How Do You Fit 3 Car Seats in a Car

HI J.

We used to have a Nissan Xterra (loved my car). It was horrible trying to fit 2 carseats in them as it seems as if the back seat is slanted downward. I finally got my Quest Van and love it! Since we bought it we had a 3rd and the room is awesome. I couldn't imagine having a car with 3 carseats, but we got to do what we have too. Good luck! Oh we have Britax carseats for the little ones and they are great.

Sunshine kids car seats are the most narrow. They advertise that you can fit 3 accross if needed. I have one, and it fits nicely next to the infant car seat (which is in the middle)

We have a Saturn car and a Chevy trailblazer and have fit 3 seats in both. With the car, 3 infant seats would not fit, but once my daughter went into a booster seat we could manage it. The booster seats aren't as bulky. I'd recommend going to Babies R Us where they have a bench seat from the car in the car seat aisle and line up the 3 seats you have and see how it fits.

We had to upgrade to a mini-van. It is still a tight squeeze (we have all three in a row with the youngest in the middle)...but it works. If you are using the Subaru...I would say put the one who needs the least amount of attention towards the back and keep the others closer by.

B.

you should be able to SQUEEZE them in if you put the infant in the middle and toddlers on either side. doesn't make it easy to get the carrier in, but it's doable. we can fit 3 high back toddler boosters in the back of our mazda tribute and nissan frontier crewcab. hopefully your carseats aren't britax or similar, because they are very wide.

We had to go to a minivan. We tried every car at the time and could not fit three into a car. There may be cars now that are able to fit three. As far as "skinnier" car seats, it seems as if they have gotten bigger! What we did was first measure our car seats and give them a little bit of room to buckle, and see what the dimension was. Then we took a look at new car seats. That's when we found out that they were all basically the same. Then we tried almost every car out there with our current car seats. That's when we bought a used Honda Odyssey. I swore I would never drive a minivan. Well, I do love it now, and it's been great with holding the stroller and all of the things that the older kids need. We now have four children and we are really glad that we have the extra space. I couldn't imagine having a smaller car at this point, especially as the older ones are now into sports which means bringing not only a stroller for the youngest member, but also a sun umbrella, chairs, a small cooler for food and drinks for everyone, changes of clothes....... the list goes on and on.

Good luck on your new car seat or car search. And congratulations on your new addition!

Look at carseats online concentrating on the specifications. The narrowest I have found is 17 inches.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8135...

Its tricky, but it can be done. I use the first (cheaper) car seat with my childcare kids and its a good product. Its not as comfy for the kids, but I only travel locally with the childcare. If you go on a lot of long trips then the more comfy one is probably better.

Congrats on the new addition!
N.

We had to fit 3 car seats in the back of a Toyota Prius. We couldn't fit 2 toddler seats in it but what worked was: infant seat in the middle, one toddler seat and one booster seat.
If you're going to buy new seats, take a measuring tape with you (that's what we did) and sometimes all you need to do is to get rid of the cup holder attached on the seats.

Having 3 car seats in a vehicle is duable, but very cramped. You can put the two toddler seats on each side of the baby seat. Don't take the baby seat in and out though. Once it is in, keep it there. It will be easier. If you have the skiny toddler seats, the seats will fit better and you can buckle them easier.

I have the seats that turn into boosters after a while. They seem to be smaller than regular carseats.

I have put 5 carseats in a van before, and 3 carseats in a car.

J.

I was able to fit 3 in the back of honda Civic, which does not have a lot of room. I don't think it is very safe though, because you have to have ther middle one, just slightly forward or you have to have the side ones crammed up against the door. Not very good for a side-impact collision. I only did it one day when I was watching a friend's daughter, but it depends on how much room you have in your backseat. Buy a couple of cheap ones at a garage sale just to test them out. When you find the ones that work, buy them at the store.

Good question! Just remember to check the fit in yur car before you purchase any new seats. I know that goes without saying but sometimes we forget!

I have a Nissan Murano, and I have a infant seat behind the passanger seat then two Britax carseats, that way I can get the baby in and out.

I have an Acura, so the Subaru may be a bit bigger, but the only way I can do it is to have at least one of the seats be a toddler seat that uses the seatbelt instead of the 5 point restraint. They are just slim enough to fit 3 seats in the back.

Try the Sunshine Kids - Radian. They have a narrow base and go up to a very high weight and also test high in safety. You can get it at Target.com and many baby places have it too.

Should be possible, but try these car seats - radiant. They are made to fit in small spaces. Also go to babies r us and try all infant seats once you get the radiant ones. (if you do get those or use the ones you got.)

Good luck.

It depends on how bigger the toddler seats are. My oldest daughter and son are in backed boosters and my youngset is in a infant seat. I have to put my oldest in middle and the other two on the sides. I have a friend who puts the infant in the middle and the two older ones on the side. She uses a convertible for her middle and a backed booster for her oldest. You have to get creative and know what your little ones can handle.

it depends on your car. i have a saturn vue. i did the toddlers in hi back boosters on the sides and the graco snugride in the middle. kinda hard to get the baby in the middle, but it was the only way we could make it work without getting a new car--which we couldnt afford! the best thing to do tho, is go to the store and try them out, thats what i did. babies r us is really good about it. i may have even done it at target actually, i just cant remember. if your kids are old enough you may even be able to just use one of those boosters that dont have the hi back. just get the most narrow seat possible. my hi back boosters are from target and were the most narrow seat i could find at the time, almost 2 years ago. good luck. if you want the name of my seat let me know, i dont know it off hand. now my baby is in a marathon (britex) and my twins are still in their hi backs. but the marathon has to go on the passenger side in the back, if he was behind me i would have to be shoved up to the steering wheel. the front passenger is the one that has to be riding like that. once i turn him forward facing in the marathon i think it will fit anywhere. it is still a tight fit tho! watch those fingers when closing doors, we pinched a few fingers in between the door arm rest and the sides of their hi backs. oops!