3 carseat configuration

webhillary · Jun 3, 2004

I'm expecting our third, and just starting to consider carseat configurations. There's no rush - I have until January

- but I like to plan, and I figured this is a good source of advice from those who have BTDT. So, right now, my 3 yr old is riding in a Britax Advantage in the captain's chair behind the driver, and my 19 mo old is riding in a Britax Marathon in the captain's chair behind the front passenger seat. My son will be 4 in September and I think he's about 34 lbs now. My daughter will be 2 in October and is about 21 lbs now. I'm not sure who should sit where when the new baby comes. Does anyone who has done this before have any suggestions? Does it make the most sense to move the biggest kid to the back row (if I can convince him)? Are there any issues installing either of the Britax seats back there (I've only ever used their LATCH installations)? I guess it isn't bright to try to install the new baby in the back row, huh? One key issue is that we DO frequently need to travel with two adult passengers in addition to the driver and the kids. Anyway, I'm really just soliciting suggestions here. Thanks.

Mexjames · Jun 4, 2004

First, congratulations on the new arrival! I hope that the baby will be born in good health!

I have four kids, out of which a set of twins came in the middle.

There are several configurations you can try but I think that putting the new arrival on the captain's chair on the right, number one son right behind you and your daughter on the third row will be the best compromise.

Why? because your oldest son can probably talk and help you take care of the new arrival just by mentioning that something is wrong, and you can turn around and take care of the kid.

I wouldn't advise you to use the front seat even with the airbag off.

Having all those car seats means less room for adults and you may have to move your eldest to the back to accomodate the needs of say, a grandparent.

The idea is to keep the baby to the back and your right because that is the best position to care for him/her, short of changing diapers.

I assume you also have the mirrors that can be attached to the window so you keep an eye on the baby yourself.

In my case I had four car seats at a time, and the twins who were two years old at the time, had to ride in the back, for which purpose my wife or me would have to lean all the way there to latch their seats.

After that our eldest child would ride next to her youngest sibling in the middle row behind the driver.

It goes without saying that with that arrangement, as big as minivans are, another adult couldn't possibly ride comfortably. In such cases we had to put our eldest's seat on the third row and have the extra adult ride next to the baby.

Blueprint · Jun 7, 2004

Baby on the way...

Our third daughter is on the way anyday now

.

The plan is to put our 6 year old in her anchor-less booster in the 3rd row, in a side location, our 2½ in the 2nd row behind the driver and the new baby in the 2nd row behind the front passenger.

My oldest daughter can buckle-up herself, but the only problem will be that her younger sister will throw a fit because she wants to sit in the back of the bus, too.

Only question remaining is sliding the second row seats together or not to ease rear access. I'm leaning against having the seats apart, because the seatbelt would always be in the way (we don't have LATCH child seats). The Sienna has a built-in shoulder belt in the right side 2nd row bucket, and that would be handy right now.

Other major consideration is replacing the CR-V with something that will fit 3 child seats in a row. Anybody out there know if this layout fits in the back of Accord / Altima / Camry SE ?

webhillary · Jun 7, 2004

I'm not sure why you would NOT have the middle row seats pushed together. When my daughter was born, her brother was 25 months old. We had them sitting in the side-by-side second row captain's chairs from day one (well, in their seats in the chairs

). We've had no problem with that configuration, and as you note it allows people to get into the back seat more easily. We frequently have passengers back there.

Blueprint · Jun 7, 2004

webhillary said:
I'm not sure why you would NOT have the middle row seats pushed together. When my daughter was born, her brother was 25 months old. We had them sitting in the side-by-side second row captain's chairs from day one (well, in their seats in the chairs ). We've had no problem with that configuration, and as you note it allows people to get into the back seat more easily. We frequently have passengers back there.

As I mentioned, our child seats don't have the LATCH straps, thus we have to belt them in place. The hanging seat belt would be in the way for 3rd row access. Otherwise, I would put the captain's chairs together. Retrofit LATCH kits are available, but I like the added safety of the big retractor-held seatbelts, and our seats were designed to work with them anyway.

We could try side by side for a few months anyway, while the baby is in the carrier. Probably will do that, in fact.

Mexjames · Jun 7, 2004

I have been there and I know what you mean, Blueprint. I have never had the latch straps and maybe because of that I don't think it's a a big deal.

Any configuration you choose will be cumbersome for those who need to travel in the third seat.

If you put both captain's chairs together, the right seat belt wil be on the way and if you opt for the center aisle, it will be difficutl to get to the back seat.

I would put both captain's chairs together.

A car will never be as comfortable as a minivan; I put three child seats in the Sable and it worked fine, except that both edges of the seat are contoured and the car seats never really pointed forward. Never had any complaints though!

Blueprint · Jun 15, 2004

Baby's here !

It's time to put theory to practice, as we now have 3 child-seat riders !

Leaving the hospital, I had slid the 2nd row together so Mom could sit next to baby (who slept all the way home).

