded to the Tranzitions in forward-facing harness mode, for kids 22-65lbs. The Tranzitions will also be used for high-back boost and backless booster, for kids 40-100lbs. Now that we got that out of the way let's get into each car seat along with the why and how.
Infant Car Seat Setup:
As mentioned before I used the Graco SnugRide SnugLock car seat. There are 2 parts to this car seat. There is a base that gets installed into the car and the seat(carrier) that you buckle the baby into. To install the base follow the directions included in the manual, the base can't be angled too steeply or it won't be safe. Thankfully this base comes with an adjustable height/angle mechanism that can fill the gap in the back of the seat. You will notice the dish towel under the base, this is just to protect the material and it's probably not necessary. The carrier has the 5 point harness built into it so you can buckle your kid up before you leave the house. The carrier is then ...carried... out to the car and clipped into the base. For me, the base has to be installed in the passenger side of my car since the carrier is pretty long and burns up my ability to move my driver's seat backwards. Another side effect of the length of the carrier is that the passenger seat has the headrest removed. There is enough room to store the headrest between the base and the side of the car. If the headrest wasn't removed I would not be able to see out the passenger window freely. Also I can't release the seat to bend it forward because the headrest will interfere with the roof of the car. Be sure to leave enough room for your hand to fit between the carrier and the seat so you can use the quick fold release on the back-center of the mustang's seat. This way the seat will always clip right back to the same orientation when you are done folding it forward. One good this about the infant seat is that you can peak over at your buddy and be eye-to-eye with them
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Infant Car Seat Loading/Unloading:
To load the carrier in the car you will need the passenger door opened 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. It's possible to load the carrier one armed but two arms makes it easier to maneuver. For demonstration proposes I'm holding the carrier with my left arm, but I prefer to use my right arm since your body can naturally rotate to face the rear seat. You will notice that there is just enough room to fit the carrier between the door jam, seat, and ceiling. If you get the orientation perfect the carrier slides right through this opening, other times you need to push the bottom in first before getting the handle to clear the ceiling. Once the carrier is fully inside the car rotate it 1/4 turn to the left to align the carrier with the base. It helps to align the "feet" of the carrier with the indentations of the base and kinda slide the carrier down the base until it reaches the clips and clicks into place. I make sure to give the carrier a nudge upward and downward to ensure it's fully seated. Once the carrier is seated you will need to ensure your passenger seat is setup properly. Start by getting acquainted with how your seat works There are two levers, one quick release lever in the center-back of the seat, and one on the right side by the hinge. The one by the hinge is used to set the seat recline to a specific angle. The one in the center-back is a quick release, which allows the chair to fully fold forward from any angle, but more importantly it will allow the seat to click back to the orientation it was in before the lever was pulled. I exclusively use the quick release so I don't need to remember to leave my hand room to pull the quick release lever. You can feel free to make up your own method. It doesn't matter if you leave the carrier's hand up or fold it down. If you fold it down though you will need to budget a little more room behind the passenger seat to pull the quick-release. To unload the carrier move the passenger seat forward. The carrier has a release hidden under the bonnet near the kid's head, you will pull this release and lift the carrier out at the same time. This requires both of my human arms to be ready and available. I added some pictures with a tape measure to show how much room is taken up.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
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Infant Car Seat Considerations:
Driving with a kid can be distracting! They make noises, cry, ask questions, do annoying things. Sometimes I find myself reacting out of instinct and glancing back to check on them. Always remember to focus on the road and pull over whenever your kid requires attention.
The passenger seat will become nearly useless for riders as it won't have much recline or legspace. When the carrier is out of the car you have full utility of the passenger seat again.
The sun! Kid's don't like it blasting in their eyes and they will use their tiny voice to let you know until you fix the problem, haha. The car seat has a built in bonnet that helps block the sun from the front of the car. It is not effective against blocking sun from the side or rear of the car. For this you will need to purchase those cling-on baby shades, or detach the built in bonnet and pull it toward the kid's feet. You will most likely not be able to find a baby shade that fits in the small triangle window, so you will need to get creative. I used a piece of cardboard and cut a notch such that I could hang it on the cloths hanger. In a pinch you are able to use your arm to block the sun from the kid's eyes, but this is not a long term solution
In the winter the rear seats don't get good airflow.You will need to manually control the HVAC as the car's automatic climate control isn't good at getting air to the rear seats. I always make sure I aim the passenger vents and center vent over the passenger seat so hot air makes its way back to the kid. Make sure the fans are set to the upper vents only with decent fan speed, unless defogging is needed. Also, my Mustang comes with a factory installed engine block heater. If it is 32F ambient I can plug my car in for 4 hours and have the coolant at 100F when I start the car. The heat isn't hot and ready but it shaves off about 1 minute of runtime to get to the same temp. Which if you've ever spent time sitting in a near-freezing car is a verrrry long minute.
