Question about three kids and minivans
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Anonymous
| We have a 4 YO, 2 YO and baby. Have been making it work with a Gran Cherokee but we're thinking about a minivan. We rented one on vacation this week and I have a dumb question. We have the baby and two year old in the middle row captain seats and the four year old in the back. I have to crawl all the way back to buckle her up. This is a PITA! What am I doing wrong? It takes a while and I'm squeezing myself back there. If you have three kids and a minivan how do you do this? |
Anonymous
|
My kids started buckling themselves around that age- can you start encouraging her to try buckling every time she gets in the car? It is a bit of a learning curve- takes longer initially while they figure it out but once they know how it is much faster for them to do it themselves.
Or you could get an 8-seater and initially put all three in the middle row together. |
Anonymous
| She can learn to buckle. Mine were 21 months and 42 months when baby #3 came along. Climbing to the back isn’t so awful due to head room, which I love. Also, ours was older and didn’t have the middle seat for human #8. So I had each seat in middle closest to the doors, which created an aisle between them for easier access to the back row when inside the vehicle. |
Anonymous
| There are 3 seats in the middle row of our Honda Odissey. My kids are older now and the eldest (no car seat or booster) usually seats in the back row. You best is 4 and still in his car seat and middle is 7 in a booster. |
Anonymous
| Take a captains chair out. Have 2 kids in the back and one in the remaining captains chair. |
Anonymous
| If you have three kids and aren’t embarrass for drive a minivan, then get one. They are the best. |
Anonymous
| We put the the older two (then 2.5 and 4) in the third row, and the baby in a captain’s chair in the middle row. The middle row seats in our Sienna can be slid very far forward, which makes it easer to reach the back. We looked at the Odyssey and it had a similar feature, with its middle seats sliding horizontally. |
Anonymous
| Get the Odyssey and put them 3 across until oldest can buckle. But even then you are buckling someone in the middle. Buckling 3 kids is a pain anyway you slice it. |
Anonymous
+1 We don’t have a minivan but do have a large, 3 row SUV and this is what we do. Well, we don’t take the chair out, just put it down. |
Anonymous
So then OP has to crawl into the back for 2 kids instead of 1? I'd but the oldest kid in the middle middle seat, teach them to buckle themselves and just give it a quick check when doing the other two. If OP had a time machine I'd tell her to wait on kid 3 until kid one is in a booster seat and full day school, but that ship has sailed... |
Anonymous
Without the seat there it leaves a lot more room to maneuver. A “quick check” is incredibly irresponsible. Also a 4 year old should still be in a 5 point harness (optimally rear facing). All 3 will need significant help. |
Anonymous
| Maybe not the solution you’re looking for but we have a minivan and only 2 kids but have often transported other kids (we have car seats for my niece and nephew) so many times a kid/s have to sit in the back. I have often buckled them in from the trunk because it’s easier on my back than crawling into the back seat from the middle. I also have often taken out a middle seat to make it easier to reach into the back. |
Anonymous
Editing to add that I wouldn’t allow a 4 year old to buckle themselves. They should be in a 5 point harness and both my 4 year olds were still rear-facing. At that age they could do the chest clip themselves but not the buckles between their legs very well (sometimes they could but not always). And they can’t adjust the straps or check to see that they’re on properly so no…don’t trust a 4 year old to buckle themselves in. |
Anonymous
| We fit 3 across. |
Anonymous
Are you able to do this with an infant car seat? Three convertibles, sure. |