Question Logistics of 3 across in Sienna

fenella76

New member
I have 20 month old twins and a baby on the way. We have been looking at getting a sienna so I can get all 3 kids across the 2nd row. I wanted to ask others how they set up their seats and the ease of getting kids in and out? I went toyota today and set all 3 seats in the sienna. I have 2 evenflo triumphs and 1 snugride. I put the snugride in the middle, but then had trouble putting the carrier in. So then decided that the snugride should go on the end of the row. On the drive home I realized I didn't see if it would be possible to buckle in the child in the middle of the seat! My toddlers are still RF. If you have a similar setup, could you please let me know how it works for you? With the rear facing seats there does not seem to be much room between the rows. Any help would be appreciated!

I apologize if this questions has been asked before, I did a search but could not find an answer. This site is great btw!
 
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autumnlily

New member
Hmm, are you thinking of the middle row (8 passenger) for the 3 across or the back row?

My current configuration is:

2007 8 passenger

Twins, RF in marathons/coccoro (middle row, middle seat and outboard driver)
Big Sister, third row outboard passenger
we removed the outboard passenger seat from the middle row and access to all three children is awesome

Past configuration in a 2002 7 passenger Sienna (middle row was a bench)

Removed middle bench and used third row exclusively (I LOVED having the middle of the van to set up for quick snacks and diaper changes between stops)

FF Radian, Companion, Companion

*I know our situations are opposites as my twins are the babies in our configuration, but, I found it easy enough to put an infant bucket in the back row and it is MUCH easier to buckle kids in convertibles the closer to the front when they are in RF position. OR, reach in from the back hatch and buckle them in that way.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I have had a RF kid center and a RF kids outboard, and another seat in my way on the other side several times. I put both kids in the seats (so I don't have 1 run off), and lean over outboard kid and seat (standing on side of the van) to buckle center child. Of course, this will be easier if you buckle the center child before you put the carrier in.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
One more question, does anyone have the sienna and evenflo triumph advance seats? If so, can you use the latch with them. My current car (discovery) does not work with the latch.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I had the EFTA (evenflo triumph advance) outboard in my 2008 Sienna with LATCH. Never tried it center 2nd row, but I know it works outboard. If I was aiming for a 45* angle for a younger baby I'd have to use noodles and the latch may be too short. But this was for my 2 year old.
 

christineka

New member
I've never owned an ETA. I did put two rfing seats in the middle for a while. I just stood in the van, reached over the first to the middle kid. Right now I have the two rfers in back. I step up and reach over the middle row seat to buckle the ones in back.
 

lynsgirl

New member
I've had 3 seats across the middle row of my 8-passenger in various configurations and they've all worked great. I currently have an infant seat (SS1) outboard behind the driver, RF MA in the middle and seat-belt-only 12yo ds outboard, passenger side. The other two kids ride in the 3rd row. To get ds3 (2.5yo) into his MA, he usually gets in himself OR I lift him in across the passenger side seat before ds1 gets in. If he gets in himself, I will either buckle him from across the infant seat or from across the passenger seat, it just depends on how/when he gets in (I put the infant seat in first, usually, before doing anything with him). It's not hard to do at all, albeit slightly less convenient than when he was outboard, but when he was outboard, I had the infant seat in the middle and had to heft it across and into the base, so :shrug-shoulders: either way, I'm reaching.

I have not had an EFT (or EFTA, if it matters) in my van, so I can't help you w/the LATCH issue with that seat. If the knob adjusters aren't a problem, then I'd imagine you'd get a good installation with one or the other (seatbelt or LATCH), and buckling the center kiddo shouldn't be too bad if you're doing it over the infant seat.

Congrats on your new baby coming!
 

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