[paxye]

We just got a new to us 2000 Dodge Caravan with 7 seats (we used to have a 5 seater 92 Caravan)...
I would have wanted to get a van with 2 sliding doors but then found a great van in our price range but only has one sliding door... the only problem that I have now is where to put each kid so that they are the safest and it will be easy on my back...

Ds#1 (4yo 35 lbs) is in a Alpha Omega 2003
Ds#2 (23 mos 25 lbs) is in a Alpha Omega Elite 2004

babe #3 will be in an infant seat until s/he outgrows it and ds#1 is able to go into his turbo booster... ds#2 will move into the AO and babe #3 move into the elite and stay rf until big enough....

I leave the infant seat in the car most of the time because I carry babe when we are out... so I would rather have babe near the door but then the rf seat gets in the way to get to the other seat...
Ds#1 likes being in the third row near the door and can buckle half of his seat belt so it is easy to do his... however, I am not sure about having ds#2 who will be 25 months when babe is born to be next to the newborn...

Anyways... did you do this? where did you/ would you put each of them for safety and ease to get them all tied in?

 

[annethcz]

When I had 3 kids in a minivan, I had the 2 toddlers in the back seat and the infant in the middle row behind the driver's seat. (This was a 99 dodge grand caravan with 2 bench seats in the back)

I got the van before #3 was born. Before that time, the 2 toddlers were next to each other in the middle seat.

My reasoning for keeping the 2 toddlers next to each other is that they could occupy each other sitting next to each other. When the baby came, she was rear facing and so could look at her siblings. I didn't mind having my oldest in the back corner, because he was 3.5 and could buckle himself in.

Oh, and I liked having the baby in the seat behind the driver. I did have a sliding door on both sides of the van, so I could pop her out of the seat easily if I wanted to. But it was also nice to have the seat next to her free, so in the winter I could sit down on the empty seat and pop the baby into the sling without exposing her to the cold. Having that empty seat next to the door also made it easy for me to kneel on it and help the big kids in the back seat if they needed help buckling/unbuckling, etc.

 

[Throkmorton]

do you have captain chairs or a bench in the second row?

If you have captain chairs, I would take the one nearest the door out, put baby in the other one, and the 2 toddlers in the 3rd row. Then you have this nice big space to stand and help everyone get in/out of their seats.

 

[paxye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Throkmorton do you have captain chairs or a bench in the second row? If you have captain chairs, I would take the one nearest the door out, put baby in the other one, and the 2 toddlers in the 3rd row. Then you have this nice big space to stand and help everyone get in/out of their seats.

I have a bench...

 

[paxye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by annethcz When the baby came, she was rear facing and so could look at her siblings. I didn't mind having my oldest in the back corner, because he was 3.5 and could buckle himself in. Oh, and I liked having the baby in the seat behind the driver. I did have a sliding door on both sides of the van, so I could pop her out of the seat easily if I wanted to. But it was also nice to have the seat next to her free, so in the winter I could sit down on the empty seat and pop the baby into the sling without exposing her to the cold. Having that empty seat next to the door also made it easy for me to kneel on it and help the big kids in the back seat if they needed help buckling/unbuckling, etc.

That is a great idea... thanks!

 

[mightymoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Throkmorton do you have captain chairs or a bench in the second row? If you have captain chairs, I would take the one nearest the door out, put baby in the other one, and the 2 toddlers in the 3rd row. Then you have this nice big space to stand and help everyone get in/out of their seats.

This is a great idea! We are planning our third and I hadn't thought of that, I was puzzling how to avoid having the toddler bother the baby in the second row, since I'd have to either climb through the two middle seats to help DD in the back or put the two together and risk the baby getting poked by the toddler.