Problem Solved- How to Fit 3 Car Seats in One Row!

2 weeks ago I could not get 3 car seats to fit in the back row of my 7 passenger mini-van, at least not if I actually wanted to buckle them up. It was simply too tight of a fit. I knew I would need to find a skinnier car seat for the middle spot in the backseat. To get 3 children to safely fit in the backseat, I would need a car seat that uses a harness and had a skinny base.

3 car seats in-a-row attempt 2 weeks ago
Not enough room to buckle even 1 backless booster

After a lot of research, I found that the Sunshine Radian Car Seat would be the best choice for fitting 3 car seats in a row. My concern, though, was whether 1 Radian would be enough to solve the problem, or whether I'd have to purchase 2. I decided to purchase one, try it out with the other seats we currently own, and then go from there on whether another Radian in the back would be necessary.

Today the car seat came and guess what? I was able to fit a backless booster (for 6 year old) with Radian in the middle (for 5 year old) and harness booster on the other side (for 3 year old). With my 2 year old in a side seat in the middle row, there is an empty seat waiting and ready for the new baby! It was still a little bit of a squeeze for my 6 year old to buckle his backless booster (which uses a shoulder strap), but MUCH better than before. There was enough room on the side that with some work he was able to buckle it himself! He was a bit jealous of his brother's new seat, which surprised me. He actually wants a Radian now too and says he doesn't care that it uses a harness! Quite a change from his former opinion that it was a "baby seat".

Besides the skinniness of the new car seat, I also liked that it has side impact protection, memory foam in the seat, a recline for forward facing, and a head rest that can be lowered or raised (which will be nice for falling asleep in the car).

So there you have it! We fit 3 car seats in a row in the backseat of our minivan using a Backless Turbo Booster, Radian XT, and a Graco Cargo Booster. Yey!

4 buckled kids in one van with an empty seat waiting for a new baby!
*By the way, my 6 year old has his shoulder strap down on the side ONLY because we were parked and about to get out. He wears his seat belt correctly when we're driving!

If you're in a similar situation to the one I was in and are interested in purchasing a Sunshine Radian, you can find the model I bought on clearance right now. There is also a pink one of the same model that is on clearance and marked down considerably. I was able to find a good deal through Kidsurplus online, but they were out sold out of the color I wanted. I called up Sunshine Kids and they matched the price of the other site and I was still able to get free shipping! Searching for "Radian Car Seat Coupon" with Google can also help you find a good deal.