Question Carseat for 3 across - Radian R100, Cosco Scenera, or other options?

Hi,

This is my first post here, but I've been reading for a while trying to find information. I'm sorry if this is similar to other threads, but I haven't found exactly what I need.

I have a 1-year-old who's growing out of her infant carrier and another baby on the way. We are hoping to have another child sometime in the next few years and don't want to have to buy a minivan. I have seen a lot of threads about fitting 3 across a backseat, but most are trying to work with 2 existing carseats. I currently only have the infant carrier (Graco Snugride 30) and am trying to look ahead and buy our first convertible with the idea of fitting 3 across in mind.

We have a 2011 Honda Accord, which despite its wide backseat, seems to be problematic for fitting 3 across. (Or two right next to each other.) I've actually been told that it can't be done. I'm really hoping that someone here can tell me differently, and recommend some seats that can make it possible. An additional complication is that we would probably end up with at least 2 rear-facing at the same time (infant and toddler).

If it's just not possible, we would have to get a different car (not a minivan - still worth it!), in which case we would still want to have narrow carseats that would fit.

I've heard a lot about the Diono Radian seats, but they're very expensive. I would be willing to spend the money if there's no other option, or if they have clear safety benefits over everything else. It doesn't seem like the latter is the case, though. I've actually seen much, much cheaper seats, like the Cosco Scenera, rated very highly on safety.

So my question is two-fold:1) is it possible to get 3 carseats across a 2011 Honda Accord, preferably with one being a Graco Snugride 30? Which ones?

And 2) What narrow carseat, that could potentially do 3 across in some other car, would you recommend for safety and reasonable comfort? Is it worth shelling out for a Radian - is it much better than other options? I've heard about the Combi Coccoro and Evenflo Triumph as well - are those good, safe, narrow options?

Sorry for the long post - I really appreciate any help I can get, because I'm at my wits' end!

Thanks!
bsg

bsg said:

So my question is two-fold:1) is it possible to get 3 carseats across a 2011 Honda Accord, preferably with one being a Graco Snugride 30? Which ones?

And 2) What narrow carseat, that could potentially do 3 across in some other car, would you recommend for safety and reasonable comfort? Is it worth shelling out for a Radian - is it much better than other options? I've heard about the Combi Coccoro and Evenflo Triumph as well - are those good, safe, narrow options?

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All of the car seats have to pass the same tests to be approved, so we know that they are all safe seats. Unfortunately, we don't get any sort of safety ratings so we can say or which ones passed the tests with 5 stars versus 4 stars.

I'm pretty sure it will be possible to get 3 across with the Honda Accord with the right combination of car seats. My friend was able to get 3 across with her older style Honda Civic. She used two forward-facing Radians for her then 4yo twins and a Graco Snugride car seat for her newborn. Hopefully someone else can tell you about your specific model/year.

The Radian is often part of the 3 across puzzle since it is so narrow and it also has a tall shell so it lasts a long time. It has an 8 year expiration date so you'll get a lot of use out of it as you pass it along over the years.

The Combi Coccoro is another seat that would work well for a three across situation. However, it's a much smaller seat with only a 33lb rear-facing limit and a 40lb forward-facing limit. You could get this seat and pass it along from child to child as each one outgrows it, but you will still probably need another taller seat, with a higher weight limit, like the Radian down the road.

The Evenflo Triumph is another good seat, but it's not narrow. We had two rear-facing Triumph car seats for our twins in our 2001 Ford Taurus - which is a full size sedan. There was definitely not enough space in our back seat to fit a third seat in with those seats.

Melanie

Another thing to consider when researching seats is to see if you can fits seats that puzzle well together. For instance, one of the Britax convertibles or the Graco My Ride will puzzle over the Radian when facing the same direction, which then takes up less space than even 2 narrow Radians.

Thanks for the help so far! Would love to hear specifics for my model and year, because apparently it's worse than a Civic, believe it or not, despite being wider - something to do with the way the seat tilts and the bump in the middle.

About the puzzling - I've actually heard that about the Britax puzzling well. How would I go about finding out info about puzzling? It's definitely not part of the manufacturer's specs.

Thanks a lot,
bsg