My daughter has a giant SUV, possibly a Highlander. It looks like a tank. I hate trying to get her kids in and out of it. I wish she had a minivan but she doesn't want to drive a "mom" car yet when I drive to pre-school almost all the moms are driving SUV's - a mom car!

My kids are 4.5, 2, and 7 mo, and we have a Mazda CX-9, and it works pretty well for us! My preschooler is in the way back by himself. He can get himself buckled, but I have to unbuckle him. That's an easy reach since I'm already over there getting the baby out. Once the baby's bucket seat is out, her seat moves forward for my preschooler to get out. Alternately, he sometimes likes to climb out the trunk (because we have the seat folded down next to him).

Our long term plan is to put the oldest two in the way back, and put the youngest in the middle row with the other two seats folded down. We think it will create a nice, roomy, environment in the car, and it makes it easy to add extra adults/friends/grandparents in the middle row without moving car seats and boosters around.

I will say, I strongly dislike sitting in the third row. I find it too cramped, and I panic because I don't have a door to get myself out. But my kid **loves** it. Kids just love being in tight spaces, and it's not all that tight for him anyway. And he's used to not being able to get out on his own.

I think I would probably like the sliding doors on a minivan, but that's the only feature my car is missing.

We have a Tesla Model X. You definitely want something with automatic doors and flexibility of carseat positions. If you can find another SUV that fits those parameters, great (most SUVs with third rows aren't really accessible, nor do they have the automatic doors), if not, minivan all the way. Our X is great, though, and I would definitely get it again.

Anonymous wrote:Every family I know with 3 kids made the switch to a minivan - some of them with groans - and they're all happy. I think 3 is the tipping point for when that convenience really matters, especially if you keep cars for a while. Imagine what you'll be doing in 4 years - carpooling to the oldest's Little League practice with at least one of the younger ones in tow? Sliding doors/ kids being able to get themselves in/out of the back row easily, all that becomes more important.

I'm the PP with a Pilot and Accord. I think the Pilot is adequate for driving our family around, but I will probably replace the Accord with a minivan to be able to more easily fit family and friends in addition to our kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a Honda Pilot. We put the older kids in the back extra row, and the baby's carseat in the regular back seat. We also have an Accord, but never drive all 3 kids in it.

Do you have kids under 5 in the back row, and if so, can they buckle themselves in and our of carseats or can you easily reach to do it? My 5 year old almost always needs help buckling and I don't think I could reach the back to do it without serious climbing/reaching with my back end hanging out.

PP here. Yes, a 4.5 and 2.5 in the back. The 4.5 gets in first, sits at the far end and buckles herself. The 2.5 sits in a carseat closest to the entrance and a parent buckles her.

Subaru ascent, 8 seater. Minivan isn’t more convenient when we have rented one and with 3-4 car seats you can’t get more than 6 people in a minivan, but we can get 7 in the ascent with 4 car seats.

Every family I know with 3 kids made the switch to a minivan - some of them with groans - and they're all happy. I think 3 is the tipping point for when that convenience really matters, especially if you keep cars for a while. Imagine what you'll be doing in 4 years - carpooling to the oldest's Little League practice with at least one of the younger ones in tow? Sliding doors/ kids being able to get themselves in/out of the back row easily, all that becomes more important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a Honda Pilot. We put the older kids in the back extra row, and the baby's carseat in the regular back seat. We also have an Accord, but never drive all 3 kids in it.

Do you have kids under 5 in the back row, and if so, can they buckle themselves in and our of carseats or can you easily reach to do it? My 5 year old almost always needs help buckling and I don't think I could reach the back to do it without serious climbing/reaching with my back end hanging out.

Most 5 years old can unbuckle themselves. Time to learn

The families I know have Highlander (oldest kid has to climb over seats, not ideal) and Pilot.

Anonymous wrote:We have a Honda Pilot. We put the older kids in the back extra row, and the baby's carseat in the regular back seat. We also have an Accord, but never drive all 3 kids in it.

Do you have kids under 5 in the back row, and if so, can they buckle themselves in and our of carseats or can you easily reach to do it? My 5 year old almost always needs help buckling and I don't think I could reach the back to do it without serious climbing/reaching with my back end hanging out.

Minivan! The sliding doors and automatic doors are useful because of our age gaps. We had a newborn, a toddler, and a preschooler.

Honda Odyssey. I was still driving my EVO when my 3rd was born, but switched when my 3rd was a few weeks old.

We have a Honda Pilot. We put the older kids in the back extra row, and the baby's carseat in the regular back seat. We also have an Accord, but never drive all 3 kids in it.

We went all in: Honda Odyssey (used, of course, because who has $40k for a new vehicle).

I don’t yet have a third kid but likely will start trying soon. We will likely need to replace our car this winter/spring and thinking about what type makes sense. We currently have a CRV but I think it might make sense to spring for a bigger car.