Looking for a really narrow seats/boosters for 3 across

[quietserena]

Hello! My ladies are 6,4 and 2 and are in 3 Radians, 3 across in my 2007 Saturn Ion, the 2 year old RF in the middle. They weigh 56, 50, and 40 atm. The eldest one is puny for her age and growing slowly but the 2 year old is getting close to the 45lb limit and I'm starting to panic! Problem is, the only way I can put those seats in my car is to puzzle them, alternating directions. What do I do? Are there any magically narrow seats out there? :)

[TiredX2]

First, don't panic yet!  Your two year old *could* take quite some time to gain that extra 5 pounds. New carseats with higher limits are coming out all the time :)

Secondly, do you feel your six year old is ready for a booster?   Do all three seats (of the car) have lap & shoulder belts plus headrests?

Do you have a budget?  Are you interested in trying to keep your 2 year old rear-facing past 45 pounds or are you comfortable turning forward-facing at that point?

[greenemami]

I ended up buying the evenflo amp as the narrowest booster I could find that didn't cost an arm and a leg :)  I have 3 across, but only 2 in carseats.  I did not find that the booster worked well in the middle at all next to the radian, RF or FF, just not enough room in my car (a toyota matrix) But, I *think* I could fit a radian in the middle between the booster and the other radian, but have not tried it.  Your 2-year-old could definitely take a while, even a year, to gain those 5 pounds, so I wouldn't panic yet either :)

[quietserena]

Ok, turns out that my scale *lies* and they weight about 10 lbs less than i originally said. We were at the doc's for stitches removal (coffee tables can be dangerous!) and I asked for all the girls to weigh in. So they weight about 47, 41 and 31. So the panic has subsided somewhat but I am still looking for a good solution. Oh and turns out that Radian's RF limit is 40 lbs not 45 like I thought.

Info I missed before: The back seat has three complete seats: seatbelt (not just a lap belt, a full over the shoulder belt), LATCH and a space to tether on the rear dash. Used the LATCH for the Radians and the tether for the FFing ones. Couldn't figure out where to tether the RF one. There are no headrests, just bumps in the seat where the headrest would be.

The Radians themselves are a tight fit and I have to load them in a particular way or I can't tighten the belts properly but they are in tight. Had a seat check, tech didn't see any problems. I don't have a budget, especially now that I'm no longer in a rush and can save up for seats. Getting 3 Radians was expensive but it was the best option for us at the time. We had two Britax seats before these and there is no way you can do 3 across with them - they are monsters! I think 3 new seats are cheaper than a new car. Granted I haven't looked in 3 years... :D

At this rate the 2.5 year old will reach 3 RFing and I'm ok with that. I don't think my priority is keeping her RFing past 40 lbs. I would love to keep all three in the back seat so that we can all go somewhere together as a family in one car! It seems it is a race between whether DD3 will reach 40lbs or DD1 will grow out of her Radian sooner because in either of those cases I need to do something different than what we have at the moment.

We tried two Radians side by side and they are just too big on top to fit into the place properly. Their bases are ok but the rest of the seat isn't. So while we had two RF kids, DD1 had to climb in over other seats and then I could just buckle her reaching over someone.

So there's my essay! Tell me ladies, what are my options? I suppose simplest (cheapest too) thing is to move DD1 into the front seat and leave the other two in the back seat, FF or RF. I would really like to avoid that though just for practical reasons. Just until we figure out finances enough to get a suburban camo vehicle (that is, a van).

TIA

[TiredX2]

Couldn't you just puzzle them, alternating directions, but have it go forward, backward, forward?  Have the two older outbound forward facing harnessed and the youngest rear-facing? 

When your two year old hits 40 pounds (which could easily be another two years), you can look into options then.  There are some narrower boosters coming up and, especially when dealing with a much older child the bubblebum is a great option (only 13" wide).

For the rear-facing tether, you'll want to use the D-ring and attach it to something that is bolted direclty to the car---for most people that is the track under the front passenger or driver seats.

Just to clarify, your 4 & 6 year olds are both still harnessed, right?

[brigala]

What Radian models do you have? The R100 rear faces to 40 lbs, but the R120 and the RXT rear face to 45. 

You already have the very best seats for 3-across, really. You're not going to be buying three new seats.  When your two year old can no longer rear-face in the Radian, if a new car with a slightly wider back seat is out of the question you will probably need to put your 6 year old in either a Ride Safer Travel Vest or on a Bubble Bum booster seat between the two forward-facing Radians. Or maybe by then there will be another option on the market that will work. 

As for tethering the rear-facing Radian, Diono has a video on their Facebook page that shows how you do that.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.221584284560919&type=2

[CelloMomCars]

Volvo cars offers a booster seat that's 15 inches across. Adjustable back rest. Fits any car with 3-point seat belt. My review here:

http://www.cellomomcars.com/2012/12/narrow-booster-seat.html

You can also check the carseat measurements site, but I don't know how up to date their entries are:

https://sites.google.com/site/carseatmeasurements/

Maxi Cosi is a European brand catering to smaller European cars, so their car seats tend to be narrower.

Good luck!

[Boot]

I wouldn't put your eldest in the front seat, for sure. How far is she from out growing the radian? At that weight, unless she's all torso, I would guess she has quite a while yet before she outgrows it. Are all your Radians only rf to 40#? If one of them is a R120 or RXT it will rear face to 45# and you could swap it round when the time comes. But honestly, it sounds like your current arrangement could potentially work for another 18 months so I'd hold fire for the moment. 

[brigala]

Originally Posted by CelloMomCars 

Volvo cars offers a booster seat that's 15 inches across. Adjustable back rest. Fits any car with 3-point seat belt. My review here:

http://www.cellomomcars.com/2012/12/narrow-booster-seat.html

You can also check the carseat measurements site, but I don't know how up to date their entries are:

https://sites.google.com/site/carseatmeasurements/

Maxi Cosi is a European brand catering to smaller European cars, so their car seats tend to be narrower.

Good luck!

Is that seat even still available? I have never seen it for sale anywhere. And it got the "Check Fit" rating (which is one step up from "Not Recommended" in 2012. It might work fine, but it might not.