# Three across......but not sure what seats to get now



## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

We are expecting in October. We plan to use a (gasp!)Graco bucket seat from a friend who's son just outgrew it. (yes I am sure that it is safe and this is the only person in the world that I would accept a used seat from







) We have a 7 year old that weighs 49 pounds and a five year old that weighs 42 pounds. Lightweights compared to most kids their age we know.







They are currently in Britax Regents but there is no way on earth any other seat will fit between the two in a Camry. There's only room for the little console/cup holder to flip down between the two.

So, I don't really know what to do right now. Dh nearly had a heart attack when he started adding up new carseat costs and finally said, "Just order whatever you have to, but don't tell me how much you spent. I don't even want to know."









I don't see the point in getting dd a full fledged replacement carseat, but I am at a loss at what kind of booster would be good. I really am not comfortable in any way, shape or form with those backless boosters. We travel frequently and very long distances. I think ds still has plenty of time left to be in a seat that we could consider a Radian for him. Ideally it would be nice to be able to put him into dd's booster and put the baby into the Radian when that time comes to ditch the bucket seat, but I don't really see dd growing that much before we would need to do that. Sigh.........Any thoughts on the matter here?


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Anyone?


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I think a radian is a good idea. I'd also look at the new parkway sg booster for the oldest. It'll be out in time for you and britax claims it's narrow enough for 3 across. It'll probably be a pain to buckle, however. Any booster will. if you can't get the graco between those, get another radian with the infant insert, concorro, or scenera for the middle rfing and see if that will work for the baby.


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Thanks! I'll look into those.


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## Eman'smom (Mar 19, 2002)

For carseats Radians would be your best bet, if you plan on moving your 7 year old to a booster, the Recaro Vivo is pretty narrow and has SIP. We just moved ds 8 out of a Regent and into one and have been happy with it.


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

What is SIP?


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## RoseRedHoofbeats (Feb 27, 2008)

Side impact protection.

~Rose


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Ah, thank you!


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## jillmamma (Apr 11, 2005)

For an inexpensive but still good option for a booster, we have the Graco Turbobooster for DS (he's 6.5), and it will also do for 3 across (we are expecting in January). It is pretty narrow, has headwings, and a high back, and converts to backless later for when he is much older and outgrows the back. I think DH paid like $40 or $50 for it a year or two ago?

For your 5 year old, I wonder if you could try out a Britax Frontier and see how wide that would be in your car. A friend of ours has that seat and it seems not too too wide. That would give you the harness to booster option.

And we are also getting a hand me down Graco infant seat from our cousins who are using it right now and also have not been in an accident.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Quote:

I'd also look at the new parkway sg booster for the oldest. It'll be out in time for you and britax claims it's narrow enough for 3 across. It'll probably be a pain to buckle, however. Any booster will.
A tip? The highback booster can be hard to buckle when you've got three across. What I do is to scoot the booster out of place just a little, to make the space you need to get your hand into wider, then once the seatbelt is fastened, you can scoot the seat back into place, and adjust everything nicely.


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## KMK_Mama (Jan 29, 2006)

We have 3 Radians in a row.....my 7yo only weighs about 45 pounds, almost 6yo weighs about 40. They still aren't even in the top slot. I don't know how much longer we'll get out of the seats but it sounds like it would work. Or you could look into the SafeguardGO seat, which can turn into a booster later on.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KMK_Mama* 
We have 3 Radians in a row.....my 7yo only weighs about 45 pounds, almost 6yo weighs about 40. They still aren't even in the top slot. I don't know how much longer we'll get out of the seats but it sounds like it would work. Or you could look into the SafeguardGO seat, which can turn into a booster later on.

It's going to depend on the OPs 7yos torso height, though. My 4 1/2 yo has less than an inch in the radian. So it really does depend on the child. No way he'd fit at 7!


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## mysticmomma (Feb 8, 2005)

measure your backseat and come back with the measurement.


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## zoebugsmom (Jan 19, 2004)

We have 3 across in our Jetta. DD and DS1 are in Radian 65s and DS2 is rfing in a snugride. It's a bit of a PITA, though. I've told DP that as long as we're doing 3 across DD (6 yo, 48 in tall & 47 lbs) will be harnessed. It's next to impossible to buckle her in a HBB with 3 across. When DS2 outgrows the snugride (soon) we'll either be getting a minivan or DD will get a nautilus and DS2 will get her radian.


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mysticmomma* 
measure your backseat and come back with the measurement.

What exactly should I measure? The seat edge to edge, seat back, spacing of LATCH hooks, what?


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

Measurements really don't mean diddly because the way seats puzzle together differ. Have you checked out the 3-across thread on car-seat.org? You can click "search this thread" and find the 3-across combos in Camrys.


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## mysticmomma (Feb 8, 2005)

I measured all the way across and it helped me narrow down seats by measuring their widest points.


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## Hazelnut (Sep 14, 2005)

Radians! We have two with a rf-ing marathon crammed in our subaru forester.


