Will 3 across be doable in a 2006 Jeep Liberty?

[BayGirl2]

Sorry in advance, I'm sure I could search and possibly figure this out, but I just need a quick tentative answer.

We're having the "another baby?" conversation and the need for a new car came up. Let's assume:
5 yo in a Frontier
2.5-3 yo in a Boulevard (ideally still RF, but could be FF if necessary)
Newborn in either infant seat (we have a Snugride 22) OR convertible (have another Blvd) OR in any other new seat.

Is that at all possible in the back seat of an older Liberty? I assume the Frontier goes in the middle, would we have to move the 5yo to a backless booster to make it work?
Is there a different set of seats that would make it work?
Obviously new seats are cheaper than new car, but I'm wondering if that's even an option.

TIA!

[BayGirl2]

BTW - I know there's one post in the "3 across" thread that says its totally not doable with an infant seat, she says not even with Radians. I'm just hoping for some other experiences, and not sure whether one kid being in a booster would make the difference.

[Joolsplus2]

Typically boosters are much harder to buckle in a three across, and not really any narrower. Though it's possible something narrow at the base like the Harmony Dreamtime (walmart and maybe target, about forty bucks) or Safety 1st Boost Air (narrow at the base with flip up armrests) might work. SR22 is about the widest infant seat (the base is really wide), so you might have to use it baseless or it couldn't hurt to use a super narrow tiny little convertible like the Coccoro or Evenflo Tribute, but the snugride 30 has a super narrow base, so it might work. Radian and Evenflo Maestro/Secure Kid or Safety 1st Complete Air are about the narrowest seats to replace the Frontier if that doesn't work.
(Just a list there, you'll have to do the hard work of seeing what positions will fit and provide any familial peace :wink2:)

[BayGirl2]

Thanks Jools! That's a good list to start with. We'd likely just get a new fleet of seats at that point anyway, since the others are in my car right now, which has only 2 bucket seats in the rear. I'm not tied to having an infant seat at all and we're ok with it baseless. I'm sure I'd miss my Britax features though!

Good excuse to shop for carseats, when the time comes...

[Simon]

I was able to get 3 across in my older Jeep Cherokee, not sure how that backseat compares to a Liberty. We had an infant seat (not especially an narrow one), booster, and Britax Roundabout or Scenera (both RFing). I can't imagine it'd work with a Frontier since they have such a wide base, but we had no trouble with fitting in the other seats, although the booster was hard to buckle. Then again, buckling a booster can be difficult no matter what. If Ds1 could have buckled himself into a Maestro, I might have gone that route, but he can do car seat belts easier than carseats. My back-up plan was to get a Snugride 30, as Jools suggested. The booster we used as an older Parkway and also a Compass B-something. The flip up arm rests were helpful.

[daniele_ut]

I did a 3 across in my sister's Jeep Liberty, an 08 I think, this summer. We were just visiting so it was temporary, but we were using a baseless KeyFit, a Combi Coccoro and a backless Harmony booster. It was tight, honestly and I wouldn't want to do it every day. I don't know if I could have done it with the infant seat base even though the Coccoro is so small.