Okay, so heres what we got...

We ended up getting a Marathon for DD in Trellis. We are going to order a Marathon for DS2 and a Frontier for DS5. We are supposed to pick up DS6month's Orbit Baby Toddler today.


Sooooo here is the placement I'm thinking. We have a 2006 Toyota Sienna minivan - 8 passenger.

Back row - FF Frontier/empty/RF Marathon for DS2
Middle row - RF Orbit/RFMarathon for DD/empty for rear access

So for those who have kids in the back row of a minivan, how do you get back there to buckle them? LOL

Tiffany_MommyOf3 said:

So for those who have kids in the back row of a minivan, how do you get back there to buckle them? LOL

Click to expand...

We have a 2003 sienna, and all my kids are forward facing. So the back row has 3 across and we removed the passenger side 2nd row seat for easier access, that way everyone can get in the van if it's not good weather outside and DH or I can easily buckle. I've never had to buckle a rearfacing seat, so that makes things more interesting. Could you buckle the RF seat in the 3rd row from the back latchgate? :twocents:

I never thought about that. Im sure I could! Okay, but what seats do you have that fit 3 across? Should I look into a Radian80 for DS5 instead of a Frontier for space?

Our 3 across in the Sienna is FPSVD/Radian/Marathon, all forward facing. My guess is that the rearfacing MA would only make this install easier, though I'm not sure how the 5YO would get to the FF RN. Oh, and looking at the size of your 5 YO, you would be fine with a radian 65 instead of an 80, as they have the same harness height. Though you'd likely get more use out of the Frontier as my 6.5 YO similar sized son is almost at the harness height limit of the radian (though they say you can use up to 1" above the harness height.

If you are ordering 2 seats, I wonder if you could fit a FF GN/ RF RN/ RF MA? I've been meaning to try the fit of a GN in place of a MA in the rear of my sienna. The RN would last your 2 yo longer than a MA.

Also- if you flip DD and DS in the back row (so the FF one is behind the access seat) it'll be easier to get to her from in the van since there won't be a RF seat blocking the access.

Alrighty, thanks. We are still in a rental but I will try this as soon as we get our van back.

I have 2 RF toddlers in the back seat of my Sienna. I either load them through the back or have them climb in and get in their seats, then lean over from the middle seat to buckle them. Once the weather gets bad, I will probably always have them climb in and buckle from inside so I'm not standing out in the rain too long.
Renee

Off topic, but, can you come to Ohio so I can play with the Orbit?

OK, right now I have DS2 in the backseat of the rental RF and DS5 in the backseat FF. In the middle row, I have DD3 and DS6months both RF. I found a way to "slide" DS2 into his seat from above LOL. and then buckle him. Man, I wish there were a car with 4 across LOL.. oh well.

LOL Ohio is a bit of a drive LOL. The Orbit is nice though. Its nice that my convertible carseated child can stay asleep on errands. I love that!

what I used to do was put the rf child in through the liftgate... I removed the headrest when she was outboard (which allowed my ff seat to get the middle position, but then it turned out that she needed more recline than I could give her with it outboard, so I put her in the middle) to give me the space.

I had a caravan, so I just left one captain's chair folded or removed it, but I believe the toyotas allow the seat to "tumble completely forward and maybe even be strapped in that way, so that you can easily get in to buckle the ff kid.

There were times, when it was raining, I would get Ruthie in, buckle her, put the stroller in, then climb in the van on the passenger side and shut the sliding door, buckle Jeffrey, check Damian, then (bent over somewhat, of course), maneuver between the front seats and sit down in the driver's seat and start the car. One time in particular I can think of was when it was pouring so badly that, since we had no rain gear with us at all, and I had a toys r us bag in the car, I put the TRU bag (with holes for the neck and arms) on Damian, and put walmart bags on Ruthie and Jeffrey... because the rain was so bad we would have been soaked to the skin otherwise. I didn't take the stroller that time, since we were running into walmart... and I was so glad... I saw people whose strollers were just waterlogged... making their babies even more wet.

Of course, if I'd had my rain cover with me, I would have used the stroller, but there you are.