Time to upgrade

KMck27

Baby number 3 on the way and now we are in the market for a new vehicle....One that can fit 3 car seats. My oldest will be 3 and our soon to be middle child will be 1 by the time our newbie arrives. Tell me what your driving, tell me more if it can fit 3 car seats. Thanks!

LCartee2016

My uncle has 3 little boys that were, at one point, all in car seats or booster seats. They bought an Acadia and absolutely loved it. They still have it and use it. It has SO much room! 

Also,  a little insider FYI, my hubby works for Honda manufacturing In Alabama. The newer model Odysseys are very spacious and chock full of features! 

Edited because TB ate my reply. 

silvercamaro77

Part of it will depend on the configuration you have.  For example, I have a 2007 Camry and I can put 2 rear-facing Nextfits outboard with a Radian RXT in the center, but there's not enough space to turn one of the Nextfits forward-facing because of the way the Nextfit widens at the head.

I'd also recommend you check out the facebook group carseats for the littles if you're not already familiar with it.  I've gotten a lot of help as far what seats will fit in which configuration in our vehicles.

ashanne88

We are hoping to use my parents 2010 Subaru Outback once the twins arrive. We have a 2001 Outback now and can't quite fit a convertible car seat plus two infant bucket seats. The newer subarus are wider so hopefully will fit the two infant and a small convertible seat (I can't remember which one we have). We'll know for sure if this will work in August. I know it won't fit with our Britax since its wider. I agree it's PP that the size of the car needed is going to depend on what seats you have. And vice Versa. There are some great sites that can help you figure out what seats to configure together for putting three in a row, if that's the what you end up needing to do. 

Figuring out three in a car has been a huge stress for me! 

mommyofhugs

Oh, good thread! We have a 15 month-old and a new one on the way. My husband has a jeep patriot and I have a vw golf. We're both getting new cars, because our front passenger seats have to be pretty far forward in order to fit even one of the smallest brands of rear facing infant carseat (let alone the convertible carseats!). We're hoping to keep both of our kids rearfacing as long as possible, so we really want to get bigger cars to accommodate their safety.

That being said, I'm really interested in mid-sized SUVs and have been looking at the Honda Pilot, Dodge Journey, and Kia Sorento. I can get all of them in the 7-8 seat option and the 2nd row seats can slide forward and backward to make space for larger carseats. The dodge is absolutely the most affordable, even if you get 4WD and some of the premium add-on, you're paying around 28k. The Honda and the Kia, you're going to hit over 30k pretty quick with add-ons and 4WD. 

My lease isn't up for a few months, but those are the 3 I've been looking at! I'm not a minivan persona and would never spend the money on a suburban or the like. I think those 3 are really great options for a growing family (with room to grow!).

katesmama0706

I drive a Chevy Equinox. We'll only fit 2 of our kids in it at the moment but before DD came along I was a nanny and was able to fit a high back booster, convertible seat and infant seat across my back seat but loading and unloading kids was a pain in the butt because I had to unload the kid in the booster, climb over her seat, unload the infant seat then go around to the other side and unload the toddler in the convertible. When we have a third I'll size up to an SUV instead of a crossover. 

scgirl6113

We just got a Chrysler Town and Country. We had looked at several mini vans (odyssey, sienna, dodge grand varan) but thought these had the most value for your money. We LOVE it! It has Amazing storage. All of the seats can fold down if you want (I.e. You do not have to physically remove any seat from the car. They just stow away under the floor. This space is available for stoage too if you have all the seats up). There is plenty of room in the front seats even if you have a rear facing convertible car seat behind it. I never thought I'd go for a mini van but truly it just has such great storage and it's super easy to load/unload kids. 

