I'm looking for advice on whether we can comfortably and SAFELY fit 3 car seats in either a Subaru Liberty wagon or Forester - has anyone done this?

Baby no. 3 is due in Oct and the other two will be 4 y.o. and 23 months. We currently have a Safe'n'Sound MaxiRider and a Safe'n'Sound Royale.

We need 2 x boosters plus a seat for the baby. I'd really like a capsule for the newborn this time (should make kinder drop-offs much easier!), realising that the baby will have to move into a proper seat by 7-8 months.

Obviously, we'd rather buy 3 new car seats than buy a new car! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Kate

I'm looking for advice on whether we can comfortably and SAFELY fit 3 car seats in either a Subaru Liberty wagon or Forester - has anyone done this?

Baby no. 3 is due in Oct and the other two will be 4 y.o. and 23 months. We currently have a Safe'n'Sound MaxiRider and a Safe'n'Sound Royale.

We need 2 x boosters plus a seat for the baby. I'd really like a capsule for the newborn this time (should make kinder drop-offs much easier!), realising that the baby will have to move into a proper seat by 7-8 months.

Obviously, we'd rather buy 3 new care seats than buy a new car! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Kate

I have a Subaru forester and you won't get 3 car seats in the back. We're currently looking for a new car......sorry....

We have a Liberty sedan and there's no way we'd fit another seat in between the two we have. Not sure of the size difference between it and a wagon though.

I had a subaru liberty, and am now pregnant with my 3rd baby and have just bought a new car because I couldnt get the three kids in the back!! Not to mention even fitting luggage in the boot for the three kids the pram takes up half.

We searched and searched and the car that we felt we could fit "comfortably" our three kids across the middle row was a Mazda CX9. and that is not using the back row as we need the space for luggage, pram etc.

Thanks for all the responses!

Just updating... took the Liberty to a baby shop on the weekend without any car seats in the back to have it fitted. Great news - we can safely fit the Maxirider for the 2 y.o., an Infa Vario Max for the 4 y.o. and either the Safe'n'Sound Unity capsule, Steelcraft Strider Plus capsule or Safe'n'Sound Compaq convertible seat for the baby.

Will be a little difficult with the 4 y.o. doing the belt up but I have small hands so will manage!

Very relieved - don't have to buy a new car now.

Christobelle - the store said they have fitted a Forester with similar seats but couldn't remember which ones. So you might not have to get a new car either!

Hi
I was gonna say yes deffinately. We fitted a infasecure booster, a royale and a maxi rider in a Subaru impreza!!! We also got them fitted at the baby shop. (the only way if u ask me)

We only did this for a short time as two of the tether straps went through the boot making it extremely hard to put things in and out. It wad also tricky putting my 4 year old in and out. We looked for a new car and originally liked the forrester but felt that it really wasn't roomy enough anyway so we ended up looking at cx9/ Tribeca/ and Toyota kluger.

We ended up buyin the kluger and we absalutely love it!!! Such a great, easy to drive family car!!!
Unfortunately however we are having another bub in October and will have to use the back seats sad this is such a bummer as we will once again b stuck with hardly any boot space sad

Just a question, does anyone have 4 kids (or anyone crazy enough to have 4+) and drive around comfortably???

Im pretty sure you can get 3 seats in the Outback. Definately not in a forrester!

to jess86 i have a friend that has 5 kids plus 2 step kids...i think they have to drive a bus smile

We are expecting baby #3 at the end of year and I know you can fit 3 carseats in Subaru Impreza which has smaller internal width than Liberty & Forester. Both myself & a friend have Impreza and fit 3 seats, it is tight but it works.

Last night I tested the SNS Unity Infant Carrier next to our SNS Meridian AHR & SNS Maxi Rider AHR; and it worked! I was shocked but it worked in an Impreza. The Maxi Rider is big and likely to be a problem when I have to change from infant carrier to carseat for baby so will change that seat to a narrower seat. So it is possible to fit 3 carseats for 3 kids under 4.

Good luck with baby number 3.

I drive a forester and can fit three seats across. Baby seat for my 1 year old Infa vario max booster for my 4 year old (infa vario is a really narrow booster it's great) and the extra child I often has sits on a saddle booster in the middle with a harness. I have had a second booter seat in the past) It's tight but OK.
Actually I was just told on the weekend that you can buy seatbelt extenders from Autobarn. They extend the clip part of the belt so your not squeezing your hand down inbetween the seats so I will be looking for at least one of them very soon.
Best of luck and I have to agree three new seats is much cheaper than a new car!

I'm looking for advice on whether we can comfortably and SAFELY fit 3 car seats in either a Subaru Liberty wagon or Forester - has anyone done this?

Baby no. 3 is due in Oct and the other two will be 4 y.o. and 23 months. We currently have a Safe'n'Sound MaxiRider and a Safe'n'Sound Royale.

We need 2 x boosters plus a seat for the baby. I'd really like a capsule for the newborn this time (should make kinder drop-offs much easier!), realising that the baby will have to move into a proper seat by 7-8 months.

Obviously, we'd rather buy 3 new car seats than buy a new car! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Kate

We have a Subura Forester and have just the other weekend taken the car to baby Bunting and tried car seats. We had a Maxi-rider but had to get rid of it as nothing will fit with it. So instead we got two Safe N Sound Hi-Liners with the safe guard clip thing and we have a five year old safe and sound capsule (they dont sell the model we have anymore) that will fit in the centre.

Its a squeeze but they all fit!!

We have a 2006 Outback and are hoping to fit in 3 seats. I googled it a while ago and somewhere found a site that had listed parents success stories with car make/model and seat combinations they found worked. Someone had said they fitted A Safe N Sound Hi-Liner, Safe N Sound Maxi Rider & Safe N Sound Compaq. (I have tried finding the site again but without remembering its name I haven't been able to) Have been into baby bunting & one shop assistant said if any will fit it will be that and she thought it should be OK, another grimaced and looked at me like I was asking the impossible. I am hoping to get down there without children or car seats this week to trial if the 3 seats will fit. unsure Fingers X'd as I refuse to buy a new car, I love my Subaru.