Attn experienced mothers :SUV vs Mini Van

jankam

HI. I have a question to mothers. It's not pregnancy related but I thought I could ask it here. I am looking to purchase an SUV or Minivan in the next month and wanted to know if any mothers can tell me which they liked or preferred. I want an SUV and my husband wants a van. Do you have a van or SUV? I know the plus with the van is the sliding doors but not sure what else is different compared to an suv.

KatWAG

I could never bring myself to buy a minivan. But everyone I know who drives them, loves them.

Maybe I will cave after having a few more kids?

Everyusernameistaken

I have an SUV and 2 kids. The drawback to the SUV vs a van is that with my H and I and 2 carseats, we can't have anyone else in the car unless they are tiny enough to squeeze between the car seats.
We have a Honda CRV so I guess it depends on the car SUV. Number of usable seats is a consideration.

Miz_Liz

I personally just hate mini vans (sorry mommas who have them, it isn't personal). I have a Buick Enclave and I LOVE it. When we were shopping we were also looking at Acadia's. We are going to be having our 2nd and her carseat will go where DS's is (passenger side) and his will go behind the driver's side. The 2nd row where their seats will be are pilot seats and then there is a 3rd row, which right now we typically just keep down and use the whole back for storage for strollers, groceries, etc. One of the things I love is I can open the back door with my remote, so as I am walking out from a store with my hands full or it is raining, I can open it before I even get to it. Mine also came with a remote starter, which I love being in NE.

jankam

We were looking at the Dodge caravan and dodge journey and they're both 7 passenger vehicles. I just like the style of the suv but the van seems more functional.

Miz_Liz

Some dealers will let you test drive overnight - take the vehicle home. Maybe try both? Go to Babies R Us or something and test carseats in them....try putting your stroller in, etc...

KateLouise

We have neither but I just thought I'd throw it out there. We have a Honda Edix.

It's a 6 seater, three front and back. Each seat is wide enough for a carseat, so we can have three car seats in the back, and three passengers in the front.

It's actually really nice having the front middle seat for your hand bag or whatever without interfering with the passenger seat or legroom.

The boot space is also really good.

To look at from the outside you'd think it was a reasonably small car, and then you sit it and it's really spacious.

Anyway, just a thought.

jankam

I just looked it up. Looks nice but unfortunately it's not available in Canada.

KateLouise

jankam said:

I just looked it up. Looks nice but unfortunately it's not available in Canada.

That's a shame. Perhaps something similar is around in Canada? I definitely love that I don't have to clamber into the back row to access kids, like I would have in some minivans (some minivans have weird configurations in terms of where you can and can't put a bolt for a carseat)

amanda_wahl

I was always the "I'll never have a van" girl. Well with 2 toddlers and a baby on the way I can say we love our van. We have a honda. Comparing cargo space with any suv's while the 3rd row is in use was no comparison. We have so much room and we all know how much Stuff we can have with kids:) also the doors and remote hatch are fantastic along with the DVD player!

NYMominCA

We're about to have our third and are finally upgrading to a minivan. Well, actually, not right away...we both drive SUVs (Honda CRVs, his is a 1st generation, mine is a 2nd).... We're going to use the SUV for a few months after baby arrives and then upgrade to an Odyssey. We looked at larger SUVs (Pilot, Sequoia, etc.) but we just like the Odyssey so much more.

But even with 2 kids I've never felt like our CRVs were too small... it's only with a 3rd coming that I think we'll enjoy more space.

pixieprincss

This is going to totally depend on your needs and wants! We are about to have baby 3 and are still using our pre-baby Toyota Matrix, so I'd say that neither an SUV or Minivan is necessary. In other words, the vehicle world is your oyster!

jesselayne8

If it's your first child I would totally go with an SUV and it doesn't need to be a huge one. I had Mercedes ML350 with my first 2 kids but with a 3rd baby on the way I just bought a Honda Odessey. I LOVE it. No way I could do a 3 row SUV with 3 kids under 4 and all of them still in 5 pt harnesses.

hey&june

I have a small SUV (Honda CR-V) and will have to upgrade it to a van (either Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey) if we have a third child. I'd say it depends on how many people you plan to drive around. We love the CR-V and it gets great gas mileage, but you run out of room once you reach 2 kids. Two Britax car seats in the backseat take up the entire bench seat. A third child for us means a van.

In the US, even the largest SUVs (the ones with a third row) don't have a logical/easy way to get to the backseat. We have family members with a Honda Pilot and a new Toyota Highlander with a 3rd row - it is ridiculous trying to get people into the backseat. Plus the larger SUVs get worse gas mileage than the average mini van and are so high off of the ground that they are both a roll over risk and a higher risk of accidentally backing over someone or something you can't see.