Carly79

I have a Kia Sorento and like it but this will only be my second. I don't think I could fit 3 carseats in it, especially 2 rear facing. We bought the nextfit for a convertible seat and it fits in my car rear facing better than the infant bucket seat. My first will keep that one and we will move it to be forward facing once baby get here (he'll be over 2 by then). The baby will get the bucket seat and be behind the passenger seat. Same arrangement in my husbands Kia Optima but there is more space between the front seats and back seats in his car (this seems so strange to me). So don't rule out cars. If you are open to mini vans, I think those are great solutions when 3 car seats are needed and still allow for some storage room. Good luck on your search.

sldp123

I have a Kia Sorento, but not the model with third row seating. My son is 8 but still in a booster and will be for a couple more years at least, and I don't think I'll be able to fit two rear-facing plus a booster across the back. My husband is so anit-minivan, but the SUVs we have considered like the Honda Pilot are just so much more expensive. I really think the minivan route makes the most sense and the newer ones are pretty sweet, haha. Not sure who will win this battle, but it's definitely something we have to start getting serious about.

Carly79

@aldp123 My husband and I are not mini van lovers and if we had been surprised by twins with this pregnancy we probably would have had to bite the bullet and upgrade to a mini van. That being said, a friend of his said, if you have to get a mini van, get one that's decked out and has some of the extra perks to make it worth it. Things you would never dream of in an SUV because of the higher price tag already. Not only can we not afford the big SUVs like a Tahoe or even Pilot but they are big and not the easiest to drive when getting around town. Good luck with that conversation.

KMck27

Thanks for all the great info! We currently have a chicco nextfit and a rear facing chicco key fit 30. I think we are getting another nextfit for the new baby. I am dreading trying to find a new vehicle, but this thread is a great start! 

Not feeling the mini van yet, but everyone i talk to is obsessed with their mini vans, so I'll definitely check them out to see what the fuss is about.
Thanks again!

aels12

We have a Honda Pilot and we love it! I'm a ftm but hoping with the suv we can avoid eventually needing a mini van. We will see! 

ceillyang

I drive a RX350. I just really like the size of an suv, it's wayyyyy better than my husband's truck. I cant stand the height of his truck--not sure if I'll have the strength to lift a car seat and baby back and forth. Suv's have more trunk space than vans, but obviously vans can fit more people. Get whatever fits your needs!

nolemomma14

We have a Chevy traverse and really like it. The one we have has two captains chairs in the second row and the 3 seats in the back. Right now since it's just DS I keep the third row down and it's great for storage, but there's still plenty of space when I do have to put it up. I like the captains chairs vs a full row in the middle because you don't have to put any seats down to get to the last row. We did also look at the Honda Pilot when we were looking for a new car, just found a better deal on the traverse at the time. 

asnowsurfer

Although this will be my first LO, I just have to weigh in and say that my 2015 Chevy Equinox has this great feature where you can very easily slide the entire back bench seat forward or backward almost a foot. I know I'm just dealing with one car seat, but I can already tell that this feature will come in freakin' handy

ElleMF728

We will have 3 in car seats when LO is born as well. This is what I have found since I don't really want a minivan:
https://www.cars.com/articles/which-cars-fit-three-car-seats-1420668847322/  

ETA: Its not on the list but our neighbors have a Dodge Durango which has 3 row seating.  It drove really nice and didn't feel too huge compared to my Jeep Patriot (I DD-ed home from a concert a few weeks ago) DH and I liked it a lot.  

KRB22

ElleMF728 said:

We will have 3 in car seats when LO is born as well. This is what I have found since I don't really want a minivan:
https://www.cars.com/articles/which-cars-fit-three-car-seats-1420668847322/  

ETA: Its not on the list but our neighbors have a Dodge Durango which has 3 row seating.  It drove really nice and didn't feel too huge compared to my Jeep Patriot (I DD-ed home from a concert a few weeks ago) DH and I liked it a lot.  

I actually test drove a Durango yesterday and was impressed with how it drove, especially compared to some of the other 3-row SUVs we've looked at. My only concern was the 2nd row didn't seem to have much legroom, and it doesn't move back and forth.  Do your neighbors have rear facing car seats in theirs? I was worried there might not be enough room without having to move the front seats way up. 

ElleMF728

@KRB22 They have a 2 year old and a 11 month old so they do have a rear facing seat but keep it in the first row right now. I guess our plan would be to put our 3 year old in the back and then put the 15 month old and newborn in the 1st row if that makes sense? 

