I am having a very difficult time finding a rear facing car seat for my 8 month old that actually fits my 2001 Mercury Cougar. The baby has almost out grown her infant carrier and I am at a lose! Please HELP!

Run by babies or us they have all types of car seats for your baby and they are certified for safety Check wal-mart also good luck stay safe'

Unfortunately, ur only way to figure this one out just may be to go to Babies R Us & try some out. That said, l have a very tiny car, a Honda Civic coupe, & had no trouble at all fitting a rear facing convertible in it. No, the front passenger driver did not get to move back very much, but that is how it goes with a small car. If u have already had an infant seat in it, u should have no difficulty getting a convertible in there. Infant seats tend to take up more space, b/c they r so reclined. Now that he is 8 months old, it does not have to be reclined 45 degrees anymore. It can sit more upright. Not straight upright, but say, 30 degrees or so. That said, here r the BEST choices r there, keeping in mind these 3 things:
1)The best car seat is one that fits in ur car, fits ur child, & will be used correctly 100% of the time. This is why features that make car seats easier to use (like built in lockoffs) really DO matter - if its easy to use, you're more likely to use it correctly.
2)Keep baby rear facing AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!! The advice of turning them forward facing at 20lbs/1year is outdated. the AAP & NHTSA now recommend keeping them rear facing until they have reached the maximum weight of the seat rear facing, this is why high rear facing limits (greater than 30lbs) r important
3)After turning them forward, keep them in a 5 point harness as long as possible. It is safest. No 4 year olds in boosters - they're not ready! It literally means the difference of life & death, check out the Kyle Miller story on the internet. This is why higher front facing weight limits (higher than 40lbs) r important

A seat that almost always fits the bill, in fact l have not heard of a car it would not work in yet, is the Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathalon. These 3 r the same seat, just different variances of luxury additions, with the Marathon being the cheapest base model, & it can be found for regular price of $269, & on sale at Albee Baby online for $209-$219. It is one awesome seat! The Marathon a wide open easy to route belt path, which makes using it correctly a lot easier, as do the built in lockoffs, which mean u never again have to use a locking clip. l can get it into 4 different vehicles in under 2 minutes. Because of the way the base is made, it fits in most cars. And, it is worth the money, b/c it lasts usually twice as long as most other car seats (all car seats expire 6 years after the date of manufacture) lasting a baby till they r 5-6 years old, where most at Walmart will only last till 2-4 years old. It rear faces to 33lbs, & then will front fact to 65lbs, 25lbs more usage than other seats, & it has 17''tall top harness slots, which is important since most kids outgrow their car seat by height before they outgrow it by weight.

Comparitively, the Safety1st/EddieBauer/Cosco seats have 14.5-15'' top harness slots. Most kids wo not even make it to 40lbs in them b/c the slots r too short, & you're out shopping for a car seat again, since kids should not be in boosters until they r 5-6 years old, at least.

The NEW Evenflo Triumph Advance has solved this problem, though, & it is a great seat. $150 version at Babies R Us has padding similar to Britax seats, top slots of 17 harnesses to 35lbs rear facing, & 50lbs forward facing. $120 Walmart version just has little less plush padding. Wide open belt path, easy to install, though it does not have built in lockoffs. Great choice b/c of features, too. You never have to take the seat out of the car to adjust the harness, its all done up front, & it has infinite height adjustments, so the harness is always exactly where it should be on ur child. And no more tugging straps to tighten/loosen the harness, all the adjustments r done by knobs on the side, a major bonus in small cars. Can u tell l really like this seat? My BIG son has as much growing room in it as he does in his Marathon.

The Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe Convertible seat is great, it is made by Britax, without all the frills. It is the same shell as a Marathon, but for less than half the price. $130 at Albee Baby online with free shipping, or at their eBay name, babysurplus. Rear faces to 33lbs, forward to 55lbs. Easy to use, fits in most cars.

All seats in the US must meet the same safety criteria to sell, so technically they all r safe, however, if its hard to install, then it wo not be used correctly & that makes it unsafe. And, while all seats meet those criteria, some barely meet & others exceed, like Britax.

The biggest issue for car seats in the Cougar is usually the huge dip in the back seats. To fix this, we always put a small throw pillow in the dip and put the car seat on top of that. If its the right size it will stop the movement of the seat and allow a good fit.

Is that the problem youre having, or are they not fitting for another reason? (Car seat design has changed slightly since l had my Cougar.)