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DH may need to come around

I used to drive an Acura MDX with my 3 kids across the middle row. It's a very wide mid-size SUV, and I had no problem fitting 2 large convertibles and an infant seat; by the time the infant seat needed to be switched out for a convertible, I could have gone to a high-back harnessed booster for my oldest and still been okay. I REALLY didn't want a mini van, but ended up with one for a lot of convenience factors - and am okay with it for now. I would totally go back to my MDX once my kids are older and move to booster seats.

I looked at a ton of SUVs. With the exception of something giant like a Suburban or Escalade, all of them had the same issue(s)
(1) Limited access to the third row - adult passengers wanting to use the third row have to crawl in through the trunk when there are three (or even two) carseats installed. A Honda CRV or Toyota Highlander edition with pilot seats/captain chairs solved this problem somewhat, but still wouldn't have allowed a third child to enter/exit easily in a carpool line.
(2) Third row is very shallow - most wouldn't have been deep enough to fit my convertible car seats FF, but might have worked for a booster.
(3) Extremely limited trunk space when the third row is up. Not enough room for a decent sized grocery store run; difficult to store a large-ish stroller even on it's own.

ETA: The reason I didn't get a Suburban was that the configuration didn't make sense for small kids, IMO - the way the middle row seats moved to make third row access easier didn't really work with carseats attached, and the third row was SOOOOO far back that I had to literally get into the car and climb back there to help a kid in the third row. I did love driving it, though, and you can't beat the trunk space.

I think the big question is if you truly want something that will be easy for three non-infant kids - most mid-size SUVs are pretty do-able with two kids or two kids and a baby if you don't regularly transport more than one extra adult (other than the driver).

I drive a Yukon out of necessity, you do NOT want that in the city. I highly recommend you check out the Toyota Highlander. I recently rode in a 2018 and was shocked at how much space it had. The cargo room might be a deal breaker, I did not check that part out.

We absolutely love our Subaru Ascent. We had a Nissan Pathfinder prior to the Ascent, and greatly prefer the Subaru.

My favourite features are the captains chairs in the 2nd row - I feel like our 3rd row is actually useable because it’s easy to get to.

It’s a beast in the snow... we have some pretty crazy winters where I live and it handles it no problem.

The adaptive cruise control and all the built in safety features are awesome.

I don’t think there’s anything I don’t like about it !

The atlas is pretty freaking huge. Do you have unlimited room in your parking spot or a need to parallel park often? I say this as someone also near nyc

@nwm: not to jump the gun but are you pregnant?!!!!

We have a Buick Enclave but had looked at the suburb ascent. The biggest factor for me was having captains seats in the second row or else it’s too hard to access the third row with car seats in the second row.

I loved our Highlander but we switched to minivan after our second for several reasons (not captain chairs)

1)we had convertible and infant seat and in order to access the second row you had to crawl through the trunk and with 3rd row up there was no space for a regular stroller (we didn’t even have a double).

2)it might have been our car seats (both britax ) but the middle seat in between car seats was so small that a middle schooler didn’t fit. We tried. We needed a seat where grandma could occasionally ride.

3)there were only two latches available in the middle. We eventually had a third and although my daughter was 5 and could have moved to a booster seat with seatbelt, she’s on the smaller side and needed a latch option.

My husband recently got a suv that can fit all 3 across, and there’s some clear disadvantage to minivan. The oldest is usually good about opening doors and buckling herself in but she can’t get door open. The middle one needs a little extra help climbing in. The doors don’t close by themselves and they are so close to the driver that I feel like I’m driving in surround sound fighting and whining. With the minivan, they’re further away

Oh my friend has triplets and drives the Pilot. They have 3 latches. Still need to climb through trunk if they want to use the 3rd row.

@misolee: you may have just sold me on a minivan with the whining being further away! The surround sound comment is too real.

I’m just following along because I think we will get a third row when we get a new car. Our midsize, 2 row suv is fine for our family with two kids, but you really can’t fit a fifth person. I’ve squeezed between the car seats in a pinch when MIL was visiting and it sucks, and I can’t carpool.

@foodnerd81

Seriously it’s high definition surround sound In the minivan, not only are they farther away but they’re also not sitting right next to each other.

Oh and you’re right about carpool. My oldest does carpool for her elementary school on the right side of car, and my middle for preschool does his on the left side. We have more options and room in minivan for my oldest to climb between seats to get out whereas in my husbands suv it’s impossible to with the baby.

@QBbride: just FYI we've also been looking and as far as I know the mdx has captains chairs but also has a console in between them so you can't walk between the 2 chairs. We ruled it out for that reason. We are looking at a few model years old so maybe they've changed that with the current year

@QBbride: yes that's true. My big guy is so close to the weight limit for LATCH that it wasn't a huge factor for us. The Q7 might be a better choice if you need tether and/or latch on all seats.

We have an Audi Q7 and have 4 carseats in it. 3 in the second row (all rear-facing) and one forward facing high-back booster which is top-tethered in the third row.

Only issue is the cargo space which will hold a week load of groceries but it'll get a bit of a squeeze when you have a stroller in there too.

The Car Seat Lady site has diagrams of the lower anchor and top tether locations for most vehicles. Just search "car seat lady" and the vehicle to find it. You need a top tether for any harnessed front-facing seat.

@birdofafeather: We will potentially 3 across (if we don't get a 3rd row suv or a minivan before baby#3 comes in August) in our Outback. Can I ask how you do it?

I'm wondering if we tried it whether this makes the most sense: FF kid in middle flanked by RF and bucket seat to each side? Or something else?

Any issues with older two dropping stuff on the baby (We have a dog who generally tolerates having toys and sippee cups dropped on him since right now that space between the two carseats is “his” but I worry that my newborn would be injured if a sippee cup was flung on top of him)?

I have a 2018 Pilot with three forward facing car seats and it’s a bit of a pain. There isn’t much room between the two car seats in the middle row for someone to sit. I mean, you can squeeze someone in, if necessary, but it’s certainly not comfortable. The only way to get to the third row is through the trunk. The five year old I have in the back row can’t unbuckle herself so I’m always climbing through the trunk or contorting myself in the middle row to reach.