Need 3 in a Subaru Outback - 2 infants and a 4 year old

Hi all!

I have a four year old DD who is currently almost out of ther Roundabout. I was planning on getting her a Graco Nautilus until I found out on Tuesday (at 20 weeks pg) that I am having twins. and also a little

DH and I are trying to figure out if we have to buy a new car - I really hope not - which is where all you experts come in. Does anyone know if I can fit 2 bucket car seat and a Nautilus in the back seat of a 2001 Subaru Outback? We also have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport - would they fit in there? Any ideas on car seats that would work for this configuration?

Thanks in advance!
Bethany

I just wanted to say "congrats" on the twins. I don't have experience with an Outback so can't help much there. I'm sure someone will chime in.

I'm thinking two Radians and the Nautilus *might* fit?

Just happened upon this forum as I'm searching for a new carseat for my infant. I have a Subaru Outback Impreza (slightly smaller than an outback) and currently have one infant seat and Evenflo Triumph. I can't put them next to each other, ie infant seat cannot fit in center, because it's too tight. I bet the Outback would have a little more space than mine, but probably not much wiggle room. As mine stands now, it would be extremely tight to even have a person ride in the back with the two car seats. Hope this helps. Do you have a friend or someone with an infant seat you could try out in your car?

I'd suggest moving your 4YO to a Radian when she outgrows the Roundabout b/c you could always pass it down to one of the twins when she outgrows it (Radians have an 8 year lifespan compared to 6 years for Britax and most other convertibles.) Then you could get your ODD a regular HBB which would probably be narrower than a Nautilus

I would say Radian for the 4yo and then if you are buying 2 bucket seats, the Baby Trend are the narrowest. You might have luck with that combo. The Nautilus is wide but if you can go to BRU, they should let you try them out to see what might fit. I personally cannot fit 3 across in any configuration with the Nautilus.
And remember, a Radian is cheaper than a car.

I have an '01 outback and 3 car seats is next to impossible. I can get a radian seatbelt install in the middle, but it took 2 hours! And it had to be off to the side to fit in the nautilus, not leaving room on the other side for another car seat (I had it in rfing, I find that ffing is even harder as a seatbelt install). I couldn't get the nautilus in the middle with a radian next to it outboard either. The back seat is really really narrow. And I can't even get a radian at 45 degrees behind the passenger seat without it being all the way forward.

Long and short of it, we couldn't figure out a way to get 3 across and are buying a Sienna. You may be able to do 2 rfing sceneras and something ffing for your older. That I didn't try. But it's going to be difficult.

I have a 2006 impreza (I'm assuming a smaller backseat) and I can get three across with a nautilus. I have a RF Britax blvd outboard behind the drivers seat for a 15 month old (25 lbs), the nautilus center for a 5 year old (36lbs), and a radian rf outboard passenger for a 3 year old(28lbs). Thus I would assume it's possible, however I'm not sure about two infant buckets.

Congrats on the twins!!! I found out at 7 weeks when I was having twins - I cannot imagine finding out at 20 weeks My DD was a little over 2 when they were born and was and still is a fantastic helper.

Okay - I will ask our neighbor's friend - they have a very similiar age set up and an Outback. I know they use two rearfacing maxi cosi seats (outboard). I'm not certain what the oldest rides in the middle. I know they did not and could not find a bucket seat that they could use with a base. They did say they could use a bucket without the base - but the buckling in and out was more cumbersome to them than not using an infant bucket at all.

We sold our vehicle for a mini-van... it has made our life so much easier!

I think two of the right baby buckets and a radian would fit!! Depending on your money situation you could buy 4 yo a radian, use two baby buckets. When buckets are out grown you'll need to buy two more seats for RF, you can't turn the Radian RF in an Outback!

I can't say for certain it will work, but I could ALMOST get a 3 across with a Frontier Marathon Frontier all FF.



Here it is, the seats fit in the car, but the marathon I think is depending on the FNs to be tight, I couldn't quite confirm they were independently tight. I think it would help if the FNs were in the lowest position for the head wings.

And of course the little guy is still REAR FACING he's just playing. I couldn't get this install at all with the MA RF.

This is a 2000 Subaru Legacy Outback.

FWIW my worst and completely impossible carseat experience was in a Subaru Forrester. The seat is incredibly narrow, very contoured, and just a royal PITA. I don't know the similarities between an Outback and a Forrester... I think I have heard that the Outback can be easier but I can't remember where I read that. Maybe check the "successful 3-accross" thread and search for outback in it.

Honestly, If I owned a Subaru and was in your position, I would start looking into selling it and putting the oney toward a different vehicle, either a minivan or a larger, more car seat-friendly station wagon. For example. I was able to fit 3-across (not easily, but it was possible) in a 1990 Honda Civic wagon, but it's really a lot harder to fit 3-across in my 98 Saturn station wagon, and my sitter's '00 Subaru Forrester was the hardest car I've ever tried to put seats in. Check the 3-across thread for ideas about cars that are more 3-across friendly. I'm tempted by the Toyota Camry wagon and the Honda Accord wagon, but I have not owned or tested either of these cars so I can't vouch for car-seat compatibility, I just suspect it would work since they are larger/wider than the civic wagon and I was able to fit 3 in the civic wagon.

You might do fine with a FFing Radian in the center position and very narrow bucket seats on the outsides, but you would likely want to look into a different vehicle by the time your twins are big enough to switch to RFing convertible seats. You could potentially get two RFing Radians, but RNs are so tall that they can sometimes not fit properly and force the driver's and passenger's seats way forward leaving not enough space for the people in the front seat, so a RFing Radian doesn't always work. Other convertible seats fit better front-to-back and can be installed a bit more upright for older kids (I have the Marathon for this purpose) but seats other than the Radian are wider and I wouldn't be all that confident that you could fit two of them AND another seat for your DD in an Outback.

