Car suggestion?

nextmrsfrey

So come May we will have 3! 1 that is 4 1/2, a 15 month old and a newborn. So 1 will be in a booster, 1 in a forward facing car seat and another is going to be in the old back facing car seat. We currently have the RX Lexus and it will probably work I am just worried how jammed it is going to be. Any suggestions?

Daisy22

We have a 2007 RX and you can't put a child in the middle area. My mom has a 2010 RX and I don't think all 3 would fit in hers either. The car we use for all 3 is a Honda Pilot. Ds1 is in a britax frontier, ds2 is in a marathon 70 and ds3 is in a Chicco key fit 30. They can either all three go in the middle row or right now we have ds3 in the split third row then ds2 and ds3 are in the middle row next to each other. Still have plenty of room for the stroller and other stuff. I really like it. 

Cotton

When we had 3, we drove a Yukon Denali. We had 2 forward and 1 rear facing Marathons. It had a 3rd row that could come out or fold up. And tons of room in the trunk!

We have the XL version now and LOVE that, too!

kagl08

I have a GMC Acadia and I love it!! I have the captains seats in the 2nd row and 3 seats in the 3rd row. Great car, awesome room!! I absolutely love my car. Highly recommend it!! 

MammaBear81

I'd just like to say, that unless your 4 1/2 year old is super huge, he/she will probably still fit in a 5pt harness seat rather than a booster, and the new guidelines for FFing are the max weight limit of the seat (usually 30-40 pounds depending on the seat) or a height of 1 inch below the top of the shell, so your 15 month old would probably still be RFing. I'd plan on a car that can accommodate those seats.

To answer your question, the Radian is a very narrow seat, you could probably fit one FFing on the driver side, put on RFing in the middle, and have the infant seat on the passenger side in almost any vehicle.  I have a honda civic and a nissan versa and have managed to get three car seats in the back of them.  Not comfy, but possible.

We have a minivan for traveling, no way to beat the storage, gas mileage, or price when you need something bigger than a sedan.  I know most people hate minivians, but they are more practical in every way than an SUV.

gatchison

I recently traded my RX350 for a Toyota Sienna minivan. It was a bit of a bittersweet transition as I really didn't think I would like a minivan but I thought it would be a smart decision for a few years. Now over a month later I've found myself admitting how much I love the minivan. One thing that helped me transition is getting a car in the same family so a lot of things are familiar. The Sienna XLE Limited models have a lot of similar features to my RX, like the same wood grain trim, same steering wheels, same control buttons throughout, same type of navigation and backup camera, etc. When I'm inside the vehicle I have more than once forgotten that I'm driving the Sienna and not the RX because it's all so familiar. Good luck with your shopping!

kagl08

MammaBear81:

I'd just like to say, that unless your 4 1/2 year old is super huge, he/she will probably still fit in a 5pt harness seat rather than a booster, and the new guidelines for FFing are the max weight limit of the seat (usually 30-40 pounds depending on the seat) or a height of 1 inch below the top of the shell, so your 15 month old would probably still be RFing. I'd plan on a car that can accommodate those seats.

thank you! I was looking for a way to say this nicely but couldn't figure one out. OP, please do look at the new guidelines...  

shortstuff15

We have a Toyota Sequoia and I love it.  We have fit 3 seats across the middle and so we should be a while before we need to put the back seat up. 

laura1

kagl08:

MammaBear81:

I'd just like to say, that unless your 4 1/2 year old is super huge, he/she will probably still fit in a 5pt harness seat rather than a booster, and the new guidelines for FFing are the max weight limit of the seat (usually 30-40 pounds depending on the seat) or a height of 1 inch below the top of the shell, so your 15 month old would probably still be RFing. I'd plan on a car that can accommodate those seats.

thank you! I was looking for a way to say this nicely but couldn't figure one out. OP, please do look at the new guidelines...  

Ditto this!  And we now have 3 seats in our Honda CR-V.  For my 2.5 and 3.5yo, they are in Radians and forward facing, drivers side and middle.  The rear facing snugride is on the passenger side.  Obviously #3 is not here yet, but my other 2 are doing ok next to each other!

We are planning on getting a new bigger car, but still have a year before our CRV is paid off.  We want to trade in DH's ancient Camry, but don't want to have too long with 2 car payments.  So we are making do with the CRV until we can't take it any more! 

MechanicMama1

We are planning to get an envoy  

lana22

have you checked out the odyssey?

charleydawg

We are in pretty much the same boat as you (4 year old, 18 month old and newborn).  We have decided to go the minivan route.  We thought we could avoid it with the GMC Acadia or Buick Enclave, but after a test drive with the three car seats, factoring in our medium sized dog, and loading in the double jogger (I'm sure the sales man loved us!:), we decided there wasn't enough room for us (the grandparents live 2 hours and 4 hours away and we usually take a beach each year, so we wanted plenty of room for road trips).  

We haven't purchased one yet, but have narrowed it down to a 2011 or newer Chrysler Town & Country.  It's the right price point, we like the styling, and we can get it loaded (so maybe it won't feel like a minivan while we're in it!) for much less than an Odyssey or Sienna.  Our plan is to just drive it for 5 years, then reevaluate.  Good luck! 

sugarbug10

I just got the expedition el with the second row bucket seats and it works great for my 2 under 2 plus my 6 year old.