booster seat with narrow bases??

i am so confused. I am trying to work out how i can fit 3 car seats in my VW Golf station wagon. It has 3 tether points.

I will have one almost 4 year old - currently in a convertible car seat but will get her a booster seat.

One 2 year old

One newborn

The 2 car seats i currently have are both convertibles - the safe n sound meridian AHR and safe n sound 7000. I would like to use these if possible, but if they won't fit i will get another one or two slimbase convertibles.


I am just looking for names to research, cos at the moment i am just confused by it all.

I have the safe and sound hi liners? I think they are pretty slim in their base.....?

thanks. will take a look.

i found this review of the hi liner

:

---

When you need 3 carseats in a row

5.0
- Excellent
k2atza posted this on Jun 06, 2012

When I knew we would have a baby, a toddler and a preschooler in carseats I had to start looking for a new car and new carseats. I did a great deal of research at dealerships and baby stores and on NRMA's useful webpages, and ultimately arrived at a solution for us.

For the preschooler seat I initially went out and bought a *different* booster to this, because it was equal-ranked at the top of the booster seat list in the CREP safety tests (4 stars) and according to NRMA it was the narrowest booster at a width of 320mm. But when I measured that booster (the Vario Kid) it was 420mm wide across the armrests (and 440mm across the shoulders). Still that was the narrowest so I brought it home. But then I found the armrests actually went too far forward and interfered with the adjacent carseat.

That's when I went and tried out a SnS HiLiner. It's 450mm wide, but it has very compact armrests, which don't bump up against the adjacent seat for us. It's also equal-ranked at the top of the booster seat list in the CREP safety tests (4 stars). It's easy to put in and out of the car. We have the version with the anti-submarining clip and that's a good safety addition. Just a simple clip up over the lap belt. And it's a very tidy, easy to operate seat. It's stayed looking like new for 2 years now. It's worked well for a tall 4-year-old and a tall 6-year-old. And it fits in the car!

It fits easily in the backseat of a Hyundai Santa Fe (along with a new-version SnS Meridian AHR, forward facing in the middle, and a Hipod Senator with 5-point harness at the other door) - we don't graze our hands when we do up the seat belt.

I would definitely recommend going and trying out carseat combinations at shops and showrooms if you need 3 in a row, because it's really a bit of a 'jigsaw' exercise rather than just finding out which is the narrowest. Also some of the measurements on the web and in manuals are not quite accurate or not the relevant width.

But if you want to do some web research first, take a look at the page where NRMA has tested 3 carseats in a row in lots of different models of cars. [URL removed] (somewhat obscurely listed as a "child restraint fitting guide"). Lots of useful specs and photos there.

Another interesting thing to note, I actually called the guy who does the CREP testing of the carseats because I wanted to ask about using the "H-harness" or "Protecta harness" with the booster seats. He said that they do *not* use those harnesses on the boosters when they do the testing and their results/recommendations relate only to using the boosters with a normal seat belt.

---

At the time i bought my Babylove Ezylift it was the tallest seat on the market and the Hipods hadn't been released. I would say that Babylove seats are not narrow.

However, couldn't read and wonder if I shouldn't be offering congratulations??

Thats a pretty good review? I'm really happy with the seats, I have my nearly 5 year old in one, and my 6.5 year old in the other - and will be buying one for DD2 when she turns 4.

I love the anti-submarine clip too - I cringe when I see boosters in other shops that don't have it!

I have the hi-liner too and it is pretty narrow.

I'll be fitting hi-liner, maxi rider and compaq with hopefully no problems.

I have the hi liners in my car, but have just bought the infa secure varios for the girls for in my folks' car. They are the narrowest on the market, and are also supposed to be the safest on the market. They are 41cm wide the whole way through (square shape with no larger "wings").

The kompressor Caprice has the narrowest base and is designed to fit 3 along the rear seat of most small cars. It's a 0-4 convertible seat.

Hey HotI... what did you end up choosing for car seats? I'm in the same boat as you!

For my car, i have the Infa Secure Vario (booster), Infa Secure Kompressor (0-4years will be forward facing), and a Safe and Sound 7000 (rear facing for newborn). The Safe and Sound we already had.

Was planning to have Kompressor rear facing, but it is alot deeper than our Safe and Sound. The Vario is on the driver side, which helps with plugging in the seat belt, and also there is only one seat belt buckle at that point, so we won't accidently unplug the middle seat.

Got a second hand Hi-liner for DHs car, but i prefer the Vario for DD. It seems more supportive at her current size and age.


The other seat i like, and may possibly get for DS at some point is the Maxi Cosi Goliath, which is a convertible booster (6 months - 8 years). Same model is also sold as Custodian Plus and under another name as well.

Good points! Thanks Hun :)