Any way to get 3 across in a VW Passat Wagon?

We're expecting a third child in November, and our two older children will be 5 and 2.5 when #3 is born. #1 is in a FF Britax Marathon and is around 38 pounds (can't remember his height); #2 is in a RF Boulevard and is only 20 pounds (she's TINY and I'd like to keep her RF as long as possible.) Both are installed outboard. Currently there's no room in the middle for a third seat (or even a third person, there's just no room!). I don't think we can afford to buy a minivan or another new car right now.

We had the car retrofitted for bottom anchors, but there are no top anchors. We have dd's RF carseat tethered to the seat in front of her but ds' FF carseat isn't anchored.

We have another Marathon in dh's car to play with. We also have the Britax Companion from when dd was born, but that thing is HUGE and awkward IMO. Plus, I'm not a big fan of bucket seats anyway, so I'd rather just have three regular carseats and not deal with a bucket.

Is there any way to fit 3 carseats across? I'd love love love to keep our Britaxes and keep #1 in a 5 point harness, and I also want to keep dd rearfacing.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Many thanks!

We looked at buying a Passat last fall. I don't think there's any way to fit a MA, BV and another rear facing seat in that car. You may be able to do it with other seats, but the MA/BV are just plain too big for that vehicle in a 3 across. Sunshine Kid Radians might work, but I suspect it will come down to taking the car to Toys R Us and trying a variety of combinations.

Umm, you can't use lower anchors without a top tether. It's highly dangerous. LATCH=Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. If they installed lower anchors without top anchors then that's BAD. What year is your car? Maybe it had them already? But until you find top anchors you cannot use the lower ones. Switch to a seatbelt installation today. Before you go out again.

My husband drives an Audi A4 wagon, so pretty similar, maybe a bit more squished. I've had a FFing Radian, a FFing Wizard, and a low back booster, a narrow Cosco High Rise (I think) back there.

I would get a Radian for your oldest, keep the Boulevard RFing (next to each other would be ideal with the Radian in the middle if it installs well there), and then maybe a Scenera RFing on the other side? It's pretty narrow. The Snugride is pretty narrow too, though the Scenera would last you longer. Not to mention it's cheaper.

Wendy

I have three across in my little 1990 toyota corolla. It was difficult. I have a forward facing radian (14 inches on the bottom, 17 inches on the back), a rear facing cosco regal ride(16 inches) in the center, and a fisher price safe voyage booster (13 inches bottom, 17 inches back). My back seat is so narrow that I could not get two radians and the regal ride in there. Someone else on this board has a newer corolla and can fit a rear facing boulevard, a forward facing radian, and a rear facing comfort sport in their car. Three across in a small car can be done!

If I were you I would try a rear facing britax for the 2 year old outboard. I would wait until the new recaro seat comes out and see if that would fit forward facing for your 5 year old in the center. It is supposed to only be 16 inches wide and have 19 inch top slots and go up to 70lbs. It might fit better. If that doesn't work for you I would try a radian. One of the other posters here can suggest a narrow infant seat for you. When the baby outgrows that then maybe your other rear facing britax would fit. If that doesn't work then maybe another recaro or a regal ride would work for you. You can buy a regal ride at albeebaby.com.

Good luck finding three that will fit.

My husband has a Passat, and there is no way I could get another carseat in their rear-facing or forward-facing with our two Marathon's in there.

DH has a '03 Passat wagon and we've never tried to fit 2 RF seats in it. Currently we've got a Graco Snugride outboard passenger side (soon to be replaced with a Cosco Regal Ride), a Graco Ultra CarGo center and an Evenflo Chase outboard. All 3 seats are rock solid.
I think there might be a way to puzzle 3 seats if 1 or 2 of them are Radians, but you'll have to do it the old trial and error way, I'm afraid. I *think* you could probably fit 2 RF Radians side by side, or in both outboard positions, but then you've got to find a way to get the kids in the seats, lol.
Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies; you've given me a lot to research! I suppose the best thing to do would be to wait until not long before the baby is born (end of October-ish) to see what the options are at that point.

wendytthomas said:

Umm, you can't use lower anchors without a top tether. It's highly dangerous. LATCH=Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. If they installed lower anchors without top anchors then that's BAD. What year is your car? Maybe it had them already? But until you find top anchors you cannot use the lower ones. Switch to a seatbelt installation today. Before you go out again.

Click to expand...

Do you mean for the FF Marathon? The RF Boulevard is attached with the lower anchors and the top strap is tethered to the metal seat assembly of the seat in front. It doesn't budge. Is that not OK?

Quirky said:

Do you mean for the FF Marathon? The RF Boulevard is attached with the lower anchors and the top strap is tethered to the metal seat assembly of the seat in front. It doesn't budge. Is that not OK?

Click to expand...

That's fine. But FFing you can't use the lower anchors without a top tether. I'm sorry if I misunderstood which direction the seat was facing. The RF Boulevard sounds fine.

Wendy

You may be able to get three Radians across - worth a go.

I had a MA, RA and SR/C across our '02 Passat wagon. That worked just fine, but I agree that you're going to need a really narrow seat or two like the Radian to get a 3rd convertible back there.

I too am very puzzled about your having lower anchors without the top tethers. Ours also had to have the lower anchors retrofitted, but it already had the top anchors. They're plastic looking (there's metal underneath) hooks on the rear seatback. GL!