Best car seat placement in Chrysler Town & Country

momtoruss

New member
This is my first post! I looked through other threads on car seat placement but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to ask my question. I apologize if this is a repeat.

We have a 2002 Town & Country with the 2nd row made up of a two seater bench seat and the 3rd row a three seater bench. Currently our 2.5 year old is in a Marathon FF (he is 30 lbs, 34 inches) in the "middle" of the second row. We are expecting our second child in October and I am trying to figure out the best car seat placement for two.

I understand I shouldn't place either in the third row. Should I keep my son in the middle and put the baby RF on the side (Chicco KeyFit)? Or should I put the baby in the middle and move my son to the side? Should I not have the kids sitting right next to each other without a space in between?

We might be able to switch the second and third row seats (we haven't tried this, but it looks like the van is set up for this switch). That would give us three spots in the second row. Then I could put the kids on either side with the middle open. Would this be better?

Thanks in advance for all of your help and expertise on this matter!
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Why can't you put your child in the third row? Lots of people here have kids in their third rows.

Second, at 30 pounds and two years your son would be better served being rear facing. His seat goes above 30 pounds (unless you're in Canada).

If he's going to be forward facing I'd put him in middle in the second row and put the baby outboard. That's a pretty roomy bench and should fit them both. That way he's more protected than the baby since he's less safe riding forward facing.

If he goes back rear facing I'd reverse that and put the baby in the middle and him outboard because he'd be more protected than the baby because his skeleton is older and more ossified.

Those are the ideal positions. If they're going to poke one another constantly or if you have concerns, then putting the third row in the middle (I have a friend who bought a second third row and put it in the middle, so I do believe it's possible) and putting them each outboard would work. Or putting one in the back and one in the middle row.

Wendy
 

momtoruss

New member
Thank you for your suggestions. I had read on other car seat placement threads not to place a child in the third row because of the prevalence of read-end collisions and lack of space between the back of the van and the third row.

I will give another try to installing the car seat RF. We tried to install it that way but couldn't get it to work, so we installed FF.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Statistically speaking a serious rear end collision account for about 4% of crashes. So I wouldn't worry in the least about putting a child in the back. Yes, you're very likely to have a rear end collision, but they're usually very minor.

How could you not get it to work rear facing? If you'd like you can post pictures of the seat and see if we can see something right off the bat that would make it easier for you.

Wendy
 
M

megm

Guest
We have a Britax Marathon and placed it into one of the second row bucket seats in rearfacing position in a '08 Town and Country. When our 6 mo. old daughter falls asleep her head slumps forward, which doesn't look good. This is because in the rearfacing position, the forward incline is pretty steep even after adjusting the car seat for this. We looked at the pitch of the seat and saw that it is fairly inclined as well. I've asked other friends with the same car seat but different vehicles if they had this problem and they said no. So, I have to say it is the incline of the bucket seats in the second row of the Town and Country. Is this the same problem you are talking about when you say that the rearfacing position didn't work in your '02 Town and Country? Any thoughts from you or others would be appreciated. I'm thinking of just buying a new car seat but I'm not sure that will solve the incline problem.
 

emars002

New member
I have a 2001 dodge caravan (I beleive they are pretty much the same) I have both my girls in the middle - I have had one in the third row for a road trip we took with my neice - You can get a good install back there, there just is not as much leg room as the middle row for some reason. My youngest recently turned FF but her marathon installed just find RF in the middle row on either side - right now I have a boulevard and a frontier in the middle. What were some of the issues installing the marathon rear facing? was it in recline mode? Did you use latch or seatbelt?

ETA: we have a two seater bench in the middle also
 
M

megm

Guest
Thanks for the posts. The second row of seats are just bucket seats in our 08 Town & Country. We have the third row, which is a bench, stowed most days. We readjusted the tether and made some small adjustments to the base seat itself and now the incline for the car seat is much better in the RF position. Whew! We really liked the safety of the Marathon car seat and relieved to have fixed the incline issue. I'm off to buy another Marathon for our second car.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Remember that Britax does NOT allow the tether to change the angle of the install. If you need more recline you need to use a rolled towel or pool noodle, not tighten the tether so much it changes the recline.
 

swtgi1982

New member
We might be able to switch the second and third row seats (we haven't tried this, but it looks like the van is set up for this switch). That would give us three spots in the second row. Then I could put the kids on either side with the middle open. Would this be better?

Thanks in advance for all of your help and expertise on this matter!



I will say that you probably will not be able to switch them. My mom's 2005 T&C will not fit like that. The rear row will come into the middle, but the middle row will not lock down due to the arm rest on the side and the gigantic wheel wells in the rear. it just will not slide far enough over to drop into the slots properly. The hinge on the opposite side also does not allow it to slide the opposite way to offset. But Yours might just warning it may not work out.
 

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