Rear Facing Seat Setup:
Time to test how dedicated you are to fitting your kid into your mustang > For my rear facing set I used the Graco SlimFit. For me, the seat has to be installed in the passenger side of my car since the seat is pretty long and burns up my ability to move my driver's seat backwards. A side effect of the length of the seat is that the passenger seat has the headrest removed. If the headrest wasn't removed I would not be able to see out the passenger window freely. There is enough room to store the headrest between the base and the side of the car. I used the lower LATCH anchors instead of the seatbelt to install this seat. To install the seat follow the directions included in the manual. Since the rear seats are quite angled I needed to put a folded beach towel at the back part of the seat to keep the seat's base semiflat. If the base gets too angled the seat will want to rotate head-over-feet which won't work. This is because the LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. This seat comes with adjustable seat angle and a level gauge. Once you have the seat base somewhat flat and secure you can then use the seat's angle gauge to set the correct recline for the kids size. If you optioned your mustang with the memory seats give yourself a big pat on the back, if not, you have some R&D to do. My Mustang has 3 seat positions that can be saved, the first is my optimal driving position, the second is my optimal position + side mirrors angled down for curb parking, the third is move the seat all the way forward. I don't currently have a car seat installed in my car with this orientation, so I will have to updated this post later with more picture.
Rear Facing Seat Loading/Unloading:
Start by looking into your kid's eyes and telling them things are able to get close for a second I'll have photos to accompany my explanation of the loading process in a following post(I've hit my photo limit of 10) but they have the SnugFit(infant) seat instead of the SlimFit. The proccess is the same but I haven't installed the SlimFit in this orientation yet. I will hopefully update this post later with those pictures. Start by opening the drivers door 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. Move your driver seat all the way forward, for me this is memory preset 3. I suppose you could load/unload the kid with one arm but using two arms keeps the kid 100% more secure. Hold your kid facing you against your chest with their head on your left shoulder and feet on your stomach. Start by putting your right foot in the car and turning so your hips can squeeze between your seat and the door jam. Start your sitting motion by leaning forward, support your kids head with your right hand. Leading with your hips start sitting in your rear seat. My idea order is hips, knees, baby, then my head. Once your head is in the car you can sit in the rear seat as any normal fully grown adult holding a baby would, awkwardly. Take a second to reflect on how that went and what tweaks you could make to get the entry smoother. Once you've reflected on that and your choices that have lead you to this moment place your kid in their seat. You can either scooch over ontop of the hump that separates the rear seats or scooch up your seat to get closer. Now you will need to wrangle the kid into a 5 point harness, remember to smile, you're doing great. Once they are buckled up feel free to take a seat next to them and goof around, you actually have a decent amount of space to move now that you're not holding a baby. To get yourself out the back seats pretty much do the reverse order of the entry. Once I'm out I press memory preset 1 to return my seat to my optimal driving position.
Rear Facing Seat Considerations:
These will be the same as the Infant Car Seat Considerations, except for the passenger seat bit. You won't regain utility of the passenger seat since you won't be taking the kid's seat out. Check out that section for more details.
Front Facing Seat Setup:
If you made it to this stage you have caught up to where I currently am. I used both the Graco SlimFit and Tranzitions for front facing seats. I now have the choice to install the seat on either the driver or passenger side. Since I have two kids the front facing seat is on the driver side as it allows the drivers seat to be further back than the rear facing seat would allow. To install the seat follow the directions included in the manual.
For the SlimFit: Since the rear seats are quite angled I needed to put a folded beach towel at the back part of the seat to keep the seat's base semiflat. If the base gets too angled the seat will want to rotate feet-over-head which won't work. This is because the LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. Once you have the seat base somewhat flat and secure you can then use the seat's angle gauge to set the correct recline for the kids size.
