Three Child Seats Across In A Car

[Platypuses]

So we are expecting baby #3 in a few months and are looking at options to prevent us from buying a "new" car.
We both work and need both cars equipped with child seats, as one of us takes the kids to daycare and the other picks them up. We currently have a 2007 Camry and a 2008 Honda Odyssey.
The kids ages are 4, 2 and the baby will start daycare at 6 months when my wife goes back to work. So we will need to fit two toddler seats and an infant car seat in the back of the Camry.
Does anyone have experience with having 3 car seats in the back of a sedan?
Some of my concerns/questions include:
The kids fighting with each other more since they are now able to touch eachother.
What type of arrangement works best? Infant seat in the center or outboard seat?

I have used this website to determine that the car seats fit: http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2014/08/3-across-installations-camry.html/

Thanks for the help!!

[Kaikou]

So are you going to need 6 carseats or 3?

[TVRodriguez]

We currently have a 2007 Camry and a 2008 Honda Odyssey.
The kids ages are 4, 2 and the baby will start daycare at 6 months when my wife goes back to work. So we will need to fit two toddler seats and an infant car seat in the back of the Camry.
Does anyone have experience with having 3 car seats in the back of a sedan?

We have nearly the same cars!  Our Camry is a 2005, and we have a 2008 Honda Odyssey.  I drive the Odyssey and do drop off and pick up more often, but DH uses the Camry for all 3 kids also.  When our 3rd was born, our older two were ages 2 and 4.  Both were in convertible carseats, forward facing in the Camry.  Baby went in a bucket (rear facing Graco) in the middle of the Camry, with the older two on the outside in Evenflo Triumphs.  It worked.

Now they are all in full back boosters at ages 4, 6, & 8, and those all fit across the Camry also, fyi.

Congrats on #3!  We had 3 carseats in each car, btw, so 6 total.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

People say it can be done. I wouldn't want to do it all day every day, but you have one minivan--I say you can survive one trip per day like that :-). You might have to buy those fancy Diono Radians for your sedan, but I'm not an expert. Several hundred dollars in car seats is still cheaper than a second minivan!

Remember that the middle back seat should actually go the child with the LEAST secure seat. Not the baby, but the kid who's forward-facing or in a booster.

And congrats :-).

[RidinTheAsama]

We aren't there yet, and whether we go for a 3rd is still in question....
BUT, this was one of our minor concerns in the matter and I wanted to thank you for the Car Crash Detective link.  I found our vehicle on there and found that 3 seats is indeed possible.

Also, I would probably put the baby in the middle as a buffer between the older kids who might be more likely to squabble.

[Able was I ERE]

We fit 3 across in a VW Jetta sedan with no problems using 3 Diono Radians.  We started with the infant on the outside because it was easier to reach (the older kids climb into the seats themselves), but after a year or so, we would occasionally change seats around when the kids agreed on a different configuration.   

On fighting, we didn't see any significant increase in fights after adding the infant and moving the seats together.  Kids will find ways to fight / yell at each other regardless of whether they are within arms reach.

[Platypuses]

We currently have a 2007 Camry and a 2008 Honda Odyssey.
The kids ages are 4, 2 and the baby will start daycare at 6 months when my wife goes back to work. So we will need to fit two toddler seats and an infant car seat in the back of the Camry.
Does anyone have experience with having 3 car seats in the back of a sedan?

We have nearly the same cars!  Our Camry is a 2005, and we have a 2008 Honda Odyssey.  I drive the Odyssey and do drop off and pick up more often, but DH uses the Camry for all 3 kids also.  When our 3rd was born, our older two were ages 2 and 4.  Both were in convertible carseats, forward facing in the Camry.  Baby went in a bucket (rear facing Graco) in the middle of the Camry, with the older two on the outside in Evenflo Triumphs.  It worked.

Now they are all in full back boosters at ages 4, 6, & 8, and those all fit across the Camry also, fyi.

Congrats on #3!  We had 3 carseats in each car, btw, so 6 total.

Thank you so much for the advice!! Glad to hear it will work with our vehicles. We plan on keeping 3 car seats in each vehicle as well (actually one infant seat but the bases will be attached).

[frugaldrummer]

Some of my concerns/questions include:
The kids fighting with each other more since they are now able to touch each other.

Hahaha - when my 3 kids were young we had a one ton Chevy van that we redid the interior on - this was our vehicle for long car trips.  We put 2 Captains chairs in the second row and a bench seat in the far back.  it was so big that the kids absolutely could not touch each other when they were in their seats - loved that!!!!