If you have 3 kids, what does DH drive?

[luckytwenty]

(Assuming all 3 are in some sort of carseat or booster.)

I'm due in 11 weeks and his car lease is up in 3. He thinks he can get another Nissan Altima and be OK. Two boosters and a convertible carseat (when the baby outgrows the infant carrier) would be so close they'd almost be touching. Yikes!

Now, I do have an Odyessey so we're covered for family trips. But he will need the carseat in there permanently as he will drive to daycare every day.

Thanks in advance.

[maestramommy]

We had an Accord and a Pathfinder (01) when we started having kids, and we still have them. The pathfinder is actually better at fitting the seats because the outboard seats don't flare in like in the Accord. But it all still fits. It's okay if they're touching. Mine are packed in tight. Just as long as they aren't pushing each other out of position.

I would take the seats to the dealer and try them out in the car your Dh wants to get. That's really the only way you'll be able to know.

[ilfaith]

We have three kids. I drive a Honda Odyssey. We also have a Toyota Avalon (which fits two car seats and a booster across the back). But DH...he drives a Corvette...because he wants to have "at least one car that doesn't smell of sour milk"

[o_mom]

DH drives a sedan. We can get three across in a pinch, but it's not fun. Normally we just switch vehicles if he is taking all three, but a few times when the van was in the shop we put three in his car.

Many full-size sedans can fit three, but it is usually harder to fit boosters compared to harnessed seats because you need room not just for the seat, but to buckle as well. You also have the issue of the booster rider unbuckling the other seat, etc. Since your middle one is only 4.5 according to your siggy, she should fit a harnessed seat for some time, but eventually you will have to face two boosters in there, so best to plan ahead.

Narrow seats like the Radian are almost a must in that kind of situation. There is a thread in Carseats on three-across with the link to www.car-seat.org (http://www.car-seat.org) where people have posted what works in various cars.

[g-mama]

Believe it or not, we fit all three across the back of my dh's Volkswagen GTI. He's had it for three years so, even though ds1 can sit without a booster now, he was in one up til recently and it worked.

[KrisM]

We just got our Odyssey a couple months ago. DH now drives my old Malibu Maxx. The seats are so close they overlap each other :).

Prior to the minivan purchase, he drove a Saturn that I could not get 3 seats into no matter how hard I tried with different seats. DS would wear a RideSafer vest and squeeze in between the other seats. We just avoided putting 3 kids in that as much as possible.

Once DS1 (age 6) outgrows the Radian and has to be in a booster in the Malibu, it'll be a lot harder. Buckling a harness isn't bad, but a booster is tough.

[luckytwenty]

Thanks, my husband will be thrilled to hear he can stick w/ an Altima--though it sounds like we may need a Radian. :-)