For the Tranzitions: At this point I have the two lower LATCH and one upper LATCH points tightened as much as possible. The tranzitions had about 2 inches of horizontal movement at the base front-to-back which is too much. This is because the lower LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. To reduce the movement I took the passenger seatbelt and use the lap strap to route along the side of the seat, accross the front, then to the bucklet. I tucked the chest strap behind the car seat. I then pulled the seatbelt all the way out to activate the ratcheting mechanism. This allowed me to tighten the seatbelt, thereby pulling the carseat backwards, which locked down the horizontal movement.
Now you need to be VERY careful of moving your front seat forward and backward. Your kid's feet will land squarely in a pinchpoint between the rear seat end and front seat back. If you get careless with moving your seat back you can hurt your kids feet and ankles badly. The length of your kid's shoes will determine how far you can recline and move the front seat.
Front Facing Seat Loading/Unloading:
Start by opening the drivers door 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. Move your driver seat all the way forward, for me this is memory preset 3. Now you will work with your kid to decide if they are going to climb in or if you are going to put them in their seat. Make sure to move the front seat's seatbelt out of the way so the kid won't trip. Also make sure they don't bonk their head on the door jamb as they get taller. Once they are sitting in their seat you can either sit on your door sill or take a half-step into the car to buckle their 5 point harness. Tighten up the straps and you're all done. Carefully step out of the car and fold the front driver seat back to it's normal position. I ALWAYS have one hand on my kids feet as I set the driver's set back to driving position to ensure they don't get pinched or smashed. I use memory preset 2 for my suboptimal driving position that allows room for my kids feet. The seat position works fine for 45 minute drives.
For unloading move the front seat all the way forward. Make sure the front seatbelt is out of the way for their little feet since this can cause them a trip hazard and you don't want them to fall out of the car since there is nothing for them to catch themselves on except for you.
Front Facing Seat Considerations:
The same distracted driving and winter consideration as the Infant Car Seat Considerations section.
The sun poses new issues for my kid. If it's early morning, like when I take him to school, the sun might be so close to the horizon that it blares through the front windshield and into their eyes. As drivers we have a flip down visor that resolves our issues, but there isn't anything similar for the kid. This is when I took my kid sunglasses shopping, which was a lot of fun. It might take a few tries but eventually they will be able to put their sunglasses on. My kid likes to wear them upside down xD If you're going on long roadtrips you will want a babyshade for the rear window or a hat since the kid's head will be under the glass. The Graco seats I chose have enough latteral head bolstering that sun peering in through the rear quarter window isn't an issue because it gets blocked out.
Your kid now has the ability to kick your chair and get dirty shoe prints on it. Remain calm and use your parent brain in these circumstances.
Front facing seats now have the least headroom for your kid of any orientation. The backrest on the car seats extend upward but will quickly run into the rear window. I haven't run out of headroom for my kid yet but it's possible he might outgrow his forward facing seat before he's ready to ride without a car seat.
Wrapping Up:
I really hope my post helps you understand what you're heading into when being a parent with a S550 Mustang. I've lived with my Mustang as my daily driver with 2 kids for 3 years successfully. Feel free to contribute to this post by adding what car seats fit in your mustang and asking questions.
Thanks for reading!
-EmbeddedJake
Disclaimers:
There is a lot of evidence that children are more safe riding in rear-facing seats. Make sure to do your own research to educate yourself so you can make informed decisions about when it's appropriate for you to switch to front facing seats. Also be sure to check current crash safety ratings for your particular make/model to determine if it is safe to have kids ride in the back seats. I've heard people joke that rear seats can be only included in cars to reduce the insurance premium. I've spent 10's of hours researching information in order to feel comfortable with my setup. If you deem it too dangerous to transport your kids in your mustang, that's ok. Different strokes for different folks. All of my research was done between 2020-2023, the weight information I reference is from the Graco user manuals.
Technical Information:
Let's start with some background info. I am relatively fit, 6'1 and 180lbs. My kids are 3(30lbs) and 1(18lbs).
The car seats I am using are the Graco SnugRide SnugLock infant car seat, Graco Slimfit 3-in-1 convertible car seat, and Graco Tranzitions 3-in-1 harness booster.
