Question Help! how to squeeze 5 kids into a 2000 Ford Windstar

[Unregistered]

Bear with me...I'm desperate for help! After reading through what I've just written here, I'm just baffled at how you all figure these messes out. There should be some sort of spreadsheet for things like this combined with an "easy" button.

Back row
Currently, we have our 6 year old in a radian 65--he is about 55 lb. height-46 in. FF
Our almost 5 year old is in a radian 80--he also weighs about 55 lb. height-46 1/2 in. FF

Middle row
Our 3 1/2 year old is in a Britax Marathon height-40 in FF
Our 19 month old (27 lb.) is needing to transition to something bigger for height. still RF height-33 1/2 in.

Annnnd, baby number 5 will be here in August (will need a new infant seat due to expiration date)

First question?
Our back row seats 3, but with two radians right now, it seems to me that it would be extremely tight to add a 3rd seat. I know you want car seats to fit snugly, but my concern would be in the event of a rear-side collision. Is this a valid concern??

Second question?
We're considering taking one of our older boys out of the radian to free up a seat for our 18 month old.....I'm guessing one of my 55 lbers should be in a high back belt positioning booster if we cannot afford another harnessing booster....?

Third question?
To piggyback my last statement...is there a well rated harnessing booster that isn't terribly expensive? I'd like to stay under 120 for any purchase we need to make at this time.

Fourth question?
Is it my daughter (3 year old) that should be moved back, or could I put my RF 19 month old back there safely?



Here's the deal, my Radian seats still have several years left on them. Do I eventually purchase two new boosters for my two oldest boys, giving the 18 month old and the new baby their radians?? (I don't care for having an infant seat if a convertible is just as safe)

I'm just so perplexed on fitting them all in, knowing where they should sit and which seats I should play musical chairs with...

TIA for any help!

 

[jjordan]

You might be able to fit the marathon FF in between the Radians in the third row. Then you could put the younger two in the middle, both RF.

What is the 19 month old in?

Another option would be, in the back row, RF Radian (probably with an angle adjuster to make it more upright), then FF Radian in the center, and FF Marathon on the other side. I think that might be your narrowest combination.

Then put the 6 yo in a highback booster in the middle row, and the new baby in the middle row also.

Where do you have top tether anchors available?

There are lots of good highback boosters for under $120. It's important that whatever you get positions the seatbelt well on your child, so if possible, check the fit in your car with your kid before you buy. Popular booster choices are the Britax Parkway SG/SGL, Diono Monterey, and Graco Turbobooster, but there are lots of other good ones too.

 

[Judi]

Also,m youn find another 3rd row, to put in the center. It is awesome.

 

[Kel]

I'm switching my middle captain seats in my 03 windstar, to a 3 person bench. I'm having child #6 in 9weeks. That would let you put the 2 bigger kids in back,maybe in a couple hb turbo boosters. You could then put 2RN's in middle with and infant seat or marathon.

 

[Unregistered]

You might be able to fit the marathon FF in between the Radians in the third row. Then you could put the younger two in the middle, both RF.

What is the 19 month old in?

Another option would be, in the back row, RF Radian (probably with an angle adjuster to make it more upright), then FF Radian in the center, and FF Marathon on the other side. I think that might be your narrowest combination.

Then put the 6 yo in a highback booster in the middle row, and the new baby in the middle row also.

Where do you have top tether anchors available?

There are lots of good highback boosters for under $120. It's important that whatever you get positions the seatbelt well on your child, so if possible, check the fit in your car with your kid before you buy. Popular booster choices are the Britax Parkway SG/SGL, Diono Monterey, and Graco Turbobooster, but there are lots of other good ones too.

Thanks so much for your speedy response! I hadn't thought about the RF/FF/FF combination.
Also, I'm honestly thinking we don't have top anchors at all...? Does that sound possible? I just had hubby check and he found nothing..?

I didn't know that you could test the seat in your car before buying. I'm assuming that would probably mean a trip to some place like BRU? I feel like I'll just be spinning my wheels if I don't get to test it before buying, so hopefully I can buy at a place that will allow that...

And my 19 month old is in an Alpha Omega convertible that may be expiring within the year anyway. Honestly, after looking into some different seats, I have never felt great about that seat, and will be glad to move on from it. I don't really know if it's rated well or not, but I just never see our particular one getting recommended by people who know car seats (aka, you people here! I've appreciated the quality of our radians and our britax much more...but like I said, I have no idea if it's as safe as those, or not as much...it's just always been a lingering doubt in my mind.

 

[Unregistered]

I'm switching my middle captain seats in my 03 windstar, to a 3 person bench. I'm having child #6 in 9weeks. That would let you put the 2 bigger kids in back,maybe in a couple hb turbo boosters. You could then put 2RN's in middle with and infant seat or marathon.

