3 Seats in a 3rd Gen Prius?

[bethy84]

Hi, I just found out I'm pregnant with our third kiddo so I will need to figure out what I need to buy in the next year to make everything fit in our 2010 Prius. We also have a minivan, so I'm not concerned about fitting there, but will need enough seats in general.
I have two kids; a tall boy who will be nearly 5.5 when baby arrives and a tallish boy who will be 3.
The seats we own:
- 2 First Years True Fits (the 2 year old currently uses one in each car, FFing)
- a Graco Nautilus (currently in the Prius for 4 yr old)
- a Britax Frontier (currently in the van for 4 year old)

I am ok with doing a backless booster for oldest son in the Prius since he will be over 5 by that time. I currently do not own an infant seat and it is not a requirement as I often wear babies anyway and this one is due in mid April so there shouldn't be too much snow.

Thanks for any recs!

 

[nannykates]

Congatulations on baby #3! Unfortunately the seats you have are all very wide so I'm guessing you will have to start from scratch in the prius. I know prius back seats are very narrow so I'm guessing a radian for your 2yo will be necessary.

Someone with more prius experience should chime in soon.

 

[creideamh]

How often are they in this car? If it's just rides back from school and going to the grocery store on the weekends, I'd probably do Radian, Bubblebum, and Coccoro (or Keyfit, Aton if you end up wanting a carrier.) They'd fit easily with no guesswork.

 

[bethy84]

The prius is my husband's car for driving to work. We do, however, drive it on weekends a lot and currently with only two kids, take it on our long trips. Not sure we'd do as much of that with 5 people's stuff to lug around.

 

[YinzerMama]

\We have a 2006 prius. No idea how they compare. We have put a britax marathon in the middle rearfacing which allows an adult to sit on each side. Tight but works for short trips. I almost had to use his car for 4 kids (one could have ridden in front) but ended up getting a rental van instead so never had to make it work. You could probably make a booster puzzle on each side with a britax rf but I wouldn't put a 3yo in a booster. Radian maybe on one side? Never had a radian so no idea how they install back there.

For me I love the mileage of the prius but as a family car for more than 2 kids I can't imagine making it work unless there is no other option. For trips we take our van. Even if you can get 3 kids in the back row, for a serious trip, will you have enough room for stuff?? We barely had enough room in our van this past week when we went away.

The prius has become the car I use as an excuse to run out with just one or two kids.

 

[creideamh]

HBBs won't work with a Britax, I can tell ya- the headwings make it not work. I would do Coccoro and Radian RF (one center one outboard, may need to see how they puzzle with/without angle adjuster), and a narrow HBB. A Vivo, Cruiserfix Pro, maybe even an AMP though I could never get it to puzzle with either an RN or CCO in my Prius. You might also consider the Bubblebum and just taking the minivan on trips, cause 3 across in the Prius really is not pleasant.

 

[YinzerMama]

HBBs won't work with a Britax, I can tell ya- the headwings make it not work. I would do Coccoro and Radian RF (one center one outboard, may need to see how they puzzle with/without angle adjuster), and a narrow HBB. A Vivo, Cruiserfix Pro, maybe even an AMP though I could never get it to puzzle with either an RN or CCO in my Prius. You might also consider the Bubblebum and just taking the minivan on trips, cause 3 across in the Prius really is not pleasant.

I thought they were supposed to puzzle really well if the britax rf'ed, since it is up on a base so the underside of the booster kind of fits under. Pain in the butt to buckle but works.

Still not something I would do unless I had to. Depending on how often the car was used, the fuel savings might be offset by buying new car seats anyway.

 

[creideamh]

They should in a lot of cars, but they won't in my car. If I could pull the boosters out to the edge of the seat, it would probably work, but with the way the sides flare up, it doesn't. I can barely get boosters to fit next to an RF Radian.

 

[YinzerMama]

Ah. I get it. I was told to try this when I was gonna cram 4 kids in ours but never got around to it. Always just tucked it away as something that would work. Knowing this will save me attempting it if I ever want to take 3.