Subaru Forester - 3 across?

[beckybiggs]

We have a 2010 Subaru Forester and our family will soon be growing from one child to three.  We have a 3.5 year old and will have twins before the end of January.  We have not been able to successfully fit 3 in the back seat and don't have the option of getting rid of the car.  We also were not able to do it in our 2008 explorer without using the 3rd row and had hoped to have all 3 seats in the back seat.  Please advise!!!

[chickabiddy]

What seats are you trying to fit?  I've been able to get three-across in pretty much any vehicle with the right combination of seats.  You may have to buy new seats, but that's cheaper than a new car.

[beckybiggs]

We currently have a Britax Boulevard and a Britax Marathon for toddler seats to choose from.  We have 2 infant Graco snug ride 32s and someone recommended the Sunshine Kids Radian 80.  Do you think this would be a successful combo?  Will we need new infant seats/bases too?

[chickabiddy]

All the seats you have are very wide and not likely to work well in a three-across.  Would you consider convertibles instead of infant seats?

[DahliaRW]

The biggest problem with the forester is that the middle can be next to impossible to install car seats in.  I would go post at car-seat.org and search their 3 across thread.

[SeattleRain]

I would look at Combi Coccoro's for your twins, instead of infant seats. You could also replace your Britax with a Sunshine Kids Radian, people like those and they're very thin. OTOH, I knew someone with twins and she used her twin snap and go ALOT when the babies were really little because of the hassle it was to load and unload two teeny infants all the time, so you might want to stick with the infant seats. The Snugride 32 is an especially large seat, we couldn't fit it into our Subaru Impreza 2009 at all, let alone with two other seats. You might want to look into some of the smaller weight limit seats. I've heard that the Combi Shuttle is nice and small, it goes up to 33lbs, and can snap into any of their strollers if that interests you.

[prothyraia]

We have a somewhat older suburu forester and I'm also looking to get three across soon.  I don't have the link handy, but the set up (from car-seat.org) we're going to try first is a Marathon in the center (since that's one of the few seats that will supposedly actually install there, and we happen to have one) and two Radians rear-facing on the sides.  We're spending an afternoon next week trying out different combinations in the parking lot at ToysRUs....fun.

Once we give it a try, I'll post back here!

(I know some folks have issues fitting newborns in Radians, just a heads up)

[an_aurora]

I too would try two Coccoros for the infants.  

The Explorer should be quite easy to get a 3-across with, especially if you put the oldest in a Radian.  

[Peony]

The Forester was redesigned in 2009, older ones then that you can do 3 across but it is tricky. Apparently from threads on carseat org, it is impossible in ones 2009 and newer due to the way the middle seat padding is. You should be able to do 3 across in the Explorer just fine with new seats.