Because these just came out and go to 35lbs now, here is a plug for the Safety 1st OnBoard infant seat. THey have a narrow base, and since they go up to a higher size and weight, you would not have to deal with larger convertible seats until at least one year of age. There is also the Chicco Keyfit 30 that goes up to a higher size/weight than the average infant seat, but I am not sure of the width of the seat although it appeared to be narrow when I saw one in ToysRUs, I didn't get a close look.

However, many things are possible. If you get a workable 3-across configuration in your Outback, please post about it!

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. I think a visit to BRU to try some things out is definitely in order. I will be so sad if I can't get the buckets w/the base in there. It would be really annoying to have to use the belts everytime we put them in the car. I have 2 bases from our first daughter so I think I'll try to get them installed with Nautilus (borrowed from BRU) in the middle. If that doesn't work then I think I'll have to get the Radian. I would normally be all about getting a new car - however we currently live in a 1000 sf duplex that no way can fit 3 kids a dog and 2 cats so we have to buy a house in the next few months so not buying a car would be optimal.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

One seat I haven't tried that may be narrow, the combi concorro. But not a bucket. *might* work with two rfign outboard and a ffing radian in the middle, if you can get a good install in the middle.

If you can install Radian seatbelt center (unlikely, but might work) I would do that and get two SnugRide 32s for your twins. Now, you'll probably need to use them without the base, can't be helped. But they'll last a long time, and buckling them in isn't difficult once you get the hang of it.

Is your daughter ready for a booster? At 4 years old, possible. Not a guarantee, but she might be ready.

There is also the possibility of the twins in Safety 1st Avenues from birth and your daughter in a Radian or *maybe* a Nautilus (I don't think so, but maybe). How much does she weigh? Is she outgrowing the RA by weight or height? She must be pretty small, as it is very rare for a 4 year old to fit in a RA. Is she still BELOW the top harness slot? Depending on her weight, you might be able to get her a smaller combination seat for FF.

The chance of you getting two infant seats with base is very, very slim. In addition, installing most seats with that center seatbelt is going to be a nightmare.

ETA- Go to BRU and take the base off of three Cosco Alpha Omegas (also called Eddie Bauer 3n1, safety 1st something or other... you'll know when you see them that they're all the same). Without base, they're not narrow but fairly square and not really wide. You *might* be able to get three across with those.

Just to be the voice of hope, I did manage to get a Radian installed FF with seatbelt in a Subaru Forrester, the nightmare of all cars. So I think it can probably be done, but definitely check the "Radian tips and tricks" thread first. It is absolutely essential to pull the base of the seat out from the seat bight a little bit if the seatbelts in the car come out forward of the seat bight. In the tips and tricks thread there are very clear pictures of what I mean by this.

Also to be the voice of hope, I got RF Safety 1st infant seat older model outboard, FF Radian center, RF Evenflo Embrace outboard in my Honda Civic at some point. I tried to do the same thing again with my Graco Safeseat and it did NOT work. A few inches makes a big difference, as does the shape of the base. I would not recommend the Safeseat or the Snugride32 for a very narrow 3-across situation because they really stick out in places. But I am confident that with two very narrow infant seats and a Radian FF center that you can make it work. I am skeptical about the Nautilus, but I haven't tried one, so I don't know how wide they really are. If you find a good combination that puzzle together then it might work.

Because of my personal experience with a narrow Safety 1st seat I would check out the Safety 1st OnBoard 30, but others can probably advise other narrower seats that go to 30 or 35 lbs.

I will say again that the outlook for two RFing toddler/convertible seats plus any kind of seat for your DD is not good at all. So I would urge you to get infant seats that will last until your twins are older to give you plenty of time to look into bigger vehicles when it comes time to switch them out of their infant seats (with any luck around 14 mos or so depending on the kid).

Not to be too redundant... but I would also say that there is likely NO WAY you will fit a nautilus back there with two other seats, and ESPECIALLY not with two bucket seats with bases.

Now you might fit bases with a radian, but likely not even that.

I would also suggest you try two combi cocorro's for the twins (very light, narrow, not too expensive, SOOOO CUTE, and will still RF up to 33 lbs) and a radian for the older DD. I don't know if they carry these seats at BRU or not, but for your situation, I think these seats may be your best bet...

Good luck, and be sure you let us know which three seats you get to fit!!!

I don't have experience w/ your car but I wanted to say this. Buckling in 2 infant seats w/ out bases & having a FF seat in the middle isn't difficult at all.

When I had my girls we only had a Suzuki Vitara at the time (a super small SUV). My DS was 2 & FF in a FPSVD (Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe) the stripped version on the Britax Marathon. My girls were in Baby Trend Flex Locs & we couldn't use the bases. I'm one handed on top of it & it was really no problem at all to buckle the seat belts.

Congrats on your twin surprise!

I drive a 2001 Outback. The middle seat is a total pain, but I think there's hope. You may end up investing $600 in seats, but that's still a lot less than a new car.

I could fit a keyfit in the center next to a ff marathon. I've never tried it next to a Nautilus, but they're comparable in width. I think you could manage one more keyft outboard, and for sure with a radian for the 4 year old. Here's a thread where I tried a ff radian in my outback.

As mentioned above, Combi Coccoros for the babies would work as well, but I don't know if I'd be willing to give up the buckets for twins.