SUV for toddler and infant twins

lamama

New member
Hi all,

I have a 3 year old and twin baby girls on the way (yikes!). Rather than worry about breastfeeding two babies at once or eventually managing twin girl puberty, I've decided to think about solving our car problem. We need at least one new car...neither of our current cars (2005 subaru forester and 2006 prius) is going to work with three carseats (we bought and tried two chico key fit 30's and a rear facing radian rxt in my subaru this weekend and it was absurdly awkward). I would jump on the minivan wagon (pun slightly intended) but my job requires me to use 4 wheel drive from time to time and I need decent ground clearance (I am a commercial location scout). A wagon simply will not work for my job. So, that leaves me with a few SUV's to consider. I'm looking at the Honda Pilot, the Toyota Highlander (and maybe the GMC Acadia?). Ideally, the car would work for my job, running errands and hauling kids, and family trips and camping excursions. Can any of these cars be all these things at once? The alternative is to buy TWO cars - a minivan for family trips and weekend excursions and a smaller scouting 4wd suv (that can still fit 3 rear-facing across...honda crv? hyundai santa fe?) for me to work with and run quick trips around town with the kids in...but that just feels wasteful. Anyone have wisdom on these cars or any advice I should consider? I am spiraling a bit here and need some direction.
 
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jwilliams

New member
I have 11mo twins and a 3.5 year old. Here are my thoughts:

Have you tried doing all belt installs? I have a small car (4dr Honda Insight, which is smaller than a Prius) and using all belts made a big difference for my three across. It allows you to scoot the outboard seats toward the doors a bit, giving you a much-needed inch or so on both sides. Definitely worth trying if you haven't yet.

I ended up doing a FF Radian center with two KeyFits outboard. I think if I had done all belt installs I could have *maybe* kept the Radian RF, but I didn't know to try. (I still have one KeyFit, now I want to go see if it will work!) The KeyFit handle didn't puzzle very well with the Radian when it was RF. I don't remember if I was using the angle adjuster or not, that would make a difference in where the seats meet.

We recently traded the KeyFits for Coccoros (convertible seats) and we were able to RF all three seats. The Coccoros should allow my twins to RF at least until at least 2.5 years (aka new car time). They wouldn't last big babies as long, but twins are often smaller than their singleton siblings.

Given the expense of the KeyFits, the short time we used them (9mo), and the fact that we didn't use the carriers for anything outside of the car, I don't know if I would buy them over again or just go straight to the Coccoro. The Coccoros also take up less space front to back. Both seats are good for small babies, so either would work from birth. It's just another seat to consider depending on whether or not you absolutely require a carrier-style seat, how much/how long you want to keep your car(s) and how many seats you want to buy.

BTW I think breastfeeding two babies has been easier than getting three seats into a compact car :-D
 

lamama

New member
Thanks for that, J

We did try installing all three carseats in my car with the belts...it was sort-of possible in an emergency situation, but they were super-smooshed and the logistics of getting the infant seats in and out (I do think we'll want the infant seats for the carrier/stroller) were sort-of nightmarish. I think, ideally, we'd like an suv that gives us the option of seating 3 across the second row AND the option to move one to the back row depending on our cargo needs and the needs of the kids. I tried a Honda Pilot today with 2 infant seats in the 60 portion of the 60/40 middle row and the radian rear-facing in half the 3rd row with the other two seats folded down. It required some climbing to get back to the toddler seat, but it was very do-able and left plenty of room for cargo (or 2 other passengers if we wanted). Also really liked the way it drove. Just wondering now if there's any other car I should be considering instead. Highlander was smaller and felt much more crowded. Was thinking of trying the Traverse, but heard it's less flexible with latch/seat positions.

Thanks!

K
 

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