Mini-vans definitely have the advantage if you need to use the back row for seating. We can only fit 4 people total in our CR-V with the kids' car seats in there. That means when DH is with me, we have NO room for an extra person. I have a friend with a Toyota van and she fits 2 adults in the front, 2 infant seats and an adult in the middle, and 3 more big kids in car seats in the back. That is a lot more bang for your buck.

Now that my kids are both potty trained, we keep a car potty in the car for road trips and emergencies. There is more room to use that and more areas to get a little privacy using that in a van. Also, the kids can climb in and get into their car seats on their own in a van versus most SUVs that are too high up for them to get in and out safely. My vote is a van. In hindsight, I wish I had gotten one a few years ago but it seemed like overkill when we had just one kid.

hey&june

*Also meant to say that something I didn't consider with our small SUV is that there isn't room for me to sit in the back with our second child (since our first has a car seat on the same bench seat). Sometimes when our first was an infant, one of us would sit back there on long trips to entertain them or calm them down. I also liked breastfeeding in the back seat when we were in a parking lot or had stopped for a rest from driving. I couldn't do this with my second child since there wasn't enough room. If we'd had a van, it would've been an option.

neferhathor

We have an SUV with two kids at the moment. It really is a PITA when you want to bring along one additional person because they have to drive separately. I borrowed my MIL's mini van for a month and it was AWESOME. Now with baby #3 on the way, I'm so excited to get one of our own! Swagger Wagon Forever!

mom3babies

We have 2 kids and one on the way. I drive a chevy Tahoe and absolutely love it. We have the one with a 3rd row. We had to get one with a 3rd row because we always have an extra person with us. My kids play football and soccer so SUVs will be able to hold bags of gear but probably not as much as a van. I'm not a van person but my sister has one and it works for her since she's always transporting more then just her kids to sports.

gagi9

Hello Everyone,

I have a question about my car seats. We are going to have our first baby. We have cream leather seats should we change them to a  darker color?

A few of our friends suggested us to change our seats. What do you think?

Thanks

Miz_Liz

@gagi9 I have cream colored seats and a 2.5 year old and have no issues. We purchased a seat protector for under the car seat and it works great. I personally would never consider changing my seat colors because of having a baby - that is a HUGE expense. If anything, you could always pay to have them redone after your kids are older if they wreck them.

gagi9

Thank u so much

amy0804

We have a minivan - the Toyota Sienna. I swore that I would never get a minivan but when we had our second baby just under 2 years after our first, I caved. I had a Honda CRV and just felt like there was no room for the two car seats in the backseat and the trunk area was tight holding just the double stroller, no space for packing for trips. When we first got the minivan, I felt like I wanted to seriously close my eyes before getting in so wouldn't see the van but once inside, I loved the inside. We got the Sienna with all the options, figured if I was going to have a minivan then it would be a nice one. That was almost four years ago and I am so happy with our decision. The minivan is just so convenient with little ones - the sliding doors, easy to get them in and out, easy to fit tons of stuff. We travel a lot and there is so much space in the back of the minivan, you can put one seat down, two seats, or the whole third row. When they were really little and we were traveling, I could get in the back with them without an issue to feed them, entertain, etc. We are now expecting our third and very happy that we opted for the minivan.

chrissymc86

I was so against buying a minivan (just the idea of it I guess) but now that I am pregnant with my 3rd and my other 2 are in school we knew we wanted to upgrade from our little mazda hatchback to have more room. We bought a Chrysler town & country (which is very similar to the dodge caravan) I LOVE it! Lol it's so easy at parent pick up/drop off with the auto doors. So durable inside and the built in DVD players have been life savers on long trips. And the storage, and space....so much room! Good luck with whatever you choose!

CatsAreShady

I also was completely against minivans. I called them mom mobiles. However, with 3 kids all in car seats, it is absolutely perfect for us. We just got a new Toyota Sienna as well. Those automatic doors are a blessing when you are trying to balance a car seat and herd two preschoolers at the same time. We have enough space for all 3 car seats plus plenty of storage. We chose the Sienna because it's like the only van with all wheel drive (AWL) for those winter storms. The DVD system keeps them occupied and happy during longer road trips. I also have a double stroller and it fits inside perfectly with room to spare. So my vote would be for a minivan for 3+ kids, SUV for 1-2 kids.

twogirlsandagreen

I drive a Suburban and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It's a bus though, for sure. My best friend has a Honda Minivan and that thing is pretty awesome. So much storage and so many little handy compartments. The middle row can be a bench or captains chairs (my suburban has captains chairs with no bench option - it's an either/or thing). While I could never bring myself to drive a van, I do love hers.