Question Three seats across an 09 dodge caravan - Canada

Hello, we are expecting twins which will bring our kid count to 5. We have a 09 Dodge and need to fit three seats across the back seat. We have our 2 year old who is in a Safety First Omega Elite five point harness seat. We need to find two booster seats for our 5 year old and 7 year old to go on either side to fit across. Any suggestions for narrow booster seats to fit across the back with the FF seat?

Hello and welcome to car-seat.org!

Can you please give us a bit more info to help you determine who will fit where?

- Age, weight, and height of all of the kids, and for forward-facing or boostered kids their seated torso height (floor to shoulder while sitting)

- any seats you currently have and for the Alpha Omega seat its rear- and forward-facing weight limits (there are many versions of this seat so knowing its specs will help us figure out your options with it).

- do you have bench seating, stow & go seating, or swivel and go seating in the 2nd row?

We have the Dodge Caravan 2009 Stow and Go We have the Safety First Omega Elite (22-40lb) forward facing ,for our 2 year old who is 28lbs. She is currently sitting in the second row bucket seat. We need to move her to the back. Our 7 year old is 48 lbs and is sitting in the Graco High Back Seat booster (wt limit 40-100lbs) and our 5 year old is 42 lbs and is also in a Graco High Back Seat booster (wt limit 40-100lbs). They are both in the third row back. Once the twins come our plan was to put the twins in the two bucket seats in the middle row and move the 2 year old to the back (3rd) row with the 5 and 7 year old. We can fit all three seats across the back however it is extremely tight and buckling shoulder belts would be extremely difficult for them. Do you have any options or suggestions for narrower booster seats (brands) for the 5 and 7 year old so it is not so tight.

Do you already own infant seats for your twins? If so, what are they?

The 3rd row is very narrow. This thread discusses a newer model: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=222331 that might give some ideas.

Instead of replacing the boosters for your older two I would consider replacing the Alpha Omega seat for your two year old. A Radian is very narrow and would provide more room than the current seat. At her age and size she could easily rear face (current recommendations are to rear face as long as possible), or forward face likely until booster readiness. Your third row has only one top tether, in the centre spot, so you'd be looking at putting the 2 year old there if she's forward-facing, installed with the seat belt.

That leaves the captain's chairs open for whatever infant seats you have, and just about anything should work there. The seats are very slanted however, so you'd want to make sure anything you do get allows the use of a rolled towel or pool noodle to increase the recline if needed. The one seat that comes to mind that does not allow that is a Chicco KeyFit. I don't know if it works on that seat with its own built in recline adjustment but it's something to try if you're shopping for them.

The other alternative is to put the babies in the 3rd row with either the 2 year old (rear or forward-facing) or one of the booster riders.

Given the tight space and slanted seats you're going to want to go and try hands on some seats. Babies R Us allows you to try the floor models, and do try installing rather than just sitting on the seat as the angles and fit can change quite a lot once a seat is installed.

You may want to try a MyRide in the middle of the 3rd row as well as the seat is quite narrow at the base.