Install History:
The SnugRide was our first car seat purchase and is the seat we used to take our kids home from the hospital. The SnugRide will work for kids 4-35lbs and is by far the most EASY method for transporting kids. Once my older kid outgrew the SnugRide he was upgraded to the Slimfit in rear-facing orientation which works for kids 5-40lbs. This is by FAR the most DIFFICULT orientation for loading kids. Next up was rotating the Slimfit to the front-facing orientation, which can be used for kids 22-65lbs. Once my younger kid got bigger he was upgraded from the SnugRide to the Slimfit in rear-orientation. My older kid was upgraded to the Tranzitions in forward-facing harness mode, for kids 22-65lbs. The Tranzitions will also be used for high-back boost and backless booster, for kids 40-100lbs. Now that we got that out of the way let's get into each car seat along with the why and how.
Infant Car Seat Setup:
As mentioned before I used the Graco SnugRide SnugLock car seat. There are 2 parts to this car seat. There is a base that gets installed into the car and the seat(carrier) that you buckle the baby into. To install the base follow the directions included in the manual, the base can't be angled too steeply or it won't be safe. Thankfully this base comes with an adjustable height/angle mechanism that can fill the gap in the back of the seat. You will notice the dish towel under the base, this is just to protect the material and it's probably not necessary. The carrier has the 5 point harness built into it so you can buckle your kid up before you leave the house. The carrier is then ...carried... out to the car and clipped into the base. For me, the base has to be installed in the passenger side of my car since the carrier is pretty long and burns up my ability to move my driver's seat backwards. Another side effect of the length of the carrier is that the passenger seat has the headrest removed. There is enough room to store the headrest between the base and the side of the car. If the headrest wasn't removed I would not be able to see out the passenger window freely. Also I can't release the seat to bend it forward because the headrest will interfere with the roof of the car. Be sure to leave enough room for your hand to fit between the carrier and the seat so you can use the quick fold release on the back-center of the mustang's seat. This way the seat will always clip right back to the same orientation when you are done folding it forward. One good this about the infant seat is that you can peak over at your buddy and be eye-to-eye with them
Infant Car Seat Loading/Unloading:
To load the carrier in the car you will need the passenger door opened 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. It's possible to load the carrier one armed but two arms makes it easier to maneuver. For demonstration proposes I'm holding the carrier with my left arm, but I prefer to use my right arm since your body can naturally rotate to face the rear seat. You will notice that there is just enough room to fit the carrier between the door jam, seat, and ceiling. If you get the orientation perfect the carrier slides right through this opening, other times you need to push the bottom in first before getting the handle to clear the ceiling. Once the carrier is fully inside the car rotate it 1/4 turn to the left to align the carrier with the base. It helps to align the "feet" of the carrier with the indentations of the base and kinda slide the carrier down the base until it reaches the clips and clicks into place. I make sure to give the carrier a nudge upward and downward to ensure it's fully seated. Once the carrier is seated you will need to ensure your passenger seat is setup properly. Start by getting acquainted with how your seat works
There are two levers, one quick release lever in the center-back of the seat, and one on the right side by the hinge. The one by the hinge is used to set the seat recline to a specific angle. The one in the center-back is a quick release, which allows the chair to fully fold forward from any angle, but more importantly it will allow the seat to click back to the orientation it was in before the lever was pulled. I exclusively use the quick release so I don't need to remember to leave my hand room to pull the quick release lever. You can feel free to make up your own method. It doesn't matter if you leave the carrier's hand up or fold it down. If you fold it down though you will need to budget a little more room behind the passenger seat to pull the quick-release. To unload the carrier move the passenger seat forward. The carrier has a release hidden under the bonnet near the kid's head, you will pull this release and lift the carrier out at the same time. This requires both of my human arms to be ready and available. I added some pictures with a tape measure to show how much room is taken up.Infant Car Seat Considerations:
Driving with a kid can be distracting! They make noises, cry, ask questions, do annoying things. Sometimes I find myself reacting out of instinct and glancing back to check on them. Always remember to focus on the road and pull over whenever your kid requires attention.
The passenger seat will become nearly useless for riders as it won't have much recline or legspace. When the carrier is out of the car you have full utility of the passenger seat again.
