3 kids=minivan? OR what kind of car do you drive...

[moodymaximus]

what do you do with 3 car seats? we currently don't have a car, but we will need one when we move. the 5 year old will probably be in a backless booster; DS and the baby in covertible car seats. what are your experiences?

[WC_hapamama]

We opted for a minivan after our second child was born. We still have a minivan with 4 kids.

Honestly, with 2 kids in convertible seats and another in a booster, a compact car would not be a good choice for you. Go for either a full sized passenger car, or a minivan.

When we still had our little Honda Accord, we had to fit a convertible seat, a booster and an infant seat in the back when we were babysitting for a friend, and that was super tight. The kiddo in the booster couldn't manage to buckle herself in because the other seats were in the way.

Minivans aren't terrible. We've had a 92 Dodge Grand Caravan, and we still have a 91 Toyota Previa and an 05 Toyota Sienna. They've averaged about 18 mpg on city streets, 22-23 mpg on the highway. Not as good as car, but much better than most SUVs with comparable seating capacity.

[towsonmama]

We bought a minivan when I was pg with my third dc. I agree, they're not that bad, although I didn't think I would care about this at all but the whole "Hi, there's a mom behind the wheel" thing does bother me sometimes. I guess I'd like an air of mystery.

We also have a Volvo wagon and that can accomodate the carseats in a pinch. We have three monster Britaxes though so it's a tight fit. If one was a booster they would probably fit a little easier.

[mamabeca]

ITA that most good minivans can get the same mileage or BETTER as an SUV. We got the Honda which has a 3 valve cut-off. When you are cruising or 'at speed' it cuts 3 of the 6 cylinders out, so you use less gas. sup

I know that you can use 3 carseats in a Ford Focus wagon, a Saab wagon, or a volvo wagon (worst mileage of the 3).

[treehugginmama]

We have 4 kids, 3 in carseats. We have a town and country. I love love love it. It has fantastic gas mileage.

[425lisamarie]

I have the beefed up toyota van. I love it. I have had it since my first awas 6 months and I can fit a house full of clutter in it.....not sure if it's good or bad but we have a lot of room!

[MPJJJ]

I have a mercury sable. The kids fit very comfortably in the back seat.

[rzberrymom]

I understand a Volvo can handle three carseats in the backseat.

[3boobykins]

When our 3rd was born we had a Corolla and fit an infant seat and two convertables in it. We were rearended--a low speed collision, but enough to total the car because of how the damage occured. Otherwise we'd probably still be driving the Corolla, and it would be paid off. My mom drives a Hyundai Elantra and keeps seats in it for our kids, two narrow convertables and a narrow belt-positioning, high-backed booster. To buckle ds into the booster, we angle the seat out a bit, buckle, then move it back.

We thought we'd get a minivan after we lost the Corolla, but long story short, ended up with a 98 Nissan Pathfinder. DH actually uses it fairly often for its sport utility capacity, and the cargo area is nice for our dog. But we're fed up with the crappy gas mileage. We're going to look for a used station wagon. We've had a minivan rental for about a week while our car damage was being assessed and didn't really care for it. I like the Pathfinder in some ways--it feels very sturdy and it's nice to have 4WD and high clearance when it is snowy or we want to go somewhere unpaved, but we just can't justify the gas usage any longer. We're going to look for an older Volvo or Suburu Legacy or DL.

[beautyful]

I have seen pictures of three carseats in the backseat of Prius.

[tm2840]

I know that you can use 3 carseats in a Ford Focus wagon, a Saab wagon, or a volvo wagon (worst mileage of the 3).

No matter what you get, make sure you try your car seats out in it. We had a Saab 9000 (equivalent to the 9-5) and could not fit three seats (even one of them a booster) across. Maybe with the right, slim seats we could have, but I had to use DH's Corolla when we had three kids in the car - and even then it took two of us shoving from both sides to close both back doors. What a picture!

I don't mind the mini-van. I got it even with only two children because I wanted to be able to drive my kid's friends with us places too, so the "easy seating for four" was important. It's not fun or attractive, but it's sure easy to get kids in and out of! Now if only it had a trunk or hatchback - I hate the van cargo area, my stuff is always precariously piled and falling out when I open it!

