how carseats in a 4 door car

I have a chevy, lumina and i all ready have two forward facing carseats in the back. we are expecting baby # 3 in a couple of months and my husband insists that it is safe to squeeze another carseat in the back, would this really be safe?

[scatterbunny]

Perfectly safe to have three seats across, provided they all fit well together and all are installed independently of the other (meaning, a tight install on one seat is not hiding a loose install on another seat).

How old are your children? Heights and weights? Current seats they are using?

[papooses]

Safe depends on correct use -- less than 1" movement at the belt path such that each carseat is independently secure.... It is possible to get 3 carseats in the Lumina, but we do need to know the ages, weights & heights of each child as well as the year of the vehicle to help you better

I have a 1 yr old who is 19 pds and in a forward faceing graco car seat and is one yr old. i also have a 2yr about 28 pds in an eddie bower car seat that is about 2 yrs old. the graco one is not too bulky but the eddie bower one is. i drive an 96 lumina.

[mominabigtruck]

Ok, first of all you can't put a 19lb child forward facing. It's illegal. I'm assuming you have a comfortsport? It goes to 30lbs rearfacing, turn your 1 year old back around. Secondly, what kind of eddie bauer seat? Is it a 3 in 1 or a forward facing combo booster? If its a 3 in 1 you can turn your 2yo back around also as cosco seats rear face to 35lbs. If your graco seat isn't a comfortsport, its probably a cargo which is only a forward facing seat, in that case I would put your 2yo in that seat and your 1yo in the eddie bauer seat.

Do you still have the base on your eddie bauer? If you take it off it will make it alot easier to put three across and you should have no problems.

[scatterbunny]

Yes, the 19 pound child absolutely must be rear-facing still. 1 year old AND 20 pounds is the bare minimum, but who wants to do just the bare minimum for safety? Rear-facing to the limits of the seat is safest, and the ComfortSport rear-faces to 30 pounds.

Knowing which exact seat the other one is will be helpful.

Off the top of my head though, I'd probably choose a Sunshine Kids Radian or a Graco Ultra or Platinum or Cherished CarGo (NOT Treasured CarGo) for the 2yo and keep the 1yo rear-facing in the ComfortSport, or in the Eddie Bauer seat the 2yo is using now, IF it is a convertible and can be used rear-facing.

[papooses]

Your 1 year old has to be rear-facing for at least 1 more pound : ideally until the MAXIMUM limits of a convertible carseat (see my website for explanation)

What exactly are the names of the carseats you have? Graco Comfortsport & Eddie Bauer Alpha Omega You might need 3 new seats.... I believe a rear-facing Cosco Scenera (5 point, not the OverHead Shield) for about $35-50 + a Graco CarGo (look for front harness adjust) for about $75-90 (?) will fit your vehicle with a Graco Snugride for newborn (5 point with front harness adjust).