We briefly tried leaving the seats that way, and slid them apart again as our 2½ is a bit too spunky to seat besides the baby. So now, it's little sister in middle right (baby carrier), "medium" sister in middle left (convertible with tether and seatbelt - no LATCH), and big sister (age 6) in left 3rd (untethered booster with high back and shoulder belt guides). I switched boosters with the one I had in the CR-V to ease shoulder belt placement. This way, big sister has a line of view to the baby and "spunky" is out of reach.

We would like to put our 6 year old in the middle row, next to the baby, but that would require using a tether strap in the 3rd row for our 2½, messing with stroller air space in the trunk. We will try the current set-up for awhile, but I will probably have the left and right 3rd row tether anchors installed at the next service for added flexibility.

I get to drive the CR-V now, since putting 3 seats in there is quite cumbersome (the baby carrier should fit, but latching the seatbelt for the booster promises to be a knuckle-skinning experience).

OurFunBus · Jun 15, 2004

Mexjames said:
I wouldn't advise you to use the front seat even with the airbag off.

I know that the seat has a sensor that knows to turn the airbag off if there is not a significant amount of pressure on the seat back. But can it be turned off manually? If so, that's new to me. Either way kids should never be in the front seats, but I'm sure that's what you were trying to emphasize.

pearsonrj · Jun 15, 2004

BTDT...

I have a 6 year-old girl, 4 year-old boy and 2 year-old girl. Since my 2 year-old was born she has sat in a carseat in the passenger side 2nd row captains chair. My son has sat in his carseat in the driver side 2nd row captains chair for the duration also (both captains chairs are slid apart). My oldest sits in her high back booster in the 3rd row, passenger side. This works well for us for the following reasons:

1) My oldest can buckle herself in, so no need for us to get back to the 3rd row. She also gets exclusive use of the cubby and cupholders back there.
2) My son needs to separated from pretty much EVERYBODY, as he can be a bit rough - thus the captains chairs are apart.
3) My youngest is in the optimal position to be monitored (not such an issue now that she is 2, however she likes a sippy cup with her at all times, unless she doesn't want it, then she does want it... you get the picture).
4) When we have additional passengers (grandparents etc., there has never been a problem with them getting back to the third row between the captains chairs...

zippymbr · Jun 17, 2004

One of my friends from church showed me an interesting config last week. He has three girls. the two oldest 4.5 years and 3 years sit in the last row. They removed the center drivers side chair for easy access and a place to store stuff after shopping. the two year old sits on the passengerside second row. They have been doing this for over a year now and rave about it. i think I will try it when my third one comes in less that 12 weeks

Blueprint · Jun 17, 2004

zippymbr said:
I will try it when my third one comes in less that 12 weeks

Good luck !

From experience : get everything ready 3 weeks before the due date !!!

zippymbr · Jun 17, 2004

Hopefully we are as ready as we can be. The third will be a boy, so we have nothing yet in the clothing dept. Let us know what config works best for your three.

Guest · Jun 22, 2004

i have 2.5 year old twins each w/ a britax marathon in the middle captain chairs and the 11 day old in the rear. my logic is: the baby is in a carrier that clicks into a base so it is "fairly" easy to get him way in back and just snap the seat into the base (he is buckled outside the car). it is sometimes a lot of work to get a 2.5 year old into their car seat so having them in the middle row works best for us. what is tough is the infant carrier which goes to the third row to snap into the base barely fits past the middle row marathon car seats (they are huge) so i had to stagger the middle row captain chairs to get the infant carrier to the back seat.

i also thought about zippymbr's advice but have not tried moving the twins to the back seat, putting the infant in a cpatain chair, and possibly removing one of the captains chairs. this would be great except then no room for any passenger and my 2.5 year old twins are tough to get into their seats at times.

so far we have taken just one trip in our new configuration.

Mexjames · Jun 23, 2004

I have four, a set of twins in between. When No. 4 was born we put him in the captain's chair on the right, with No. 1 sitting to his left. This way she could help us in her limited way, and mom could turn around without moving from her seat to take care of the baby.

The twins were relegated to the third seat but they seemed to enjoy it. They were two when all this happened.

Just bear in mind that if you need to take care of such a young one, IMHO you will be better off putting him/her on the right-side captain's chair, and the twins could go in the third seat just as we did. You don't want a 2.5 y.o. toddler pinching the nose or poking the ears or eyes of the baby.

Blueprint · Jun 23, 2004

Mexjames said:
You don't want a 2.5 y.o. toddler pinching the nose or poking the ears or eyes of the baby.

This is exactly the phase we're in right now...

Captain's chairs definitely apart !

Mexjames · Jun 23, 2004

They can still reach, or they can airmail their toys or lillipops to the new arrival.

BTW never allow younger kids to eat or drink in a car if you are driving all by yourself.

BTW how's the baby, Blueprint?

Blueprint · Jun 23, 2004

Mexjames said:
BTW how's the baby, Blueprint?

Still doing fine, although her appetite means little sleep for Mom (hey, some things Dads can't do, no matter how much we wanna help !

). She feeds, I do the burps and diapers.

Still, with two other children around, the days are pretty busy, so we enjoy our short nights as we can spend those precious minutes alone with our little doll !

Thanks Mex !