The sun! Kid's don't like it blasting in their eyes and they will use their tiny voice to let you know until you fix the problem, haha. The car seat has a built in bonnet that helps block the sun from the front of the car. It is not effective against blocking sun from the side or rear of the car. For this you will need to purchase those cling-on baby shades, or detach the built in bonnet and pull it toward the kid's feet. You will most likely not be able to find a baby shade that fits in the small triangle window, so you will need to get creative. I used a piece of cardboard and cut a notch such that I could hang it on the cloths hanger. In a pinch you are able to use your arm to block the sun from the kid's eyes, but this is not a long term solution
In the winter the rear seats don't get good airflow.You will need to manually control the HVAC as the car's automatic climate control isn't good at getting air to the rear seats. I always make sure I aim the passenger vents and center vent over the passenger seat so hot air makes its way back to the kid. Make sure the fans are set to the upper vents only with decent fan speed, unless defogging is needed. Also, my Mustang comes with a factory installed engine block heater. If it is 32F ambient I can plug my car in for 4 hours and have the coolant at 100F when I start the car. The heat isn't hot and ready but it shaves off about 1 minute of runtime to get to the same temp. Which if you've ever spent time sitting in a near-freezing car is a verrrry long minute.
Rear Facing Seat Setup:
Time to test how dedicated you are to fitting your kid into your mustang >
For my rear facing set I used the Graco SlimFit. For me, the seat has to be installed in the passenger side of my car since the seat is pretty long and burns up my ability to move my driver's seat backwards. A side effect of the length of the seat is that the passenger seat has the headrest removed. If the headrest wasn't removed I would not be able to see out the passenger window freely. There is enough room to store the headrest between the base and the side of the car. I used the lower LATCH anchors instead of the seatbelt to install this seat. To install the seat follow the directions included in the manual. Since the rear seats are quite angled I needed to put a folded beach towel at the back part of the seat to keep the seat's base semiflat. If the base gets too angled the seat will want to rotate head-over-feet which won't work. This is because the LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. This seat comes with adjustable seat angle and a level gauge. Once you have the seat base somewhat flat and secure you can then use the seat's angle gauge to set the correct recline for the kids size. If you optioned your mustang with the memory seats give yourself a big pat on the back, if not, you have some R&D to do. My Mustang has 3 seat positions that can be saved, the first is my optimal driving position, the second is my optimal position + side mirrors angled down for curb parking, the third is move the seat all the way forward. I don't currently have a car seat installed in my car with this orientation, so I will have to updated this post later with more picture.Rear Facing Seat Loading/Unloading:
Start by looking into your kid's eyes and telling them things are able to get close for a second
I'll have photos to accompany my explanation of the loading process in a following post(I've hit my photo limit of 10) but they have the SnugFit(infant) seat instead of the SlimFit. The proccess is the same but I haven't installed the SlimFit in this orientation yet. I will hopefully update this post later with those pictures. Start by opening the drivers door 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. Move your driver seat all the way forward, for me this is memory preset 3. I suppose you could load/unload the kid with one arm but using two arms keeps the kid 100% more secure. Hold your kid facing you against your chest with their head on your left shoulder and feet on your stomach. Start by putting your right foot in the car and turning so your hips can squeeze between your seat and the door jam. Start your sitting motion by leaning forward, support your kids head with your right hand. Leading with your hips start sitting in your rear seat. My idea order is hips, knees, baby, then my head. Once your head is in the car you can sit in the rear seat as any normal fully grown adult holding a baby would, awkwardly. Take a second to reflect on how that went and what tweaks you could make to get the entry smoother. Once you've reflected on that and your choices that have lead you to this moment place your kid in their seat. You can either scooch over ontop of the hump that separates the rear seats or scooch up your seat to get closer. Now you will need to wrangle the kid into a 5 point harness, remember to smile, you're doing great. Once they are buckled up feel free to take a seat next to them and goof around, you actually have a decent amount of space to move now that you're not holding a baby. To get yourself out the back seats pretty much do the reverse order of the entry. Once I'm out I press memory preset 1 to return my seat to my optimal driving position.Rear Facing Seat Considerations:
These will be the same as the Infant Car Seat Considerations, except for the passenger seat bit. You won't regain utility of the passenger seat since you won't be taking the kid's seat out. Check out that section for more details.