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## HeatherB (Jan 30, 2003)

We have two SafeGuard Gos, and while I like the seat for some things, I don't recommend it for a 7yo. The straps don't go all that high, so my 7yo outgrew it recently. We moved him to a Sunshine Kids Monterey high-back booster, which was recommended to me for helping him get used to sitting in a booster. The advice I got was that a low-back booster is NOT good for a first booster. Unfortunately, the Go converts to a backless booster.

I'm also working on a 3-across scenario for my mom to use while we're out of town, so I understand the puzzle!


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## Equuskia (Dec 16, 2006)

Can you move the Regents outboard and squish a radian in there? If the Regent, like the other Britax seats I've seen, sit up on a "base", well the Radian sits low in the seat, so it may fit under your Regents since I assume they are both forward facing.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

The Regent is a different beast altogether--huge, and not up on a base like the convertibles.


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

it probably depends on your car as far as what you'll be able to piece together. But what we did was put our DD1 and DS in Radian 65's (DD1 was 5 at the time and about 42 lbs, DS was 3 and about 38 lbs). We kept that setup with the baby in the Graco bucket seat until we were done with the bucket, and then i gave her DD1's Radian 65, turning it RF'ing of course, and graduated D1 to a Graco Turbobooster. It's a high back booster, it has nice side wings to protect her head (and a place to rest her head if she falls asleep on a longer trip). and the height adjusts quite tall so i should be able to keep her in a HBB as long as she needs a booster. the Turbobooster was the same width as the Radian, and three across that way fits really well, with plenty of room for DD1 to reach the buckle herself even being in the middle (and if i need to do it for any reason i don't scrape my knuckles either).

for reference we have a 2005 Toyota Highlander.


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## Juvysen (Apr 25, 2007)

We love our radians, but we're thinking of TTC and trying to figure out if we actually could fit 3 across in our car. The problem isn't so much fitting the seats in across,so much as being able to have one rear facing since we have to have the front seat pushed forward to fit a seat in RF. I'm not sure why they make cars that can't fit a carseat rf.


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## HeatherB (Jan 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Equuskia* 
Can you move the Regents outboard and squish a radian in there? If the Regent, like the other Britax seats I've seen, sit up on a "base", well the Radian sits low in the seat, so it may fit under your Regents since I assume they are both forward facing.

Regents don't have a base, and are quite wide. In my Odyssey, we can't fit anything between one Regent and a Marathon. It's a BIG seat.


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Yeah, I'd say we are pushing it to say there's even six inches of space between the Regents in our car. There is absolutely no way on earth another seat could be crammed in there unless maybe we just remove the back doors all together.


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## Three~Little~Birds (Jan 10, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebugsmom* 
We have 3 across in our Jetta. DD and DS1 are in Radian 65s and DS2 is rfing in a snugride. It's a bit of a PITA, though. I've told DP that as long as we're doing 3 across DD (6 yo, 48 in tall & 47 lbs) will be harnessed. It's next to impossible to buckle her in a HBB with 3 across. When DS2 outgrows the snugride (soon) we'll either be getting a minivan or DD will get a nautilus and DS2 will get her radian.

I have the exact same set up as you (Jetta, 2 Radians, one snugride soon-to-be-outgrown). Have you tried a Nautilus back there with the other 2 seats? Does it fit? They seem quite wide to me.... (Sorry to hijack!)


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## zoebugsmom (Jan 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamatotwo* 
I have the exact same set up as you (Jetta, 2 Radians, one snugride soon-to-be-outgrown). Have you tried a Nautilus back there with the other 2 seats? Does it fit? They seem quite wide to me.... (Sorry to hijack!)

Haven't tried it yet. Mostly because I'm reeeeeeeaaalllly lobbying hard for a minivan. I'm sick of all the "he touched me!" "she looked at me!" crap and want to seperate the older 2. If the width for the seat is 21 inches as advertised it should fit fine. We can get a turbobooster in between the 2 radians but it's a gigantic pain to get dd buckled so I'm refusing to do it.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebugsmom* 
Haven't tried it yet. Mostly because I'm reeeeeeeaaalllly lobbying hard for a minivan. I'm sick of all the "he touched me!" "she looked at me!" crap and want to seperate the older 2. If the width for the seat is 21 inches as advertised it should fit fine. We can get a turbobooster in between the 2 radians but it's a gigantic pain to get dd buckled so I'm refusing to do it.

You will LOVE having a van! Even my dh admits it's not so bad.


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## Evergreen (Nov 6, 2002)

Intently reading. Hoping for a miracle in my 2004 Civic.


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## Serenyd (Jan 6, 2008)

FYI - bought my son an Evenflo booster which has armrests that lift up so he can buckle himself in next the carseat. His old one, had immobile armrests and he couldn't get past them to buckle.


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## veganmama719 (Sep 15, 2007)

We are expecting our 3rd in the next few weeks.
The big kids have the Graco TurboBooster with the high back. We put the babyseat in this weekend. it is Graco bucket, rear facing of course.

The kids will have trouble bucklong their seat belts so there will be some complaining about that. But they all fit.

2000 Ford Explorer


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