3 RF seats in a honda jazz / honda fit

[penguingrooves]

yes, that's three-across in a subcompact, all rear-facing in the back. i hear the combi coccoro can accomplish this, but this is not an option since one of the children is at CCO's RF limit, possibly over with clothes. i realize that this may not be spacially possible, but people from this forum have performed amazing installations.

some stats:
- child 1: height 37" / weight 33#
- child 2: height 31" / weight 23#
- child 3: possible newborn

i have a britax multi-tech for child 1 behind the passenger seat and a roundabout in the middle for child 2. (yes, i realize that one of the seats is not legal to use, depending on if my car is called a jazz or a fit, but real-life safety is more important than regulations. and many of us here are fans of ERF, right??? okay, moving on.)

what i need: something for the newborn. since i like my seats tethered, infant carriers are not an option, hence the CCO. but, i don't think even that would fit because i'm looking at 12-13". has anyone tried a MT, RA and CCO all RF in a jazz/fit???

some options i've thought about:
1. take out the miraculously secured RA and replace with a CCO to get a few more inches. (MT+CCO+CCO)
2. get a britax hi-way to replace MT for gaining that extra centimeter or so if necessary. (well, it's still cheaper than buying a new car.) or maybe even an axkid kidzone or a kidzofix, though i'm not sure if KZ can RF beyond 40#/18kg.
3. disable the front passenger seat's airbag and put a britax convertible (i have extra RA and MA) for the newborn while my spouse suffers while squeezed into the teeny rear space.

please no FF because i'm committed to ERF. also, no radian which is too long for a 2007/2008 honda fit/jazz. meanwhile, i will start my savings plan for a new car by funneling any extra money to my retirement account or the kids' college fund. thank you in advance for any inputs - again, i understand that this may require defying physics, but you guys are so creative and resourceful.

most sincerely,
bad family planner who should've bought a larger car.

ps. if someone knows the true total width of CCO+CCO, please share it. with the multi-tech, i have 29" left, maybe a little more if i can scoot the MT over.

 

[T4K]

I know you said you like to RF tether but what about anti rebound protection? The Combi Shuttle has an anti rebound bar on the seat itself so you could install it baseless. I'm out of town but I could measure it at it's widest point tomorrow.

Also the Clek Foonf is more narrow than the radian and due to be released in June.

 

[Pixels]

The Radian does fit in the 2008 Fit, I've done it. It was behind the driver, driver's seat all but one click back and all but one click from upright, which is my brother's usual driving position. Well, was, before his car was totaled. :/ But my point is, it can be done without significantly impacting your front seat room.

Many infant carriers have rebound control in the form of an anti-rebound bar built into the base, built into the seat itself, or by simply leaving the handle in the carry position in the car. Are any of those acceptable to you, or are you stuck on an actual tether? FWIW, many of us do not like to tether our newborns because of the concern that the tether will actually increase neck loads on such young, fragile necks.

The Coccoro is 14 inches wide and doesn't tend to puzzle very much, so if you truly have 12-13 inches I doubt it would work without also making some other changes. Do you have your Roundabout installed with LATCH/UAS/ISOFIX or with the seat belt? A seat belt install will buy you some space as you can move the seat toward the door a bit more. Also, experiment with which seat goes where, as all three rear seating positions are different sizes in your car.

FWIW, your Jazz is wider than my Civic. In many ways, even though my car looks like it's bigger, yours is actually the bigger car.

 

[penguingrooves]

(i can't seem to multi-quote, so my apologies for the lack of proper citing.)

Thirsty4Knowledge:
- i like the rock-solid tethered installations. i thought about anti-rebound bars, but infant carriers are surprisingly wide, thanks to extra bulk on the side and the pivot for the handle.
- i can't wait for the Clek Foonf because the baby will arrive before june...

Pixels:
- both britaxes are installed with seatbelts, and they're independently solid. phew!
- the radian requires more space because the multi-tech (which is shorter) behind the driver's seat wasn't working, and both drivers need the seat to be more than one click back despite being very short people. weird.
- the tether is important to me. it's not like there's a definite "recoil" path the carseat will allow, and i prefer more stable installations like in sweden where carseat safety seems more advanced, at least in RF situations.
- how do you plan on fitting three seats in your civic???