Front Facing Seat Setup:
If you made it to this stage you have caught up to where I currently am. I used both the Graco SlimFit and Tranzitions for front facing seats. I now have the choice to install the seat on either the driver or passenger side. Since I have two kids the front facing seat is on the driver side as it allows the drivers seat to be further back than the rear facing seat would allow. To install the seat follow the directions included in the manual.
For the SlimFit: Since the rear seats are quite angled I needed to put a folded beach towel at the back part of the seat to keep the seat's base semiflat. If the base gets too angled the seat will want to rotate feet-over-head which won't work. This is because the LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. Once you have the seat base somewhat flat and secure you can then use the seat's angle gauge to set the correct recline for the kids size.
For the Tranzitions: At this point I have the two lower LATCH and one upper LATCH points tightened as much as possible. The tranzitions had about 2 inches of horizontal movement at the base front-to-back which is too much. This is because the lower LATCH anchors provide an almost entirely downward force on the seat and are located toward the end of the seat. To reduce the movement I took the passenger seatbelt and use the lap strap to route along the side of the seat, accross the front, then to the bucklet. I tucked the chest strap behind the car seat. I then pulled the seatbelt all the way out to activate the ratcheting mechanism. This allowed me to tighten the seatbelt, thereby pulling the carseat backwards, which locked down the horizontal movement.
Now you need to be VERY careful of moving your front seat forward and backward. Your kid's feet will land squarely in a pinchpoint between the rear seat end and front seat back. If you get careless with moving your seat back you can hurt your kids feet and ankles badly. The length of your kid's shoes will determine how far you can recline and move the front seat.
Front Facing Seat Loading/Unloading:
Start by opening the drivers door 30-40% of the way. This is doable in a standard parking lot so long as the next car over isn't hugging the lines. There is a door stop around the 50% mark which is ideal since you don't need to worry about the door falling open further. Move your driver seat all the way forward, for me this is memory preset 3. Now you will work with your kid to decide if they are going to climb in or if you are going to put them in their seat. Make sure to move the front seat's seatbelt out of the way so the kid won't trip. Also make sure they don't bonk their head on the door jamb as they get taller. Once they are sitting in their seat you can either sit on your door sill or take a half-step into the car to buckle their 5 point harness. Tighten up the straps and you're all done. Carefully step out of the car and fold the front driver seat back to it's normal position. I ALWAYS have one hand on my kids feet as I set the driver's set back to driving position to ensure they don't get pinched or smashed. I use memory preset 2 for my suboptimal driving position that allows room for my kids feet. The seat position works fine for 45 minute drives.
For unloading move the front seat all the way forward. Make sure the front seatbelt is out of the way for their little feet since this can cause them a trip hazard and you don't want them to fall out of the car since there is nothing for them to catch themselves on except for you.
Front Facing Seat Considerations:
The same distracted driving and winter consideration as the Infant Car Seat Considerations section.
The sun poses new issues for my kid. If it's early morning, like when I take him to school, the sun might be so close to the horizon that it blares through the front windshield and into their eyes. As drivers we have a flip down visor that resolves our issues, but there isn't anything similar for the kid. This is when I took my kid sunglasses shopping, which was a lot of fun. It might take a few tries but eventually they will be able to put their sunglasses on. My kid likes to wear them upside down xD If you're going on long roadtrips you will want a babyshade for the rear window or a hat since the kid's head will be under the glass. The Graco seats I chose have enough latteral head bolstering that sun peering in through the rear quarter window isn't an issue because it gets blocked out.
Your kid now has the ability to kick your chair and get dirty shoe prints on it. Remain calm and use your parent brain in these circumstances.
Front facing seats now have the least headroom for your kid of any orientation. The backrest on the car seats extend upward but will quickly run into the rear window. I haven't run out of headroom for my kid yet but it's possible he might outgrow his forward facing seat before he's ready to ride without a car seat.
Wrapping Up:
I really hope my post helps you understand what you're heading into when being a parent with a S550 Mustang. I've lived with my Mustang as my daily driver with 2 kids for 3 years successfully. Feel free to contribute to this post by adding what car seats fit in your mustang and asking questions.
Thanks for reading!
-EmbeddedJake
