4 RF in Toyota Sienna

karlatta

New member
I'm pregnant and expecting a baby in the spring, and I need to figure out how to install 4 RF seats in my 7 passenger Toyota Sienna. I know I have some time, but I think I might want (need?) to buy a new seat or two, and if so, I need to plan it now.

Right now my kids are:
- 3yo, 30 pounds, RF in Radian
- 2yo, 24 pounds, RF in MA
- 1yo, 20 pounds, RF in Titan Deluxe

I'll be adding in a newborn. The older kids will still be 3, 2, and 1. I have a Graco Snugride that was purchased for my oldest and is still in good condition (and unexpired). I would like to keep everyone RF, but I am willing to turn the oldest FF if necessary. The 3yo needs to be in a seat that it easily accessible for his preschool carpool dropoff teachers.

Ideas for how I could configure this? I don't want to load anyone from the back (it's hard for me to reach over), but I am willing to crawl in and sit in the back seat to buckle people in.

Right now, my thought is:
3yo and newborn RF in captains chairs, pushed together
2yo and 1yo RF in the 3rd row, center and driver's side (giving me the passenger side seat to sit in to buckle them in)

OR
remove one captain's chair
put 3yo in remaining captain's chair RF
put 2yo, 1yo, and newborn all RF in the 3rd row (with the captain's chair missing, I would have plenty of room to reach over, and I could just set the bucket on the floor of the van while I was getting the older kids in, and then pop it into place)

Either of these sound better than the other? Any other suggestions? If I do the 3 in a row, I'll need to work to find seats that will install well side-by-side.
 
ADS

serabi

New member
Oh wow, you have even more small children than I do, LOL! :) (I have 3, 1, and coming any day now)

Is lifting going to be a problem for you at any stage of your pregnancy?
 

karlatta

New member
Heh, yeah, my kids are close in age. :)

Lifting should not be a problem, as my kids are kind of lightweights, and even now the oldest two are able to get in and out of their car seats independently. All I have to do is buckle/unbuckle. I wouldn't be surprised if #3 is at that point by the time the new baby comes.

The only issue I can think of, pregnancy and car seat related, is that I will eventually get big enough that I won't be able to reach around to the 3rd row easily. But as long as I only have 3 seats, I should be okay. It's the 4th that will cause issues.
 

christineka

New member
I was huge during pregnancy and could lean over the captain's chair to buckle the kids in the back. I take the headrests off of all my seats. I had a headrest on one day and I couldn't reach the back very well.

So, my vote is for 2 in the middle and two in the back. I would not want to put a newborn in the back. I've got mine in the middle with the other two rfing in the back.
 

serabi

New member
I personally then would probably do the 3 across the back (if you could make it work with seats) and then the 3yo in the captain's chair.

Does your 3yo still fit RFing in the Marathon? If so, you could put the Marathon in the captain's chair and then that would free up the Radian for your 3 across in the back...I don't know if a Titan and a Snugride would also fit back there, but maybe you could get two Radians and a Snugride back there, which would mean you'd only have to buy one seat?

The Coccoro also might be a good seat for your situation, but it wouldn't last as long as a Radian.
 

christineka

New member
If you do 2 and 2 you won't need to buy a new seat. If you want to do 3 across the back, you'll need 2 radians on the 60 portion of the bench.
 

karlatta

New member
Thanks, everyone!

I don't mind buying a new seat. I'm actually looking for a good excuse to replace my Titan Deluxe. I actually keep replacing it, but then I have another baby, and it gets used again. My 3yo does fit in the Marathon, but I'd rather him be in the Radian. Mostly because he loves it. And because of the 40 pound weight limit RF.

Even with headrests off, I have a hard time reaching the second RF seat in the 3rd row (the one furthest away from me) unless I get completely into the 3rd row myself. I'm tall, so you wouldn't think it would be a problem, but somehow it is.
 

Pixels

New member
Do you plan to have any more children? If so, you might want to think about what might work for 3 across the back bench when that happens. If you're going to have another child and you're needing to buy a seat now, think narrow.
 

karlatta

New member
Do you plan to have any more children? If so, you might want to think about what might work for 3 across the back bench when that happens. If you're going to have another child and you're needing to buy a seat now, think narrow.
No, this should be it. #4 was a surprise. Two of my older children are adopted, and the other was an IVF baby, and we thought we were done. We will be now.
 

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