Deciding on minivans

dmpmercury · Sep 14, 2012

I am asking this question for a friend. She has 3 kids and needs to get a minivan. She needs one with the 40/60 split to fit a wheel chair for her 7 year old son with cp. She was wondering if there is a way to fit 3 across in the middle row of the odyssey or the sienna. She was also wondering if a booster seat fits in the bucket seats in the middle row in a 7 seater minivan. She has a 5.5 year old in a booster, a 2.5 year old that is forward facing and a almost 7 year old with cp who is in a 5 point harness seat for now. I would search the 3 across thread to see if a 3 across was possible but for some reason the search function within a thread is not an option for me right now like it used to be.

Brianna · Sep 14, 2012

I'm not much help on minivans, but the search function is down. You can try going to Google and searching car-seat.org Odyssey three across

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monica-m · Sep 14, 2012

I know that the 8 passenger Sienna is plenty wide across the 2nd row. Most 3 acrosses will fit.

Most booster seats should not be a problem in the captains chairs of a 7 seater. Problems sometimes arise when there are non adjustable or non removable headrests that are angled forward.

More specifics such as models/years she is looking at and seats the kids are currently riding in would help with specific scenarios.

jjordan · Sep 14, 2012

The middle row of an 8-passenger Sienna is great for model years 2004-2010; the middle row of an 8-passenger Odyssey is great for model years 2011-2012. Is she looking at used or new minivans? In 7-passenger minivans, boosters generally do fine in the middle row, although sometimes there will be a particular booster that doesn't do well for a particular kid in a certain seat.

aept · Sep 14, 2012

Just wondering what the 7-year-old's mobility level is and his level of independence with getting in and out of a vehicle. There is a pretty huge range of abilities when it comes to cp.

If he is very dependent on his wheelchair, and if he uses the wheelchair for bus transport to school (with him staying in the wheelchair while it is tied down using approved tethers and wheelchair tether points) then perhaps they might also want to look into a wc accessible van for their own family?

Never mind all this if he is ambulatory (able to walk) and just needs his wheelchair for longer distances.

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Deciding on minivans

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