Four seats in a Mazda 5?

[Avery'sMama]

Hey there! We have a hold on a 2007 Mazda 5. This would be DH's primary car. I have a Ford Freestar, normal full sized mini-van. We have three now, 8yo DD in a booster (high or low. Depending on the seat/car), 5 yo DS in a harness or HBB, depending on the car, and 20mon. DD2, RFing right now in a Radian XTSL in DH's car, but we have others she could be in. Baby#4 is due in late September, and will be in a Keyfit30, at least at first. Will we be able to realistically put all four kids in the car? It's important, because I work and DH has to be able to transport them all. I'm particularly worried about the third row, probably my two oldest in boosters, will they have leg room? I know sometimes those third rows are super tight.

 

[Carrie_R]

I know several on here have them -- Wendy and Defrost for sure -- and have been pleased. If they don't see this thread, you might consider PMing them for some input.

 

[jewlsvern]

I was able to get 4 kids in my 2009 Mazda 5. Two were in boosters. I actually put the baby in a SR in the 3rd row with a booster in front of it to give him more room. With it being a booster I felt more comfortable because of how the manual reads to have the seat all the way back. We had the seat up one click so the SR would fit and DNe still had plenty of room to sit. With it being an infant seat it was fairly easy to load into the 3rd row.

 

[Frenchgirl]

I have a Mazda5 2006 and I'm due in 2 weeks of baby #4.
I have passed multiple hours trying to organize my car seats.
Did you know that the 3rd row has seat belts not really kid's friendly? They are too advanced. Look for threads about mazda5 3rd row booster.
So, the better idea is to put your RF seats in the 3rd row and load your kids by the hatch. It's really easy and my Dd LOVES to be RF there. She says that she sees everything! . I've tried a Radian (with the angle adjuster) and the MyRide. The Radian (with the AA) is perfect: you will be able to place your 2rd row seat on the good spot (no need to advance one or two clicks). But when you'll drive, you won't see a lot in your mirror.
The MyRide is a little bit longer. I had to forward the seat by 2 clicks (that the maximum allowed by Mazda). So it's not optimal but because it's my 2nd car and my childrens use it around once or twice a month, I accept it. Your vision with the mirror is perfect.
So, my dd is riding in a Myride. The new baby will be in a snugride35 in the 3rd row too. I've tried to load the bucket by the hatch but I wasn't able. This bucket is too big. I will have to take off the nbb (harmony literider), then fold the 2nd seat, then load the bucket. It will probably be a little bit difficult and when the baby will grow, it gonna be really heavy to do it. I've read that the Keyfit is easy to load by the hatch. Here, in Canada, the Keyfit has a maximum of 22 pounds. So, I didn't want to buy this bucket.

On the 2nd row, I have one seat FF and one booster. I have bought a nbb instead of hbb to be able to fold easily the 2rd row.

So, in my point of view, the mazda5 is not the ideal car for a family of 4 (our principal car is a Sienna), but for a second car, you can do it.....

Good luck!

 

[teekadog]

We have 4 kids in seats and the 5 is our largest vehicle. We need a cargo box for trips and particularly large grocery runs, but otherwise it suits us fine.

 

[essnce629]

I have a 2009 Mazda5 and usually have 3 seats in at all times since we carpool. The 3rd row works fine for RF or FF seats, but is incompatible with a lot of boosters since the belt comes out too far forward and prevents the seat belt from retracting in the belt guides since the belt is entering in at a large angle. The boosters that work best in the 3rd row are those that have thick backs-- I had no problems with my Monterey, ProBooster, and FR85 in booster mode back there, and I'm sure a Nautilus would work great as well, but the cheapo Evenflo and Cosco boosters I bought for my carpool boy were totally incompatible. I ended up trying a TurboBooster for him and almost returned it for being incompatible as well but I found that if I moved the 3rd row headrest all the way up it pushed the booster a smidge forward allowing the belt to retract. DS2 just turned 3 and is still rf'ing. I have him in the second row in his TFP installed with LATCH so I can move his seat forward to give carpool boy more leg room. The rule about the 2nd row seat being pushed all the way back if a carseat is installed is only if it's installed with the seat belt. I had DS2 rf'ing in the 3rd row for about a week but found it too hard since he often falls asleep in the car and it was extremely hard to get him out of his seat when he was asleep. An infant seat in the 3rd row wouldn't be a problem though since you can just pop it in and out of the base and have them buckled up beforehand. I don't feel comfortable putting backless boosters in the 3rd row due to the seat belt being too far forward and not touching the child's shoulder at all. Carpool boy was in a backless when he first started riding with us and fit perfectly fine in the 2nd row, but when I needed him in the 3rd row I really felt it was safer for him to be in a high back due to the seat belt issue.

In your scenario, if you don't have someone in your front passenger seat most of the time (like me) then you'd be fine since you'd be able to give more leg room to the 3rd row. If DD1 is sometimes in a backless then I'd put her in the 2nd row (driver's side with seat slid forward), new baby in an infant seat in the 3rd row (driver's side), DS in the 3rd row (passenger side) either in HBB or harnessed, and DD2 rf'ing in the most upright position in the 2nd row (passenger side, installed with LATCH, and slid foward). This is the set up in my car, minus the newborn, and it works well.