They said it was impossible... - fitting 3 car seats across the back seat - some tips, tricks & "go to" seats

Safety 1st Go, Chicco Key Fit 30, Britax Boulevard

3 car seats in 2008 Range Rover Sport

Fitting 3 car seats across the back seat is a challenge.  Truth be told, it is not possible in many vehicles.  In other vehicles, it requires just the right combination of seats - not only a specific car seat, but putting it in the best position in the vehicle to allow the other seats to "puzzle" next to it.

You might be thinking - this is a Range Rover Sport, of course you could get 3 car seats in a huge truck like this.  But there you would be wrong - as just having a large vehicle in no way guarantees that you will be able to fit 3 car seats, just as having a small vehicle in no way guarantees that you won't be able to fit 3 car seats.  Case in point - the Range Rover HSE, which has similar exterior dimensions to the Range Rover Sport, will not accommodate 3 car seats due to the awkward layout of its back seat and the narrow dimensions of the center seat.

Having installed thousands of car seats, The Car Seat Ladies have some "go to" seats when it comes to fitting lots of seats into not a lot of space.  In the vehicle shown in the pictures (the 2008 Range Rover Sport) I installed the Safety 1st Go behind the driver (using LATCH), the Chicco Key Fit 30 in the center (using the vehicle's shoulder/lap belt), and the Britax Boulevard behind the passenger (using LATCH).  Had there been two forward-facing kids and one rear-facing, I likely would have tried the Safety 1st Go behind the driver, the Britax Boulevard forward-facing in the center, and the Chicco Key Fit 30 behind the passenger - as putting the Boulevard and the Go next to each other would allow the Go to tuck itself underneath the Boulevard and use up a little bit less space in the back seat with this overlap (each seat would be installed and the belt marked to make sure that the car seat was installed tightly INDEPENDENT of the other seat - i.e. and not relying on its neighbor to feel snug).

"Go To" Seats

• Infant
• Chicco Key Fit
• with a starting weight of 4 pounds it is guaranteed to fit almost any infant
• very narrow where the handle attaches (the widest part of most infant seats) - which allows it to fit nicely next to other car seats
• built in locking clips - very important for an easier seat belt installation
• 30lb weight limit so you get more use out of it than the 22lb infant seats

• Convertible (Rear to Forward Facing)
• Britax Marathon / Boulevard / Decathlon
• extra tall seated height to accommodate older kids rear-facing
• narrow where it needs to be and wide where it needs to be - making it fit in spaces where seemingly smaller seats won't
• built in locking clips - very important for an easier seat belt installation
  
• high weight limit forward-facing
• Combi Coccoro
• at 15 inches it is the narrowest convertible car seat
• built in locking clips - very important for an easier seat belt installation
•  note: it is shorter in seated height than the Britax/Sunshine Kids so will last less time rear-facing & forward-facing
• Sunshine Kids Radian
• high weight limit rear-facing & forward-facing
• narrow profile
• Note - this is typically a difficult seat to install securely using the vehicle's shoulder/lap belt as it does not have built in locking clips for either rear-facing or forward-facing.  As such, it is often not our first choice.  Installing this seat rear-facing with a shoulder belt is typically a very challenging installation as since the seat has no built in locking clips (and using the switchable retractor - the locking mechanism built into most shoulder belts - will tilt the car seat on its side) - you must use a metal locking clip to keep the seat belt tight.  A metal locking clip is a 2 person, multi-step process that is hard to do properly (and easy to do wrong).  Another issue with this seat is that in many vehicles it sits quite reclined when rear-facing which may mean that the adult in front of the car seat does not have adequate space to drive/sit comfortably. 
• Combination Seat (5 point harness car seat to booster)
• Safety 1st Go Hybrid
• Narrow (17 inches) with an exceptionally narrow profile at the top due to its lack of sides (except at the child's head) - which allows it to fit very nicely next to other seats, including puzzling underneath seats with an overhang like the Britax Marathon/Boulevard/Decathlon
• Great seat for older kids as:
• it doesn't look as much like a "baby seat"
• provides a 5 point harness for longer
• allows older kids some independence as with another car seat next to them they often have difficulty buckling themselves into a booster - but with this seat they can use the 5 point harness and many kids by the age of 5 can buckle themselves in
• Note: When installed with the vehicle's seat belt the top shoulder strap height is just 14.5 inches - but when installed with the vehicle's lower anchors (LATCH system) the shoulder strap height is 17.5 inches.  Therefore this seat must be installed with the lower anchors for most kids over the age of 3-4 as they need the additional shoulder strap height.  Since most vehicles only have the lower anchors for the side seats, this seat will usually have to go on the side.
• Belt Positioning Booster
• Nania High Ride
• Narrowest backless booster - 14.5 inches wide (1 inch narrower than the next narrowest booster)
• Note: this booster is only available in packs of 6 (with shipping it is about $15/booster) - but since it is great for fitting 3 kids across the 3rd row of a Honda Odyssey I'm sure you can find a few neighbors who will buy a few from your 6-pack
• Ride Safer Travel Vest
• A vest that functions like a booster - but since there is no "seat" you only need to have enough room for the child's bottom to fit instead of the extra 6-8 inches that most boosters take up