[burke-a-bee]

When I had three, we bought a Volvo because it was the only non mini van that fit 3 car seats. We now have 4 and a Eurovan but I think we are going to have to move on to something else because it has only 3 shoulder straps in the back.

[LaLaLaLa]

For me, two kids equaled a minivan. I wanted to be confident that if I ever needed to fit another child in a pinch, or if we had relatives who wanted to go out to dinner with us or whatever, we had space for more people in the car. It's been useful when I've brought a neighbor with me to library storytime and I needed a spot for another adult and another carseat.

I adore my minivan, by the way. It keeps me up above the other cars on the road and it's great for driving in the snow. The only problem is that it's a beast to parallel-park.

[Mary-Beth]

I'm loving my minivan. It's hard to fit three car seats across in a car...now with a minivan we'll have plenty of space for the 3rd car seat and still be able to have extra passengers with us...

I had a HARD time convincing Dh to try a minivan but once we test drove the Honda he loved it...

[moodymaximus]

thanks for the thoughts! we will be buying used, and in a "hurry", as we are relocating for 6 months, and will need a car within 2 weeks or so. so it is good to know we probably should focus on minivans, as it will be difficult to try the seats in otherwise. DH thinks we can buy "long distance", so we'd have it right away--i'm not even sure how this can be done. we will see.

ETA: oh, and we rented a minivan on our last vacation (with 2 kids) and we loved the ease of in-and-outs. i was contemplating a sedan in hopes to save money, but maybe it won't be worth it...

[CarrieMF]

We have 3 kids & have a Toyota Camry. When they were all still in carseats they fit in the backseat fine with extra room. My sister has a Caravan & our Camry has more storeage space than her Caravan. The 2001 Camrys are even bigger.

[phathui5]

Originally Posted by beautyful

I have seen pictures of three carseats in the backseat of Prius.

Those look so small! Do you know what kind of car seats they were?

We bought a minivan when I was pregnant with our third. It's a lot easier for us than sticking three (now four) kids in a car.

[mmomosedc]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

We have 3 kids & have a Toyota Camry. When they were all still in carseats they fit in the backseat fine with extra room. My sister has a Caravan & our Camry has more storeage space than her Caravan. The 2001 Camrys are even bigger.

We have a '06 Camry and two kids. Yesterday I picked up friend of my DD so I had one convertable seat and two booster seats in the backseat. It was VERY tight and super annoying. I had to put them in one at a time and tilt the other seats out of the way while I buckled them. Then push, shove, push the door shut. Getting them out was equally annoying because the buckles were tightly wedged between the seats. The kids couldn't get at them and I had to again lean the seats away from each other to unbuckle. Maybe there's smaller boosters that would work better.

[lovemysunshine]

We just traded in our Honda CR-V for an Odyssey. I am loving it so far, although I admit I'm having a hard time adjusting my mental image of myself to one who drives a minivan. That's my mom, KWIM?

We have 2 kids and I'm hoping to convince DH for a third in the near future. We couldn't have fit 3 kids in the CR-V unless we'd gotten all new carseats. My 4.5 yo DD is in a Regent and 1.75 yo DS in a Marathon. DD and DS outgrew their infant seat in 4 and 2 months, respectively, so that option wouldn't last long for us and we'd just start with a convertible instead.

Good luck on your search; I agree that the minivan seems the way to go since you won't have much time to figure out fit for 3 carseats.

[CarrieMF]

Yesterday I picked up friend of my DD so I had one convertable seat and two booster seats in the backseat. It was VERY tight and super annoying. I had to put them in one at a time and tilt the other seats out of the way while I buckled them. Then push, shove, push the door shut. Getting them out was equally annoying because the buckles were tightly wedged between the seats. The kids couldn't get at them and I had to again lean the seats away from each other to unbuckle. Maybe there's smaller boosters that would work better.

We never had to do any of that. We had an infant seat & 2 5point harness/booster with lots of room. Convertable seats are wide.