Fitting 3 across - what are the rules??

sholoulou

New member
Are there certain rules in fitting 3 seats across? It is if you can buckle them and they are tight it is ok or do they need to have so many inches between them?
 
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bree

Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
The rules are that the seats need to be independently tight. They can touch, as long as they are not giving you a false sense of a proper installation.

In general, to check this while installing, you can do something like install the middle car seat first. Make sure the seat is installed properly. Then install the outboard seats. Take out the middle seat. If the outboard seats are still installed tightly (no more than 1 inch of movement at the belt path), then you know that the middle seat wasn't providing a false sense of a tight install. At that point you can reinstall the middle seat. I think I've summarized that process correctly, but the techs will chime in if I've screwed up. :)

Using seatbelts for a 3 across install usually allows more room than using LATCH with any of the seats.

You can also post what kind of car you have and what seats you hope to do 3 across, and the members here can try and help you with specifics. Some seats are known for puzzling together well (like Britax convertibles and Radians when they are either both rear-facing or forward-facing), so there are little tips like that the members here can help with.

There's also a three-across thread that can help.
 

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