We don't have captain's chairs, but our middle row is just a two seater. It'd be great if it sat three!

 

[lpperry]

I have 5 seats in a 2000 Ford Windstar! All of my seats are rearfacing except on occasion when I have a booster in the the third row.

It is really hard to buckle a booster in the third row with three across. I'd put the booster child in the second row or keep the older kids harnessed.

If you have 2 radians in the back, you should be able to get another seat back there without too much trouble. It is going to be tight--the seats will be touching. As long as the seats are independently installed, it is fine if they are tight. In the back row, I have a Myride and 2 Safety First Avenues (all rearfacing). I can't fit those three seats if any need to be FF. I also fit a Scenera, Radian, and Snugride 35 (all rearfacing). Sorry, I haven't had any 3 across with forward facing.

This is what I would try:
second row:
6 year old -high back booster
infant--new infant seat or convertible seat

3rd row:
19 month old: rf radian
3 year old: ff Marathon
5 year old: ff radian

If it doesn't work like that, try all the combos of 2 ff and 1 rf seat in the back. Something will work with those three seats. The wheel well on the passenger side in the back sticks out, so certain seats fit better against it, giving you more room. If one combo doesn't work, try all the possibilities with those seats.

The second row bench can be offset to either direction, giving you space on either side of the car. I suggest the rearfacer in the third row be in the side where it is hardest to get to from the door. You can load and buckle him through the hatch. Then you can buckle the forward facers from the little isle that leads to the back. If the forward facer is on the side of the car that away from the isle, it's really hard to buckle them.

Another thing to try is to put the 2 radians forward facing in the back, plus a high back booster. The Radians are pretty narrow, so it might be easy to buckle the booster in that three across. I only have one Radian and a Turbobooster, so I can't try it for you.

If that works, you might want to put your 2 rearfacers in the middle row so you don't have to load through the hatch. Then put the 2 forward facers and the booster rider in the third row.

Another option may be to get 2 new boosters and use the radian rf for the new baby. This would be the least expensive. I don't know if you could get 2 boosters and a ff seat in the back. The ff seat would have to be in the middle position, since that is a lap belt. That is something you could try out though if you can get to a BabiesRUs. If that doesn't fit, you can have one of the booster riders in the second row.

 

[Irishmama]

The ff Marathon should puzzle nicely with the ff Radians. Also, I've noticed the old style Britax Parkways narrow towards the back of the seat pan, making buckling easier. If the new Parkway SG narrows the same way, it might fight better and make buckling easier than a Turbobooster. I can manage three across with two old style Parkways and a Marathon in DH's Escort that isn't do-able with two Turboboosters.

Congrats on the new baby!

 

[Unregistered]

Wow...you guys are amazing! I just forwarded all this info on to my husband and we're going to study it and see what we can do! I cannot thank you all enough! Thank you, thank you for taking the time to consider our seat situation!

 

[mkmama]

I had a 2000 Ford Windstar before I bought my Sienna this summer...other than the relative narrowness of the 3rd row, its great for car seat installs.

First thing I didn't see mentioned...you have top tether anchors in EVERY passenger seating position, including the front passenger seat! That and the 4 complete sets of LATCH are two of the most awesome things about this van! (ETA: I missed reading the first time through where you have a 2 passenger bench in the middle...I had captains chairs, so not sure if your middle bench has top tethers...but your 3rd row bench should have for sure). The anchors are located on the bottom of the seats, let me see if I can find a picture of them -- they're kind of tricky to find the first time, but once you find them once you'll be able to easily find them again.

ETA again: found the pics...second post of THIS thread.

I did three across in the back row a few times...you'll need at least one of your Radians in the back row center. I've never had a Marathon -- does its base sit up high enough that it fits "over" that wheel well on the passenger side? If so, I'd put it there, with a Radian next to it, and probably the other Radian on the other side. It will be almost impossible to put booster riders back there and have them buckle themselves, so I would put a booster for your oldest and the newb in the middle.

Otherwise, if that Marathon doesnt fit over the wheel well and you can't get the Marathon and Radians to puzzle in that back seat any other way, I might consider investing in a MyRide...it does fit over that wheel well perfectly, and also puzzles like a dream with a Radian facing the same way -- so you could use the MyRide and one of your Radians RF'ing, and then probably put your second Radian FF'ing 3rd row drivers side. This would necessitate loading the RF'ers through the hatch...some people don't like it, and if you used the MyRide for the new baby, that can make it a touch more difficult for the first month or two until baby has better head control, etc.

