We're looking at getting a new (to us) larger SUV. Def need a third row. Something along the lines of a Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban. (Yeah yeah, I know they are gas hogs but we get severe winter weather!) We currently have 2 RF car seats, likely will be trying for another baby within the year. SO...if we were to have one FF car seat and 2 RF car seats, would it be easier to have them all next to each other on a middle bench or have the FF seat in the third row and two RF seats in the captains chairs? I'm conflicted! Anyone have any input? Help!
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Following! This is the same scenario we have right now and I can't decide which option is best!
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Is your oldest going to need to be "dropped off" in a school drop off line where you won't be getting out of the car? If so, consider where you put that forward facing seat.
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@looch: that's a good point! I hadn't considered that and just assumed he would want to be in the back. Hmmm.
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I currently have my three (1 RF convertible behind the passenger seat, a FF convertible in the middle, and an infant capsule behind the driver) across a bench seat. It works for us bc we get out of the car for school pick up /drop off. Next car, I'll probably want captain chairs.
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Right now we have a Honda Pilot with a third row and a bench seat in the middle. It's been great while the kids have been younger, but it is a pain when we have other family with us and have to move the car seats around (at that point we usually stick my oldest in the back seat). Our next SUV will have the captains chairs. I think it will be easier for them to maneuver once they're older.
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We have captains chairs. I only have 2 in car seats but if I had three I think I'd fold down one of the front captains chairs, and have 2 in the back (where I could actually get in to buckle them) and the infant seat in the one front seat.
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I think I would do Captain's chairs and put two little ones in the third row and leave one chair folded down. If that isn't appealing for whatever reason though I'd probably do 3 across but even with a vehicle that large it's likely to be a puzzle to find 3 car seats that fit the way you want.
A friend has two kids in car seats in both captains chairs and if we ride with them we folds down half of the third row and put my daughter in through the trunk. She can't buckle herself though so it means literally climbing in and out of the trunk each time to get her settled. I'd wait to use that option until I had a kid in a booster who could safely buckle and unbuckle independently.
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@looch: no drop off (for the foreseeable future anyways) but something I didn't even think of!
@josina: @Cole: I think this is what we will end up doing! No one is currently capable of buckling themselves, so I'll need to crawl in/out of the back seat.
Thanks everyone for your input!
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Because of this exact scenario, we went with a minivan with captains chairs. We are not sure when/if a 3rd child is going to come into the picture, but because of the potential age spacing, we went with a van with captains chairs with the idea that one of the captains seats would be pulled out of the car semi-permanently. The infant bucket would be in the sole captains chair in the 2nd row, and the older 2 (one RF and one FF) would be in the 3rd row. This way, a parent can easily hop in the back to buckle/unbuckle the big kids and let them out of the car and then grab the baby last. Once the FF kid can climb in and buckle himself, I would consider reinstalling the second captains seat and putting both RFing kids in the 2nd row, with big kid in the 3rd row.
We went with a van because automatic sliding doors was a non-negotiable for me, so if I had weather issues, I would probably buy a Toyota Sienna with AWD.
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We plan to yank out a captains chair when we have a third and put two in the back and one in the remaining captains chair.
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@gingerbebe: I'm not anti van (although DH is), but we also need something that can tow our camper!
I think logistically that sounds like the best plan though. @Mrs. Champagne: what do you drive with captains chairs?
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@bees_knees: Hyundai Santa Fe XL! We've been happy with it!
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for me, a pro of a larger car is being able to haul more people, so i would only do captain's chairs if i had the option to have the 3rd seat in the second row at some point.
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@bees_knees: Oh, also, our van has an insert that can turn the captain's seats into a bench row. You can't put a carseat on it, but it does create an adult seat. So I can make it an 8 seater whenever I need to. I would see if any of your SUV options give you that choice too.
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@gingerbebe: say whaaaaat?! That's an awesome option!
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I just went through this! We have a 3 and 4 year old who are both in convertible seats right now. I am expecting a 3rd child in late September so we had to upgrade to something with a 3rd row. I was pretty sure I wanted a Pilot and the new honda pilot trim line we wanted only came with seating for 7, and the middle was captains chairs. We ended up getting an amazing deal on a 2014 pilot that has a middle bench and I am SOOOOO glad we did! We actually lugged both their car seats out AND I brought the old infant carrier so we could configure the car different ways, make sure I could buckle kids in the back, make sure kids could get out in the middle if they were in the back, etc. I love having the seating for 8 as opposed to 7. Also, the bench on the Honda Pilot is the only vehicle I could find other than driving a minivan that actually has latch for either 3 or 4 seats plus you can still get 2 car seats in the 3rd row if needed.
I know a lot of people like the captains, and I do like the look, but for me, we love the bench! I am going to put both my olders in the 3rd row and the baby in the middle when the baby is here.
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I really wanted captains seats, but all the suvs we looked at you had to buy the top of the line model to get them which is why we went with a van. Like @gingerbebe: our middle row can either be captain seats or a bench seat.
I think logistically that sounds like the best plan though. Reply
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