Vehicle: 3rd row

Jamaicanlove

Hi,

My husband and I are planning baby #2 and the subject of vehicles came up.  I currently drive a 4 door sedan and he has a suv with 3rd row seating.  By the time we have another child, I will possibly need a new car (mine is on it's way out due to regular wear and tear, 150,000 miles etc.).  Due to our work schedules, I will predominantly be the one driving our children around.  My husband's suv is way too big for me.  When do you think you need a vehicle with 3rd row seating?  After how many children?  I'm debating if I should buy another sedan, CUV or a vehicle with that extra row.

beachbride5

whatever you decide, my advice would be to look for one with captain's chairs in the third row or at least one that can fold while a car seat is installed. i have the mercedes gl and my model year has a 40/20/40 split rear bench but my son will still have to climb over a folded seat to access the third row. royal pain. i am trying to find one with captain's chairs before bonusbaby arrives. some cuvs and suvs offer them as an option, so talk to the dealer. 

beachbride5

wait, if you only have two, stick with the smaller cars with no third row until you need one. i can't fit three seats across the backseat or else i never would have moved up to the bigger one. haha! 

Jamaicanlove

Thanks for responding.  Yeah, if I got an SUV it would definitely have to have captain chairs.  I thought maybe it would be nice to have an extra row for our children's friends (play dates etc.) or in case we decided to have baby # 3 (we've decided that if our second child is another girl, we would have a third :-)).  Not sure if those are enough justification though to get a much bigger vehicle and having to pay more for gas etc. 

callmeJing

I'm in my third tri with baby #3.  We got our van before we even thought of having #3.  We got it because, frankly, we have tall kids and the two of them kept kicking the back of our seats.  LOL.  I agree w/ PP, make sure you get captains seating.  So I guess, whenever you feel like you need it, that's the right time.  Now that we are having our third next month, we already feel we're one step ahead of the game.  Now I just have to figure out seating arrangements.  My youngest is still in a booster.