3 kids in carseats

Those of you with 3 kids in carseats...

What kind of car do you drive? And how do you position your kids (if your car has a second & third row).

I will have an infant, 3.5 year old (front facing)& 5 year old (front facing).

None are "talented" enough to strap themselves in (so I need access to click or strap all 3).

I currently drive a very safe older, well maintained car (with a decent lot of miles, but probably with 2-3 more years of great lifespan in it the way I drive) that will fit 3 carseats (but I'd have to buy 3 new narrow ones... at about $1K to replace my wonderful but wide britax harness frontier/pioneer seats).

I'm wondering if I'm just delaying the inevitable (a bigger car will be in our future when this one reaches the end of its lifespan), but all 3 in carseats gives me a logistical dilemma (I can't fold down a row or seat to get the kiddos in the back and the kids can't strap themselves yet).

To those lovers of minivans... how does this work? Can you fit 3 carseats in? Do 2 have to sit in the back? Do any doors open wide enough that you have access to the back row?

To those with 7 seats (like the captain chair acadias), can you climb to buckle the back child?

TIA!!!

3 kids in carseats

We have a Honda Odyssey. We took out the middle seat of the 2nd row and moved one captain's seat over towards the middle. We have an infant seat on the other captain's seat behind the driver and 2 FF convertible seats in the 3rd row. The space on the side is sufficient for accessing the back to buckle the older 2. Before we turned our now 3yo to FF, we had his seat RF on the other captain's seat and our oldest was in the middle of the 3rd row. Hope that helps!

3 kids in carseats

We have a Honda Odyssey and have all 3 kids in the middle row. We have one FF and two infant bucket seats and they fit just fine. If someone needs to sit in the back row then they climb in through the back (you can get in through the side door, but it's easier to climb through the back then squeezing in the side).

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Acura MDX all in the same row.

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We have a minivan. I put the 2 older ones in the back seat. They were in 5 point harnesses. So I could slide the seat forward and tie them in. Then the baby was in the middle row behind the passenger.

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my sister has a town & country. Her two older ones are in the back, her youngest one is in one of the captains chairs in the middle row, she has the other captain's chair folded down so she has easy access to all the kids.

3 kids in carseats

We have the town & Country. I have my 4 year old DS and my 2.5 year old DS in the captains chairs and my 4 year old DD in the third row. All three are FF in 5pt harness car seats.

3 kids in carseats

From my understanding, a town and country is not recommended due to the lack of tether points in the back row so your forward facing options are quite limited. Also the placement of the seat belts in the back row (I believe the outboard seats) make it unsafe for children in boosters or even adults.

I've always heard that the odyssey is a highly recommended minivan with better and safer options for car seat placement.

I read A LOT of posts about this on the CSFTL page.

3 kids in carseats

We have the Odyssey, but only 2 kids for now. The plan when #3 comes is to put the two older ones in the back and infant in second row. We took the middle seat out so it is easier to get in the back. Doors don't open enough to access the back.

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Message edited 4/20/2015 11:14:38 AM.

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I drive a GMC Acadia Denali with captain chairs.
I have my twins rearfacing in the captain chairs and my 4yo in a high back booster in the middle of the third row.

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3 kids in carseats

I have a Chevy Trailblazer, but I would be better off with a suburban beer budget so...
We have 2Radian RXTs FF, 1 inthe center and 1 behind the driver and the baby behind the passenger, RF. I roll the driver seat forward, step up into the car, dput the middle DD in first, then do the other DD. I've never gone out with all 3 by myself, so I couldn't tell you how I would do it. It's a pain but I do it. Rainy days are worse, but thank goodness that winter is over... Light jackets/no jacket is so much easier than trying to take off thir bulky coats in such cramped quarters, then put them back on again when we get to our destination...

Message edited 4/20/2015 10:16:07 PM.

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3 kids in carseats

We have a sienna,two car seats in second row and 1 in the third. I still buckle them all in.

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We have the Acadia Denali with the captains chairs in the second row as well. We have my 4 year old in a high back booster with a harness in one captain's chair, my middle daughter in the middle of the back row in a FF convertible and the rear facing infant seat in the third row next to her.

We keep the other captains chair folded down which makes it super easy to access the two in the back. We just pop it up if we need that chair for a guest.

I was hesitant about putting the infant seat in the third row, so far away, but I couldn't really reach him in the second row anyway. At least now he is next to his sister who gives him his paci, toys etc if he is upset.

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With the acacia captain chairs you can just walk back there to buckle. We have an envoy an from everything I'm reading we need Diono Radians to fit 2 then an infant seat across. but a booster which is smaller should fit.

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Posted by LIRascal

I have a Chevy Trailblazer, but I would be better off with a suburban beer budget so...
We have 2Radian RXTs FF, 1 inthe center and 1 behind the driver and the baby behind the passenger, RF. I roll the driver seat forward, step up into the car, dput the middle DD in first, then do the other DD. I've never gone out with all 3 by myself, so I couldn't tell you how I would do it. It's a pain but I do it. Rainy days are worse, but thank goodness that winter is over... Light jackets/no jacket is so much easier than trying to take off thir bulky coats in such cramped quarters, then put them back on again when we get to our destination...