I also know that at one point I had a RF'ing Radian in the center 3rd row and a BabyTrend FlexLoc 3rd row drivers side (I can't remember what I had on the other side of the Radian though)...I only had 3 kids at the time though, so I just left one of my captains chairs folded down, and it was pretty easy to lift the BabyTrend in/out of its base from the sliding door -- if you put a booster rider in that captains chair behind the driver you could always just move the booster out of the way to get the baby in/out.

 

[lpperry]

ETA: I missed reading the first time through where you have a 2 passenger bench in the middle...I had captains chairs, so not sure if your middle bench has top tethers...but your 3rd row bench should have for sure).

The second row bench seats both have tether anchors. My drivers seat also has a mysterious tether anchor not indicated in the manual. It is great because I can tether rearfacing in both seats in the second row without a D-ring! Check your drivers seat just in case.

I've never had a Marathon -- does its base sit up high enough that it fits "over" that wheel well on the passenger side? Otherwise, if that Marathon doesnt fit over the wheel well and you can't get the Marathon and Radians to puzzle in that back seat any other way, I might consider investing in a MyRide...it does fit over that wheel well perfectly,

The Marathon does not sit high enough to fit over that passenger side wheel well. The only one I found that does is the Myride. The Myride rearfacing in the third row on that passenger side is awesome and gives lots of room for the other two seats.

 

[Kel]

Forgot to add, I also have had to load rear facers through the hatch in my windstar. It works even better if you take off the head rests, of course.

 

[HEVY]

Just to clarify, ALL 7 seats have top tether anchors, including the drivers seat. I have a short bench in the middle. Just make sure you are using them properly, the link that was posted shows proper use, the hooks latch on differently than most cars, kind of upside down.

I find, even though it seats 5 in the back it can be rather tight. I'm sorry, I am not help in configuration, but I can say this. I have a FR85 and a PWSG inthe middle bench, and bucking the PW is almost impossible Which is why I am still almost three years later looking for captain seats.

 

[Pingbns]

Here is a link from herehttp://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=1422127 posted about a year and a half ago.

 

[Irishmama]

The second row bench seats both have tether anchors. My drivers seat also has a mysterious tether anchor not indicated in the manual. It is great because I can tether rearfacing in both seats in the second row without a D-ring! Check your drivers seat just in case.

I think my manual mentions that non-power drivers seats have the tether anchor.

The Marathon does not sit high enough to fit over that passenger side wheel well. The only one I found that does is the Myride. The Myride rearfacing in the third row on that passenger side is awesome and gives lots of room for the other two seats.

Yeah, it wouldn't be tall enough. I was thinking it might puzzle nicely ff between two ff Radians.

 

[April]

Ah...I did this a year and a half ago. Don't worry, I have pics! I can tell you right now, that you don't want anything to do with fitting boosters in the third row. Yes, technically it could be done, but I couldn't make it longer than one trip with any kind of booster combination when I had two other seats back there. Some things I tried:
Backless Turbo booster/FF Radian/Parkway - impossible to buckle the turbo. I couldn't even get the actual buckle between the Radian and the turbo:



FF Radian/Chicco Keyfit/Backless Turbo booster - you could only buckle the turbo booster before you put the Keyfit in the base:


FF Radian/RF Radian/Backless Turbo (this is the view from the top/trunk) - this was slightly better, but not tolerable for a daily setup:


Like others said, if you want three across in that third row, you're going to have to find something that overlaps a radian. My first bet would be on a Graco Myride.

Or, you could just do what many of us have done, and replace your second row two seater bench with a third row bench. So you'd have two third row benches, and you'd put your three across in the second row (no wheel wells to get in the way.) Even then, it is a really tight squeeze. I got my second third row bench from a car dealership I found on Craigslist for $150. They are actually not hard to find because many people remove both rows of seating and use Windstars as a cargo van. Anyways, this is what I did when my fifth was a newborn:
Third row:
Second row:

My kids have grown now so I have third row: backless booster/empty/highback booster, and then second row: 10 year old in adult belt/RF Combi Coccoro/Britax Parkway booster. Now, the thing about changing the bench in the second row, is that it changes the seatbelt geometry for the second row passenger side seat. So my eldest actually passed the five step test and didn't require a booster in that spot a full year before she even started being able to fit the seatbelt in any other seating position. Anyways, thats a ways down the road for you but I thought I'd mention it....

So in your situation, I'd get a third row bench for your second row, and set it up like this:

Third row: 6 year old in a booster/empty/3.5 year old FF Radian
Second row: 19 month old RF Marathon (if enough height to RF)/almost 5 year old FF Radian/newborn RF Graco My Ride

That would mean buying a booster and a My Ride and a third row bench, so under $500. Not great, but cheaper than a new van.