 

[beetlemama]

Not sure how your year fit compares to my mother in law's 2007 civic in terms of cabin space, but my RF radian fits like a dream in that car. My husband is over 6' tall and has over an inche of clearance in front of it (at 5' I have close to a mile of clearance). We also have it fairly upright in the backseat of our beetle and it's still driveable for him and almost comfortable for me. I honestly would try pulling it away from the seat bight an pushing down on the edge while tightening to see if you can get a more upright install for an older kid in that particular seat, which should buy you some room.

 

[Pixels]

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say about the front seat placement with the Radian. The front seat was very nearly all the way back, moved forward just one click. My brother is neither short nor small.

I have a very few options for my Civic. I can put three Radians if they alternate directions (FFing center and RFing on the sides, or RFing center and FFing on the sides). I can swap one of the RFing Radians for a BabyTrend infant seat. Or I can just barely do three rear facing if I use Radian, MyRide, Radian. My plan for the newborn stage is BabyTrend, FFing Radian center (SafeStop and tether for my then-4yo, who is currently hovering around 30 pounds), RFing Radian behind the passenger for my DS. Once the newborn is sitting up well, I tend not to use the bucket, so at that point we may go to the Radian/MyRide/Radian configuration, but honestly I'm not looking forward to having dirty feet climbing over the outer seats to get to the middle, nor trying to buckle the child in that center seat. For now, I know it's an option, and I'll deal with it when it comes up. Maybe we'll stick with the infant seat for longer, or maybe we'll buy a minivan.

 

[lourdes]

(i can't seem to multi-quote, so my apologies for the lack of proper citing.)

Thirsty4Knowledge:
- i like the rock-solid tethered installations. i thought about anti-rebound bars, but infant carriers are surprisingly wide, thanks to extra bulk on the side and the pivot for the handle.
- i can't wait for the Clek Foonf because the baby will arrive before june...

The combi infant carrier is very very narrow

 

[lourdes]

The combi infant seat is very very narrow, sorry about the wrong post before

 

[penguingrooves]

Pixels:
- wow, i've heard of RFing a radian in a fit - that's quite a feat. radian is about 1-1.5 inches narrower than the multi-tech, so that can help. but oh oh oh, the MT is sooooo nice. it's superbly designed and sturdy without a lot of waste. while RFing up to 55 lbs (25 kg), the MT is maybe only 19" across.
- the 2012 civic is teeny bit wider than the fit, but they're both small cars. almost everyone tells me that i have to get a minivan - i don't know about you, but it seems that people upgrade their cars every few years like it's not a big deal. still, we're probably headed towards minivan territory.

lourdes:
- combi's infant carrier (the shuttle) is 17-inches wide, so that's definitely not going to fit...

it looks like i might have to replace either the MT with the radian (which i hope fits) or the RA with a CCO. or maybe even both... still, cheaper than a $35,000 minivan for now. thanks for helping me think through, everyone.

 

[Pixels]

My Civic is a 2002. Whoever decided that it's a 5-seater, well, I guess it technically has 5 seat belts. But I was cleaning out my back seat and I sat down and buckled in one of the outboard seats. My toddler came over and sat down in the middle and buckled in the center, and our thighs were touching. I have about 14.5 inches of usable room per seat. 3-across in my car requires wedging seats tightly, bloody knuckles, and some cursing. I did the same 3-across in my brother's 08 Fit, and the seats weren't even touching each other. The Fit has over 7 inches more hip room than my Civic.

 

[penguingrooves]

yipes, maybe the civic widened for newer models, but that's teeny. and your operative word is "usable." but it gives me hope that maybe i can continue using the MT. we love our small zippy car though; it's gonna be weird to drive an odyssey which barely fits in our driveway and i have to parallel-park often since i live in a densely populated area. i can't believe how expensive used odysseys are though - maybe i need to drop my love of hondas and try a mazda5, eeeck. thanks again, and good luck!!

