I’m due with #3 in June and have a Honda CRV. I know 3 across works in this car and we actually have 3 in there right now so I can occasionally transport my niece. However I’m trying to wrap my head around being able to hoist a bucket seat up and over another car seat since it will be in the middle. Is it really as hard as I’m imagining? I’d LOVE a new to me 3 row SUV but I think I’d have a hard time convincing DH it’s worth it (unless he spends a few months toting all 3 kids in my car), and with 2 in daycare for a year it would be a squeeze.
-
My friend has three across in her CRV (2 infants and a toddler). She had a consult with the Car Seat lady and thought it was 100% worth it. Consult + new car seats is much cheaper than a new car!
-
When I do three across I do the bucket behind the passenger. Does that work in a crv?
-
@MrsSRS: It looks like to make the other seats fit (FF harnessed booster and belt positioning high back booster) I have to put the infant seat in the middle.
-
Where are you getting info that the infant bucket has to go in the middle? Have you tried it?
I'm off to cpst school this coming week. I can ask about your vehicle in particular and see what they suggest
-
@MamaBear87: I thought I had read a few places that this was logistically easier but if it’s possible for the bucket seat to be on the outside that would be really helpful.
-
@Becky: It may be because the 2 ff seats don't fit super well next to each other.
What 3 seats do you have?
-
It would probably fit best in the middle, but difficult to put the bucket in and out. However, you can just pull the baby out instead of the bucket. I have my 4 month old in a convertible car seat and we are in a car dependent area. It's definitely not convenient for shopping, but not an issue for daycare or going out for the day. We are in the south, so we don't have the freezing temperatures some of you do.
-
What seats are you currently working with/are you hoping to use? What year is your CRV?
-
@catgirl: CRV is a 2012. We have an EvenFlo Big Kid HB booster, Chicco MyFit, and Chicco Keyfit 30. We could also swap the MyFit for our Diono Radian if that makes more sense.
-
@Becky: we have 3 across in our Forrester with similar seats and had the bucket in the middle. It was my husbands car so he is stronger than I am and was doable for the itty bitty age. We ended up switching the baby to a rear facing convertible once it got too heavy/annoying to do that anymore.
-
I have 3 across in a Nissan Rogue. The infant seat had to be on the side for me to get it in/out. We left my middle child rear-facing longer so that the other two seats played nicely next to each other.
Now that we're done with the infant seat, the baby is in the middle, and lifting her over to get her buckled isn't great but is definitely doable. We have 3 Radians.
-
@Becky: The 2012 CRV has minor seat belt overlap which can be a bit tricky, but it would be much worse with a 2017+ CRV, so that's good. The seats you have are all thin so that's good. The center seat is narrow and you may have an issue with a seat there covering the driver side buckle. Honestly it will just be a matter of playing around with how they fit, but it should be possible. And if you really need a little more space you could do a baseless install of the keyfit (though only on an outer seat, can't imagine getting it in and buckled in the middle every time).
If possible I would put your booster rider behind the driver, only because that is the side with only one buckle. In three across it can be very tight for a booster rider to buckle and if they have two buckles next to each other they are more likely to accidentally unbuckle the other seat.
-
I have a Toyota Prius and before No. 3 was born, we had two FF car seats next to each other, and a grown-up space behind the driver seat. So to get everyone to fit, we got the oldest kid (then 6.5) a backless booster instead of a car seat. Now we have the remaining FF car seat behind the passenger, the booster in the middle, and the bucket seat behind the driver. The bucket seat is without the base, there's just a rolled-up towel under it to give it better positioning. It's a tight squeeze, but I think it would have been easier if I'd given more thought from the get-go to buying narrow car seats.
-
These are all really helpful suggestions, thank you! Fortunately (kind of) DD in the HB booster can’t buckle herself because the space is too small so she can go on either side. I’ll definitely be trying these suggestions in a few months! I did switch DD2 to a regular RF car seat when she was 5 months so may try that, especially since neither grandma (both do childcare) can really tote around a bucket seat.
-
We had three in a row in the back of our CRV!
Two Diono Radian RXTs and one Chicco Keyfit. It fit GREAT. One was RF and one was FF.
I think we ended up putting the infant seat on one of the outside seats, rather than the middle. We put my oldest in the middle seat, in her convertible, since that one was the hardest to get too. She could climb in herself. -
I belong to the Car Seats for the Littles facebook group and you can message them for free tips on their page. I need to put 3 across in my 2019 Acura RDX starting in February/March and they suggested I try the Chicco Keyfit in the middle using a seatbelt install. They also told me that my Graco Affix booster was likely too wide to work and suggested the Evenflo Big Kid Amp as a narrower alternative. My other seat is a Graco Slimfit, which they seemed to think would work with the Chicco Keyfit and the Evenflow Big Kid Amp. I have yet to take any steps to see if these suggested seats will work. Anyway, might be worth joining that group and messaging them to see if they can provide any free advice.
-
We've done 3 across in a Corolla for years. We replaced all the carseats to make sure they worked according to the car seat lady's website but we never would have put the bucket seat in the middle. We did 2 Cleks and a Chicco KeyFit.
-
@Beebeeholiday: what year is yours? was looking at carseat lady website and she said no good for 2017 and now i am worrying!
-
@Becky: just for future reference but we have an Evenflo Big Kid Amp next to a rf’ing Cosco Next (middle seat) And because of the shape of the Cosco my 7yo has no trouble doing her seatbelt up.
-
@Kemma: Back to this again. Could I ask what your 3rd seat is? And do you have a CRV?
-
@catgirl: I’m back to square 1 and just wanted to see if you had any alternate seat recs. We had the booster behind the passenger and did in fact unbuckle they center seat several times so that’s not going to work. But now we can’t get a harnessed FF seat in that spot, and also buckle the booster behind the driver. And my husband is NOT helpful, very “they can share a LATCH; who cares what the manual says.”
-
@Becky: I just replied on your other thread before I saw your response here. I also shared a link that may help.
-
Just wanted to share that we found a solution! We have a FF Diono Radian behind the passenger (LATCH for now but belt works fine), Chico Keyfit 30 in the center (LATCH), and Evenflo Big Kid begins driver. I have to buckle the Evenflo or she has to crawl in. No experience actually loading the baby seat over the others and into the middle yet while running late for work, but we’ll see. We’re upgrading to a larger vehicle fall 2021 so will make it work.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
23 comments