Question How do your older kids get in the van w/RF seatings in 2nd row?

[flipper68]

Question says it all.

My friend's twins are rapidly outgrowing their Keyfits. Their head is even or even a bit above the Chicco "patch." [Kinda hard to believe they were preemies ]

They are over 17lbs at 6.5 months and need 12 mon shirts or one piece because of tall torso.

I was going to recommend RA, or CA, or TR (tallest, taller, tall) but then wondered how the older 2 kiddos will get past the seats/tether (for RA) to the 3rd row.

How do yours do this?
OR
How do you configure seats for 6 mon. twins, 3 yr old in an Alpha 50, 7 yr old in no back Turbo (all are quite tall - as is mom, the primary driver)? (Sorry- I'm not sure which van they have. . .I want to say a fairly new T&C.)

Thanks!

 

[Mommy0608]

We have a van with one forward-facing seat and one rear-facing seat in the captains chairs. My kids climb in on the same side of the van. DD crawls under the back of DS's rear-facing Radian (which is tethered!) and has no problem at all. She's a skinny little thing though, which might have something to do with it. However, she has plenty of room to get in.

 

[nevaehsmommy]

I find it easier to put the RFers in the third row and load them through the hatch of the van. Gets strange looks but it frees up second row for FFers

 

[BabyKaykes]

DS climbs in under the RF seat and doesnt have any issues with that. On occassion he has also be small enough to squeeze between the tiny space between the 2nd row captains chair and the door of the van. The space is all of 2" wide at best, but he always manages to slip right through.

 

[MANDY1234]

I currently have 2 RFs. The boy is 6 months and in the second row but the 2 y/o girl is in thrid row. I also have a 2 y/o DNe who rides daily in my van he is also in 3rd row. I like the Rfs in the third row as it is easier to buckle through the hatch then trying to buckle a FF all bent over cramped up going through the captins chairs

When there were 2 RFs in my second row, the girls just climbed under the seats. My "older" girls are 4 and 5 and it was very easy for them. (My 5 year old is a pretty tall girl..Not sure how tall but I'm 5 5 and she is above chest level on me.

 

[swtgi1982]

If driver is tall I would say put both RF twins on the passenger side one in the third row and one in the second row and older kids can get in on driver side.

Although height of driver should not be an issue, my DH is 6'3" and when he drives I have a RF CA behind him and the seat goes all the way back no issues. I just have to pull driver seat way up to install seat and then move it back.

 

[rachelandtyke]

I have both kids passenger side - DS is middle row rf and DD is 3rd row ff. Although she can get in on the driver's side and get to her seat easily, she prefers to get in on the passenger side and either squeeze behind the captain's chair and the door/side of the van or crawl underneath/in front of DS's seat.

 

[lorismurph]

I have 2 RF in my 03 Caravan. I put them in the Captain's chairs and my older kids either crawl underneath or squeeze past the chair (there is slightly more space on the passenger side).

 

[luckyclov]

I only have one RF'er in my 2nd row (captain's chairs) minivan, either a MA70 or RN80 - both tethered when installed. My other captain's chair is a FF Regent. If my big kids (6 and 8) have to load from the side the RF seat is on, they just crawl under it and go to where they need to be...it's not a problem at all.

 

[moxy]

Right now when we have 2 rf's(which isnt often anymore) they both go on the captains chairs, and A climbs in through the hatch. Once baby comes along, A and baby will be going in the 3rd row and the second captain chair will be coming out until we need it

 

[DahliaRW]

In my van I could push the captain's chairs together, so I did that and it was easy tofr my ds1 to get through on the side. But I realize that's not possible with every van!

 

[canadiangie]

if this is indeed a gr caravan this is how I would configure things.

driver captain chair: TB
pass captain chair: rf'ing convertible
driver 3rd row: ff 3in1 -- using offset TA and latch
pass 3rd row: rf'ing convertible

 

[urchin_grey]

I have a second row bench. That's the exact reason I wanted it though. I need 2 RF'ing seats in the 2nd row (one for DS, one for one of my nephews), but there are times when I need the back row accessible to other adults/teens.

 

[christineka]

When I had the radian rfing in the second row, the kids just partway tumbled the seat, squished into the third row, then put the seat back in place. Now I only have one rfing seat in the second row (TFP). the other rfing kid, who sits directly behind the tfp, climbs into the seat, then into his seat in the back. The others go in the other door.

 

[coleslawcat]

I have a 7 passenger 08 Sienna. The passenger side captains chair can be moved into a middle position which leaves an aisle open to the back row. I'm not sure if other makes and years of minivans offer the same capability. It makes it very easy to access the back regardless of what seats are installed in the middle.

 

[ginny4]

when we had the situation with RFing being in the way...the kids just crawled under but the seat wasn't tethered. they also would sometimes just go through the front passenger side & walk back to their spot. there was no center console in front with that particular van. i definitly prefer my newER van with double sliding doors. the older boys still have to manuever around the FF or booster to get to their spot. they don't complain.

 

[valleyfam]

My tall 7 year old crawls under the rf seat or most of the time he gets in the driver's door and goes between the two captain's chairs back to his seat.

 

[luvsviola]

In my van I could push the captain's chairs together, so I did that and it was easy tofr my ds1 to get through on the side. But I realize that's not possible with every van!

This is what I did in my Ody. It works great whenever adults need to ride in the way back.

 

[jourdysmom]

I have an '08 T&C (caravan clone). the captain chairs move front/back like the front seats... My RF seats in the captain chairs don't tether, so we push them back to enter, slide them forward for leg room in the back.

HTH