 

[penguingrooves]

um, i'm sure some theories regarding space were broken, but i managed to accomplish this in case anyone was wondering. like most users of imported seats, it's already established that legality is secondary to safety. the seats are installed like:

- britax multi-tech behind the passenger on the 40 portion of the 60/40 split seat with seatbelt. the plate was flipped. (that probably makes no sense non-MT owners, but it basically reclines the seat.) it doesn't move at all.
- britax roundabout (older 17" model which hasn't expired yet) in the middle with seatbelt. the front of the carseat base lifted up a little when the rear tether was tightened, maaaybe not even an inch. still, less movement than non-tethered convertibles and virtually no movement along the belt path. the recline is upright as much as britax allows, but the occupant is a petite 2 1/2 year old.
- combi coccoro behind the driver with a latch. (!!!!!) this one i might switch to seatbelt once i can figure out coccoro's confusing seatbelt installation directions and feel less burned out from configuring all this. i feel like the carseat is too close to the door for the latch because its base is right at the latch point. it doesn't move along the belt path by more than an inch though. again, i can shake it but can't move it out of its belt path, so very solid. it's fully reclined, though i didn't have a choice. no occupant in this seat yet, so i have time.

i don't think anyone would use this configuration, so i didn't add to the "successful 3-across thread." also, don't want to anger anyone since i'm "cheating" in some ways. but each seat is independently and solidly installed without squishing into each other. and no seats are touching the windows or the doors. this was possible because the middle RA has a high base, so the low/no base adjacent seats can sneak underneath it for a few centimeters around the flared wavy design of the RA.

my intention isn't to promote recklessness. far from it. i could have had the oldest kid (age 4 1/2) FF and make things infinitely easier, but if all the seats can be installed so everyone can RF, i don't see anything wrong with attempting it. anyway, i'm stunned and relieved that i don't have to buy a new car for now - perhaps all that time wasted playing tetris and blockout (3D tetris) has paid off. i won't be offended if this thread is removed if anyone feels like i'm endangering kids' lives, but i don't think i am. and if you think i am, feel free to opine in case i haven't permutated all possible thoughts. in the meantime, i hope no bodily fluids invade the seats because undoing then recreating this would be too challenging.

 

[T4K]

Good job!

Sounds like you found a solution. Be sure not to over tighten the tethers on the CCO and RA, you want them without any slack but not so tight you can play music on it ;-)

 

[penguingrooves]

oh, another purpose is to give hope to other honda jazz / honda fit owners that their beloved tiny car may not need to be dumped.

 

[penguingrooves]

Good job!

Sounds like you found a solution. Be sure not to over tighten the tethers on the CCO and RA, you want them without any slack but not so tight you can play music on it ;-)

thank you!! i should probably loosen the tethers a bit more on the US seats, but it's tough to gauge what's too tight or not. still, i will check again - thanks!

 

[Pixels]

You definitely need to loosen the tether on the Roundabout. The base of the seat must always be in full contact with the vehicle seat (use pool noodles if needed to get proper recline). If the tether changes the angle of the seat at all, even the slightest, it's too tight. Just take the excess slack out. If you overtighten the tether, you risk breaking the seat.

 

[penguingrooves]

You definitely need to loosen the tether on the Roundabout. The base of the seat must always be in full contact with the vehicle seat (use pool noodles if needed to get proper recline). If the tether changes the angle of the seat at all, even the slightest, it's too tight. Just take the excess slack out. If you overtighten the tether, you risk breaking the seat.

oh, i'll definitely loosen the tether, thanks. i can barely stick my finger in there as is. besides, more recline is what i DON'T need since the top of the RA is dangerously close to touching the MT.

 

[zeo2ski]

3. disable the front passenger seat's airbag and put a britax convertible (i have extra RA and MA) for the newborn while my spouse suffers while squeezed into the teeny rear space.

Glad you're finding something to work, just wanted to touch on this option though. I know you're committed to RFing (me too) but I believe putting a child in the front seat is more of an increase in risk than FFing a 4 y.o. and keeping all children in the back seat.

 

[penguingrooves]

Glad you're finding something to work, just wanted to touch on this option though. I know you're committed to RFing (me too) but I believe putting a child in the front seat is more of an increase in risk than FFing a 4 y.o. and keeping all children in the back seat.

thank you! hmm, i figured RFing in front seat would be safer than FFing in the backseat. (i was more concerned about hubby's comfort.) front seat safety has increased quite a bit during recent times, but i haven't researched much about it. thankfully, i won't have to worry about that data, phew... well, for now at least.

 

[carseatcoach]

Disabling an airbag is something that should be done as a last resort, because it compromises safety for the front seat passenger. I would not do it to keep a 4yo RFing. It's important to me that all my family (and any other passenger) be safe.