Brand new car and I can't fit 3 seats!

[my3sweeties]

Hubby just came home with a '10 Ford Edge. The first thing I do is try to install car seats and it's not working! Please help.

DD1 is 9yo and 66lbs.
DS is 7yo and 55lbs.
DD2 is 4yo and almost 40lbs.

My van has DD1 in booster, DS in super size Britax (can't think of the name), DD2 in Marathon.

In DH's car we had DD1 in Parkway, DS in Radian 65 and DD2 in Marathon.

I have another Radian 65 that DD1 outgrew but it's in the garage.

So, I got the Marathon installed in the Edge behind the driver. I got a Radian installed behind the passenger, but when I went to put a booster in the middle, it's not even close to fitting. I can't put DD1 in the Radian b/c it only goes up to 65lbs PLUS, the headrest in the middle can't be removed so I don't think I can get a good install even if I bought a Radian 80.

What do I do? Any options at all that you can think of??

Thanks!!

 

[my3sweeties]

obviously my signature is OLD!

 

[Maedze]

I would put the Radian, center position, for the 4 year old, and the 7 and 9 year old outboard in boosters both, backless boosters if high backs don't work.

 

[bobandjess99]

Not to sound mean, but..uh...if you have 3 children, and were looking for a new vehicle, why were you not out there actually TRYING out seats in vehicles, and looking at stuff like how the seats install, what the seat belts are like, how the children fit in boosters, what the rear visibility is like with your kids in the car, etc?

 

[romanoma]

2 radians outboard and parkway center?

or 1 radian 1 parkway and 1 narrow booster (turbo?)

 

[my3sweeties]

It's a company car. We don't have a choice in what we get.

I have my van, but it is nice to have seats installed in his car so we have options when running kids in different directions on weekends.

 

[my3sweeties]

Still troubled by bobandjess99 offering a judgmental rather than helpful post (I can't shop around for a company car), but I have looked on-line tonight to get a booster that is more narrow than the PW or Turbo and it looks like the Monterey is 15" and might help.

I still have a problem with the center headrest not being removable though. Does anyone have a trick for that? I don't think I can get the Radian to have the back flat against the seat with the headrest pushing the top out (if that makes sense).

Any helpful posts would be appreciated.

TIA!

 

[jnamommy]

Try this link. According to this, you need to remove a nut and clip before you can remove the headrest. Good luck!

http://www.ehow.com/how_5344423_remove-headrest-ford-edge.html

 

[Carrie_R]

Can you put DD2 in the other Radian instead of the Marathon? If I recall correctly, the Radian should be substantially narrower than the Marathon. What's the RF limit on either of your Radians? Maybe you could try putting one in RFing and that could give you more room to work with, plus eliminate the headrest issue.

Sorry you recieved a comment that upset you, please don't let that stop you from asking for help. By and large this is a friendly board, but it too sometimes gets caught up in the anonymity that is the internet.

Are you willing to buy new seats if necessary?

 

[kathysr98]

Are you sure the headrest is not removeable? I say this because the headrests in my mom's Explorer don't look removeable at first glance, but they are. There is a small hole in the side of one of the bars that you push something into to make them come off. If you haven't already, check the manual on that issue.

 

[kate4478]

How about radian, radian, parkway? I was able to install a marathon, safeseat & parkway in a 10 Ford Edge last night. It was very tight, but doable. So I think with 2 radians & a parkway that would work. The parkway fit best outboard b/c of the headrest. HTH!

 

[carseatcoach]

I own a Monterey and a Turbo. The Monterey is definitely wider than the Turbo.

 

[my3sweeties]

jnamommy - thank you for the link regarding the headrest - I like the warning about pulling over and putting the car in park before you attempt to remove the headrest!

katys98 - the car before this was an explorer and we had to remove the headrests by pushing in a little hole with a paperclip. it worked on the edge as well for the outboard seats but the center seat can fold down to be an armrest and *looks* like it doesn't come off.

To both: i did read the manual and it told how to remove the headrests (which I did for outboard) but doesn't specifically say all 3 or just those outboard headrest. now that the sun is up, i'll take another stab at it.

Carrie - I suspect that you're right that 2 Radians will work and I guess I might have to just deal with it, BUT the truth is I don't want to take DD2 out of the Marathon... that's totally silly b/c I love the Radians, but I love the Marathon more!

Kate4478 - it sounds like from your configuration, the PW needs to be outboard? Were any of the seats you installed RFing? I'm wondering about the headrests and if you had to remove them?

Chickabiddy - thank you for your comment about the size of the Monterey. The internet says the base is 15" and the PW is 17" but the overall size might be a bigger issue. I was getting excited about buying a new seat though.

thanks for the help!!! I'm encouraged to go back outside in the daylight and scratch up some nuckles trying to get them to fit!

 

[TerisBoys]

Another few ideas would be RN outboard, MA middle, booster outboard. The RN and MA puzzle nicely together and might free up a few more inches.

Also, use seatbelt installs for the seats instead of LATCH. Quite often, LATCH is set closer to the inside of the vehicle than seatbelt anchors. This can free up precious inches as well. You'll still use the top tethers, just not the lower anchors. You've got almost 57" of hip room back there, which is wider than a Focus - and several people here have 3 across in a focus.

 

[my3sweeties]

Teri, you're exactly right about the LATCH. It does have the seats sitting in the center so to speak. The manual even recommended using LATCH and the seatbelt together even though I'd read that wasn't endorsed someplace else. I can tell that on the outboard seats there is a lot of space between the seat and the door that's being wasted.

The manaul says the rear seats can recline. Is that okay if it will eliminate the headrest pushing the seat forward?

 

[apsupermom]

Teri, you're exactly right about the LATCH. It does have the seats sitting in the center so to speak. The manual even recommended using LATCH and the seatbelt together even though I'd read that wasn't endorsed someplace else. I can tell that on the outboard seats there is a lot of space between the seat and the door that's being wasted.

The manaul says the rear seats can recline. Is that okay if it will eliminate the headrest pushing the seat forward?

OMG! crazy! Really? Ford is so wierd when it comes to carseats! I hope you get it figured out mama!

 

[my3sweeties]

I am very happy to report that I got it! I hope it is okay - maybe I can find a tech to check the Radian since the headrest still bothers me a bit.

Here's what I did differently: I took out the MA that was installed with LATCH and first installed the Radian in the center. I did recline the seats a little so the headrest was not pushing on the Radian as much (and that headrest can't be removed - it is all one piece that can be folded down to make an arm rest with cupholders! what a waste!). Next I installed the MA again behind the driver, but this time with the seatbelt. It was hard b/c I was feeling the buckle and couldn't see what I was doing, but I got it. Nice install on the MA, feel totally confident on that. Next I put the PW on the passenger side and there is PLENTY of room for DD to be able to stick her hand in and buckle. In fact, you can actually see the buckle.

I wonder if there are inspections in the winter??

 

[autumnlily]

I'm not sure where the link is - I'll try to do a search (I'm certain it's nearby)...

there are techs from this board who do private checks and the link will help you search for them

1 tip I would suggest, but may not be necessary, is to verify that the Radian's seat belt buckle and the Parkways buckle - if next to each other... are easily distinguishable for your 9 year old. Some people put a sock over the buckle containing the carseat so that a boostered child doesn't accidently unbuckle the car seat.

 

[TerisBoys]

There is a list of technicians from the board here - see if there's one near you.

 

[autumnlily]

Just found the link - but Terisboys got to it faster