Odyssey_holly · Jun 26, 2004

Here's how I do it (m)

I have 3 kids...1yo, nearly 3-yo and 4.5-yo. I put the baby in the captain seat directly behind me, rear-facing (she turned 1 yesterday) in a Roundabout. The seat next to her is folded down and situated right next to her seat (the walkway to the back row is on the passenger side).

2 big kids are seated in the back row. Nearly 3-yo sits behind baby girl in a Britax Freeway. I got the best fit with that seat in that position.

4.5-yo is on the other side of the far back seat in a Treasured CarGo with a locking clip. Good, tight fit there, too.

The 2 big kids climb into their seats while I'm getting baby girl into her seat. They buckle themselves up and I tighten their buckles before closing the door(s) and taking off.

Hope that's of some help to you!

-Holly

ETA: the 2nd row seat is folded down so baby girl can see her brother & sister (and be very happy like that) and so that I can sit on it when necessary to buckle in the 2 bigger kids (when they're moving at glacial speed).

Blueprint · Jun 28, 2004

Re: Here's how I do it (m)

Odyssey_holly said:
4.5-yo is on the other side of the far back seat in a Treasured CarGo with a locking clip.

The outboard 3rd row shoulder belts in the Ody have a locking retractor, therefore you don't need the clip (known to parents as the $%?&* clip). Just pull the seatbelt all the way out, buckle and tether the child seat down, put your knee in it and retract the seatbelt as much as you can.

Voilà, locked child seat, no #$%?& clip.

William Wiles · Jun 28, 2004

If you tilt the seat back a little, Tighten the belt as much as possible and then tilt the back up it really makes the belt hold tight and very little movement in the seat...

Odyssey_holly · Jun 28, 2004

Thanks for the tips - I've tried putting his seat in without the !!&# locking clip, but I just can't get a good, tight fit. Even with pulling the seatbelt out and having it lock when it retracts, the CarGo still moves (A LOT!). So it's plenty easy to put the locking clip on and just leave it on the seatbelt, even if I need to remove the seat (for those trips with Nana).

Thank goodness the Britax Freeway has the belt lock-offs. They sure make for a good, tight fit on the other seat in the back row (in conjunction with the seatbelt being locked).

-Holly

Amylucinda · Jul 15, 2004

Seating

We have done the aforementioned "remove-a-seat" set-up, and also love it. While we only have 2 children, it would work for 3. 99% of the time, it's just the four of us, and we decided that that outweighed the potential inconvenience of being short a seat. We still have more seating than a sedan.

The 5-year-old is in the Britax SE on the passenger side last row, and the 3-year-old is in the "center-placed" middle-row seat in a Britax RA. We removed the seat behind the driver. That allows a parent and the kids to hop in together and lock the door behind them. Then, we can deal with coat removal, sitting, and buckling at our leisure, in a safely-locked, cooling off or heating up van. We have a fair amount of floor space, as well as the last-row, driver's side seat to move around in. In diaper-changing days, it was a fabulous place to lay a child to change a diaper, either totally inside or, in the right situation, standing outside. I would sit on the last-row seat with baby on the floor in front of me, lean forward, and change away!

I like that the middle seat is placed toward the center, away from the side of the van. I would rather have the rear car seat toward the middle of the seat, but the Super Elite is too large for the center seat belt, and thus has to go on the side.

We never (or almost never) use the open floor as storage or for transporting things when the kids are in the van....way too dangerous in terms of lethal, flying projectiles.

HTH! Now if I could just use my spare seat somewhere in the house instead of stashing it in the garage!!!!

wild willy · Jul 15, 2004

While in VA this past week, I installed a car seat in the middle of the 3rd row for my Neice. Once in....there was really no room for a normal sized person to sit on eiither side of the seat. My 2 little ones were in the middle captains.

I guess my point is.......the rear seat is a one person seat if you put the car seat in the middle and utilize the latch system

7 passanger my butt....maybe 4 people and 3 baby dolls

webhillary · Jul 15, 2004

I don't think it's really intended that one would put an infant seat in the back row, though. Pretty much every mom I've talked to prefers to have the infant up near the front, within reach. I know you CAN put a preschooler's booster seat in the back row and still have room for two more people back there (because I've done it on occasion) - so it does generally speaking work out, unless of course you have infant triplets or something

My big problem right now is going to be convincing my son (will be 4 when the baby comes) to give up his captain's chair. He is NOT interested in moving to the back at this time... SIGH.

wild willy · Jul 15, 2004

webhillary said:
I don't think it's really intended that one would put an infant seat in the back row, though. Pretty much every mom I've talked to prefers to have the infant up near the front, within reach.

She is almost 3..Not an infant..My infant is in the middle row

webhillary · Jul 15, 2004

Oh. Sorry for the misunderstanding. When I hear "car seat" I think "infant seat." To me, a car seat is for an infant, whereas a booster or convertible seat would be for a toddler or preschooler, if you see what I mean. My mistake. In any case, my point was that I don't think an infant seat would fit in the back row with people on either side, but for sure a toddler booster seat - like the Graco CarGo ones for example - will, because I've done that on numerous occasions.

3 carseat configuration

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