Help with 2000 Honda Accord 3 across

[RedDB76]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help us puzzle together 3-across. We are expecting #3 in December. At that time we will have:

• DD, 39 mos, probably around 35 pounds at that time
• DS, 18 mos, weight - He is currently 23 lb, so maybe close to 30 when #3 arrives

We have a 2000 Honda Accord and a 2004 Acura MDX. I believe the fit in the Acura will be easier to come up with, so the Accord is the critical component. We currently have the following seats:

• 1 - Graco Snugride 32
• 3 - Britax Marathon
• 1 - Evenflo Symphony 65

I am thinking that no combination of these will fit 3-across in the Accord (and probably not the MDX either) - anyone have any experience on this?

From spending some time on this great website, I am thinking we need to add a Radian to our collection, so in the Accord, we would have:

• Graco Sungride 32 RF, Radian FF, Britax RF (or Evenflo RF)

and we would need to switch the Britax (or Evenflo) to FF within a few months, and also possibly trade out the Snugride with a Britax, depending how fast #3 grows. Will these scenarios work?

Would we be best off to add a another Radian for the MDX then as well?

Thanks!

 

[mylittlet]

I think a radian would really help you out. I would get one from a place that has good return policy (amazon or diapers.com) and try it out. Your middle child should be rf until at least 2y if not longer.

The radian and britax seats puzzle together very well in the same direction. Your oldest could rf in a radian, because the R120 and XRT both rf to 45#.

Your infant seat is wide. You might need to look into one that is more narrow like the keyfit or snugride30 or use your current one baseless.

 

[Mom2Jack]

I have a Snugride & Marathon (RF) also. In order to get 3 across in my sedan (Malibu), we had to get a Radian. I have the Radian FF in the middle (seatbelt install), the Marathon RF on the passenger side (LATCH install) and the Snugride on the driver's side (seatbelt install for the base). I will be able to swap out the Snugride for a RF MyRide once the baby outgrows the bucket, so having 2 Marathons RF with a Radian FF in the middle should not be an issue.

I haven't played around much with 2 seats forward facing, but I don't know that there is a way to get any 2 of those seats FF together and independently installed. When it comes time to FF your middle child, you may need to buy something else. You may be overestimating how much he will gain between now & then though, so another option might be to leave him RF as long as you can. Maybe even put him in the Radian RF since that has a higher RF weight limit?

Honestly, I think you will need at least 1 Radian, so I would get that now (well, closer to December ) and then worry about FF when he gets closer to the limits.

 

[KaiLing]

I have a 1996 Accord and I could get a FF Radian in the middle with two smaller RF seats outside. A Coccoro is a small option (only RF to 33 lbs), but I know it fits next to a FF radian. If it were me I might try a MyRide next to a FF Radian because I know it fits in that car and it flares out at the top, potentially puzzling well with the Radian (also the MyRide is widely available so you could go try it out while you're still deciding).

What Britax do you have that you expect to have to switch to FF within a few months? Is it one of the ones that only RFs to 33 lbs? 24 months is the minimum recommendation for rear facing, so you may need a higher weight limit seat anyway.

There's a few tricks for trying three across, you may have read them elsewhere, but my favorite is to try using the seatbelt for all three installations, rather than the LATCH. That way you can scoot the seats out to the edge of the seat instead of being stuck in the middle of the LATCH anchors.

 

[RedDB76]

Thanks for all the help!

From Pippi and Mom2Jack's responses - we were thinking we would pick up a Radian this fall, and start puzzling things together to see if they will work with what we have. If they don't then we would still have time to pick up a keyfit or snugride 30.

Our Britax seats are Marathons - so it can be RF until 40 pounds. It will probably be more than a few months when our middle needs to switch to FF - he would be 2 approx. 6 months after #3 arrives. But, he seems to be following in line with me and other men in his family in growing fast. He has slowed down lately - he was in the 99.99 percentile for weight his first few months, but he is still in the 90s. By the time he goes FF, we may be ready for a new vehicle anyway.

This site has been a great help - I have picked up a lot of info and tips on installs, and realized that some of my installs aren't quite right. So, after realizing all this, I think we will finally meet with a technician to make sure I have everything hooked up right.

 

[RedDB76]

Which Radian would you all recommend? The R100, R120, or RXT?

Thanks again!

 

[KaiLing]

If you've got big kiddos, I'd buy a Radian that RFs to 45 lbs, and FFs to 80. That would be the R120 or the RXT. Between those the only difference is the head wings. Some people like them (I do, for sleeping, particularly), some people don't (they can make it harder to see out, and they may make the seat outgrown by height slightly earlier since the shoulders hit the wings). Your call.

Just for reference, my big kid hit 40 lbs at a similar time to when he outgrew most of the RFing seats (everything but the Radian, basically), and that happened before he was 2 and a half. But his dad's 6'9".

 

[Kecia]

FYI - We had a 2000 Accord for a few years and I'm pretty sure that I remember the Radian only installs well forward-facing in the center seating position. Just keep that in mind. Good luck!