placement of three carseats in a mini van?

momofmanyinthemitten

What's the best placement for my front-facing 3 y/o, rear-facing 14 m/o, and soon-to-be newborn? I was thinking one captain seat down, newborn in the other, two older kids on the back bench. Does it make a difference which captain seat I use (with regards to ease of use)?

ASmallWonder

The only real concern you need to have is putting the FFing child in a seat with a top tether.  After that it's a matter of preference.  Do you do a lot of street parking?  If you do, I personally would put the baby behind the driver so  you would unsnap baby and put him/her on the floor, get the other kids out and grab baby.  This way you have the space on the sidewalk side of the van for all that maneuvering since you won't want to get the older kids out first OR on the street side.

ILoveBoys

kielpinskim - does the 3 year old buckle herself into a seatbelt (high back booster) or is she still in a harness? If she buckles herself I'd put her in the back middle and the younger two in the front captain's chairs. 

Otherwise, two older in the rear bench seat (FF behind the infant) and infant in the captain chair. Definitely will want to take out the other captain's chair while your middle child is still RF. We used the seat behind the passenger for the infant seat until she turned around but that was only because my husband has to have the seat back so far a RF wouldn't have fit. But if you put the infant behind the passenger seat then you'll be able to see her more than if she was behind you.

momofmanyinthemitten

She still can't buckle herself in, so looks like two in the rear and baby in the middle. I'm leaning toward passenger side, but DH is thinking driver's side may be better. We're going to do a dry run this weekend.

CHS2005

kielpinskim said:

 I was thinking one captain seat down, newborn in the other, two older kids on the back bench. Does it make a difference which captain seat I use (with regards to ease of use)?

I think you have the best idea here. I have three in a mini-van and this is exactly how we do it. DS#1 can buckle/unbuckle himself so he is on the driver side in the back bench, DS#2 is on the passenger side on the bench, and DS#3 is behind the driver in the chair. As PP said, that way, i can reach the younger two from the sidewalk when I park on the street.  DS#3 is on the driver side so its easier to get him in and out when its just him. We have passengers frequently so we fold the other captain's chair up in the car, but otherwise, I would definitely take it out.