3 across in VW Golf- Help with Safe Install

Hi all,
Baby number three is on the way and I'm desperately trying to keep my much-loved 2007 VW Golf as our only family car. My kids are small for their ages: my 5-year-old is under 30lbs and is 38in tall, and my 2-year-old is about 22lbs and 32 inches. I currently have my 2yo in a Combi Coccorro, in which she still has about 2 inches before she reaches the limit for rear-facing, and I just bought my 5yo a Clek Foonf to get as long as possible while using a five-point harness in forward-facing.

Even though both of these seats are among the narrowest on the market, I'm struggling to see how I'm going to fit a third in there and get safe installs on all three.

With the Coccoro, I've been able to push it as far toward the car door and still get a tight install using the lap belt and top tether. But with the Foonf, the only way I'm getting a nice tight install is if it is centred in the seat, rather than pushed over towards the door. I'm obviously using the lap/shoulder belt/top tether belt to secure it, and I find that when I have too much seat belt between the Foonf and where it actually latches into the seat of the car, I'm able to jiggle the seat loose pretty easily.

The only possible solution I can think of is to install the Foonf in the middle seat (not top-tethered) and put the Coccoro outboard, and either an infant seat or possibly another Coccoro on the other side. But I tried today putting the Foonf in the middle and wasn't able to get as tight an install...

How have other people done three across in a Golf? My understanding is that you should have a tight install of each seat independent of each other, not relying on the seats next to them to keep them from jiggling.

Hi! A few things, which might just be me misunderstanding some details: 1) your car will have top tether anchors for all three seating positions, so you can top tether any forward facing seat. 2) The Clek Foonf is not the longest-lasting harnessed seat, forward facing, due to the harness height, but for your kids it will be ample for reaching a safe age for booster use . 3) Your Foonf has lockoffs for use with a seatbelt installation - have you been using them?

One possibility would be handing down the Coccoro to the baby, the Foonf to the 2yo to use RF, and buying the 5yo a skinny forward facing harnessed seat like the Harmony Defender, which also turns into a high back and backless booster. As small as your 5yo is, any of the skinny Diono seats (RXT, R120, R100) would also be a good choice, and then you would have another long-lasting convertible to pass down when you want to move your 5yo into a booster.

Thanks for your reply!

Firstly - 1) My car only has tether points for the two outboard seats, not the middle seat. 2) Yes the Foonf has lockoffs for the shoulder belt portion of a seat belt; you use one lockoff for the shoulder belt on the side opposite the buckle. This doesn't appear to be enough to give me a really tight install, maybe it's because my seatbelts don't appear to lock though?

Your idea to graduate the 2yo to the Foonf and get a skinny harnessed FF seat for my 5yo had occurred to me, and I may end up trying it - but before I buy more carseats I was hoping to get a tight install of the Foonf to see if I could make it work forward facing outboard. Also, I've never had great luck with Radians and getting a good install, and my understanding is that they have no lockoffs for belts. Any tips on that one?

Just skimming and noticed a few things.... The 'tether' hook is the one on the top, are you sure there's not one in the middle on the top of the back dash? There really should be three, one for each seating position. (Lower Anchors are the ones that are only in the window/outboard seats, down between the seatbelt buckles).
Also, your belts do lock, you pull them all the way out, slowly, and when they retract, they won't loosen again. It's called a 'switchable retractor', purposefully designed for carseat installations. I'm wondering if you still have your vehicle manual? It should give a little more info on this stuff.
Annnnyway...good luck with getting three across, I know it's possible, but tricky!

Your center tether anchor (again, the one on the back of the seat) may look different from your outboard ones. I can't find a good image for it and I haven't had a Golf since 2006 (and it was a 1996 anyway), so I don't know exactly what to look for. However, it should be there since your vehicle was manufactured after 2003. Your manual is the best place to look for that.

I would contact Clek about your Foonf install. Their customer service is usually quite helpful. You will need to press down on the Foonf to compress the car's seat while tightening the belt, and then close the lock-off. You don't need to lock your belt when using built-in lock-offs.

You are right about the Radians not having lock-offs. I wish they did. However, your belts do lock, and many people install Radians with seatbelts. I had good luck doing so while car shopping in a newer Sportwagen - it fit like a dream in the center, RF, with an angle adjuster.

You may also want to contact a local tech to help you with all of this configuring: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=59135

Thanks again for the replies. I'm doing this in Ireland, and I imagine legislation for locking belts must be different because even though my car is a 2007, my belts most definitely do not lock. Frustrating!

However - I did manage to make it work! As jwilliams suggested, I put the Foonf RF outboard behind the driver, the Coccoro RF in the centre, and the seat I already had for my 5yo FF outboard. The Foonf installs beautifully RF with a seat belt, as even when it's not centred in the seat it's still nice and tight and doesn't budge. The 5yo's seat is a Kiddy Guardianfix Pro 2, which uses the seatbelt and a bumper instead of a 5-point harness:
http://www.kiddy.de/en/car-seats/9months-12years/kiddy-guardianfix-pro-2.html

It is, thankfully, about as narrow as a Foonf or Radian at the base, and the top bits that are wider are ok since it's next to a RF Coccoro. It will be a bit of a challenge getting the 5yo belted in as I'll have to squeeze my hand down the side of the seat, but it's doable and it's safe.

Phew! Delighted to have sorted it out. Again, thanks for all the helpful replies.

Oh yes, definitely different belts/tethers/laws, etc. So glad you were able to work it out!

Doh! I had just gotten myself trained to see the Canadian/International tag on the old app. Must watch for that! I was also starting to suspect you were outside if the US because I don't think we had the regular Golf in that year, just the GTI. Anyway, I'm glad we could help, in our way [emoji18]