Question 6 seats in a Sienna for a preschool

[3bears]

Hi all,

My son's preschool teacher needs to replace 4 of her 6 car seats in her van (they are expiring). She has a school out of her home and has 6 kids per day. She has two Safety 1st seats that have a year left (not sure what model). She is having a hard time fitting 3 across in both rows, for a decent price. I suggested Maestros but not sure about the size as I haven't really seen one in person. Her kids range from 2.5-5. I'd say the smallest kid is 36 in and over 30 lbs. the largest is my son, who is 5 this month, 45 in, 45 lbs, 16.5 in torso. I would be okay with my son in a booster in her car but on days he's not there that still doesn't solve the problem of needing 6 seats. She takes them on field trips once in awhile, short distances. Any advice? Not sure what year the Sienna is but it's probably about 3 years old. Thanks!

 

[Pixels]

That's the same generation as my Sienna. In the second row, she should be able to fit almost anything three across. The third row is a bit tighter but not horrible.

I assume all kids are FFing? She should be able to fit three Maestros across the second row for sure. If seats hit each other in just the wrong spots, moving one or more seats forward or back a couple of inches will help them line up better.

I suggest she start with a couple of Maestros, and mix and match with the seats she already has to see what will fit in the third row. Tell her to use seatbelts for sure in the third row, not LATCH, as that will give her significantly more room to scoot the outboard seats toward the sides, and of course the off-set center LATCH eats up valuable inches. With two Maestros and her existing seats, she should be able to figure out the three-acrosses and then buy a couple more seats to fill in.

LATCH vs seatbelt shouldn't be as big a deal in the second row, but if she needs a little extra room, seatbelt is always the way to go.

 

[3bears]

Yes, all kids are FF in their parent's cars so she will FF them in her van. Thank you so much for the info, I will pass it along to her and see what works out. I'll let you know!