Question Secondary Seat Challenge: Fitting 3 Across, 2 Rear Facing

[Unregistered]

I have a ~35-lb, 3.5 year old, and twin 15 month olds who are ~22 lbs. All of the children are on the small side, so I am not worried about them outgrowing weight limits very young. In our main car we have the older child in a front-facing Radian in the middle, and the twins rear-facing in Britax Advocates on the outsides. It's a tight, but good fit (not sure if it will work once the little ones FF, but that's down the road a ways).

Our child-care provider has to transport the kids several times a week to take the older boy to preschool and other appointments, etc. We purchased an additional Radian to use with the oldest in the middle. I need two additional seats for the little boys. I had planned to get two more radians, but they are two long to fit rear-facing in her Ford Explorer (she is very tall), and they are very, very heavy. I don't feel it is reasonable to expect her to install and uninstall these seats from her car on a daily basis (she has teenage kids that she needs to be able to drive around after her work day with us is over).

I am looking for recommendations for a seat that is 1)safe, 2)not too tall to fit rear-facing with a tall driver, 3)lightweight with easy, latch installation for seats that will be moved daily, and 4) relatively narrow for three across installation.

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

[Irishmama]

Hello and welcome! :happy-wavehello:

I'd say the Evenflo SureRide fits your criteria. As far as safety, all US seats must pass the same tests, so we can't say one seat is safer than another. It fits rf in our 2-door Pontiac Sunfire in the center, so I don't *think* it would be too tall for your situation. It's lightweight, easy to install, and is fairly narrow. The seat itself doesn't look all that narrow, but it sits up a little on a base, and the base and back of the seat are narrow. It has tall top slots (19"), 40 lb rear facing weight limit, 65 lb ff weight limit. Evenflo does say the 40" rf standing height limit must be followed. It's around $80-90 right now, but it does go on sale often.

The Graco MyRide doesn't go quite as tall as the SureRide (16.5" top slots), but it sits up on a narrow base so it often puzzles well with other seats. It's around $130-150. It's not as light weight as the SureRide, but definitely not as heavy as a Radian, easy to install.

 

[Patriot201]

I agree that the SureRide would be a good seat to try.

Remember that with 15-month-olds, the seats can be more upright, which should help with fitting seats into the sitter's car.

 

[MommyShannon]

You mentioned easy LATCH install, but keep in mind that using the seatbelt to install often gives a little more room. If you have trouble fitting one rf behind her, you could try the radian rf in the middle then SureRide ff behind her and the other one rf on the other side.