Wholesome

Good thread.  Before my son was born, I scoured the iihs site and loved the safety ratings on the Subaru Forester, so we bought a new one in 2014.  When we upgraded him from his infant seat to his rear facing convertible, we found that the seat BARELY fits... And only squeezes in because his seat is in the center.  I don't want to change car seats because it's supposed to be one of the best for rear facing on the market today so I'm worried about when this baby will be big enough to rear face as well...  I know 2 seats won't fit rear facing in this car.

so, I think we may need to upgrade to something bigger than a crossover eventually.  I love my little car though.  it can go anywhere a 4x4 truck can.

ill probably do the iihs scour again and search by size to see what I like before heading out to dealerships.

KRB22

@ElleMF728 yes, thank you!
By 2nd row I meant the middle row, so good to know that 2 rear facing seats can fit there. 

FTM but I need to replace my little Jetta this year and have been looking at the 3-row SUVs because I want something with AWD and room to grow into over the next few years. Plus we need to make sure there's room for the dog to ride along  

Becid24

If your on fb I recommend joining the car seat for littles page. You will learn so much about what vehicles are good with car seats and which ones are hard installs, have overlapping seat belts and can only fit 2 people instead of 3, don't have top tethers in all places for forward facing seats and lots more. 

sarahmsoda

Literally all my friends with more than one child have a Dodge Caravan, depending on their incomes some have them very fully loaded and others have the basic. It is a great affordable van and I can definitely see the benefit of having a van over an SUV. My DH and I bought a Mitsubishi Outlander 2.5 years ago with a family in mind because it has the ability to have 7 seats but it really wouldn't work for more than two carseats... 

katesmama0706

I just had a thought I wanted to add: take all 3 car seats with you when you look at cars and practice loading and unloading them into those vehicles so you can get an idea of what it'll feel like back there with all 3 kids and when you're trying to help them in and out of the car. 
Alternately: If you're trying to decide on a car seat that will fit your current car most big box stores will let you take a display model out to your car to see if it fits.

laujam31

I have a dodge durango and love it.  We will be keeping it.  I have two in carseat right now.  Depending on DS1 and how much he grows from now to Jan we may switch him to a booster, but I can fit 3 accross regardless.

EH112212

we have a Buick enclave, I like it but will warn when the third row is up there is very little room in the back. the part that I really like is the captain's chairs in the middle row, making it easy to get in the third row.

zdmd_14

We just upgraded to a Toyota Sienna (minivan).  We got one that was used (couple years old, 40k miles) and easily saved 10k vs buying it new.  

To me, 3 kids=3 row seating is a must.  Now that my girls are school age, they want to have people over or sometimes we switch off on which mom takes a pair of kids to soccer.  I don't want to never have room for a friend in my
car.  Or even if it's just grandma riding with us somewhere.  I would think if you get another 2-row vehicle now, in a few years youll change your mind and have to buy again.  

I know people complain about minis being uncool but I really prefer it over an SUV.   It seems easier to get to the back row, even with the back row up, there is SOOOO much trunk space, lower to the ground so easier to get little people in and out etc.

mjschenk

Lol I just upgraded to a pickup all the room in the world back there for up to three kids if you plan to have more I'd suggest something different. Also I don't do very many long drives in it. Plus great for camping helps easily take the dog.

Partyof6?

I am lurking from February, but I have 3 kids in carseats and one on the way.   I cannot tell you how much we were anti minivan until our third came along.  

If you have an SUV with a third row or are considering one, look at your third row.   How would a kid get there?  In my Mazda CX9, they either had to go through the trunk or climb over the middle row because once carseats are installed, you can't fold the middle row for access.  Can you reach to buckle and unbuckle a child in that seat?   What happens to the trunk with that row up. Can you still fit a stroller?  These are all things we really never thought about.   My twins were 26 months when my youngest was born.   We had two convertible car seats and an infant seat, and three kids who couldn't unbuckle themselves.   

We got our Honda Odyssey two years ago and I cannot tell you how much I love it.  My husband says it drives more like a luxury car.   We have bells, whistles, trunk space and can haul friends.   

Ok, going back to February, but I had to put that out there :-)  

Parley

I'm pretty sure the car seat lady has a section just for reviewing vehicles for 3 seats. I have used her site multiple times and found it helpful!