Hello.
How would you put 3 Britax Frontiers in a 2012 Honda Pilot?
Here's the back story: We have a Sienna, which we love, but DH commutes to a job in another city and now that our second car, a 98 oldsmobile, is about to go kaput, we're looking at buying him a 4WD SUV that can also transport our three kids. All three of our kids (a 5 year old and twin almost-3 year olds) are in Frontiers. My kids are off-the-charts tall, and all of their height is in their torsos, so the higher seated shoulder height in the Frontier allows us to keep them in a 5pt harness longer. We're leaning toward a Honda Pilot. We like the tether anchor positions, among other things. When DH was at the dealer on Sunday, he figured out that putting two Frontiers next to each other in the 3rd row and one in the 40 portion of the 60/40 split second row worked well because sliding the 60 portion forward gave nice access to the third row for tightening harnesses. But he forgot one thing: that would mean we'd routinely be loading our kids on the street side. And while we do have a driveway, our school drop-offs involve street parking. So that made me wonder. Have any of you put two Frontiers or other similarly large seats in the 3rd row of a Honda Pilot and been able to tighten harnesses by moving only the 40 seat forward? If we did this, one of my 3 year-olds' seats would be on the 60 portion of the 2nd row. DH tried putting two Frontiers on the 60 portion and of the second row and said they wouldn't fit. What would you do?
A couple more questions: Right now DD, who is 50 inches tall and 60 lbs, still uses the 5 pt harness, but she is about a quarter inch away from outgrowing the top harness spot, so we will have to convert her seat to booster mode very soon. She will need help buckling the seat belt when that time comes. How hard is it to buckle a seatbelt in the far side of the 3rd row of a Pilot with the 40part of the 2nd row slid forward? Also, only one seat in the 3rd row has lower anchors. This isn't of concern for us now because DD is above the lower anchor weight limit so we do a seat-belt install with her seat now. But when she's in booster mode, Britax recommends using latch to keep the seat in place. Has anyone used a Frontier without holding it place with LATCH? If so, does the seat slide around as the child is getting into it?
Lastly, if we were to decide that it's time to convert her to a booster, is there a booster for a long-torsoed child with side-impact protection that you like better than the Frontier? I like the Frontier a lot but the arm rests will make it difficult for her to climb across the third row with her brother's seat nearby.
Many thanks in advance for all of your great advice!
Trish
How would you put 3 Britax Frontiers in a 2012 Honda Pilot?
Here's the back story: We have a Sienna, which we love, but DH commutes to a job in another city and now that our second car, a 98 oldsmobile, is about to go kaput, we're looking at buying him a 4WD SUV that can also transport our three kids. All three of our kids (a 5 year old and twin almost-3 year olds) are in Frontiers. My kids are off-the-charts tall, and all of their height is in their torsos, so the higher seated shoulder height in the Frontier allows us to keep them in a 5pt harness longer. We're leaning toward a Honda Pilot. We like the tether anchor positions, among other things. When DH was at the dealer on Sunday, he figured out that putting two Frontiers next to each other in the 3rd row and one in the 40 portion of the 60/40 split second row worked well because sliding the 60 portion forward gave nice access to the third row for tightening harnesses. But he forgot one thing: that would mean we'd routinely be loading our kids on the street side. And while we do have a driveway, our school drop-offs involve street parking. So that made me wonder. Have any of you put two Frontiers or other similarly large seats in the 3rd row of a Honda Pilot and been able to tighten harnesses by moving only the 40 seat forward? If we did this, one of my 3 year-olds' seats would be on the 60 portion of the 2nd row. DH tried putting two Frontiers on the 60 portion and of the second row and said they wouldn't fit. What would you do?
A couple more questions: Right now DD, who is 50 inches tall and 60 lbs, still uses the 5 pt harness, but she is about a quarter inch away from outgrowing the top harness spot, so we will have to convert her seat to booster mode very soon. She will need help buckling the seat belt when that time comes. How hard is it to buckle a seatbelt in the far side of the 3rd row of a Pilot with the 40part of the 2nd row slid forward? Also, only one seat in the 3rd row has lower anchors. This isn't of concern for us now because DD is above the lower anchor weight limit so we do a seat-belt install with her seat now. But when she's in booster mode, Britax recommends using latch to keep the seat in place. Has anyone used a Frontier without holding it place with LATCH? If so, does the seat slide around as the child is getting into it?
Lastly, if we were to decide that it's time to convert her to a booster, is there a booster for a long-torsoed child with side-impact protection that you like better than the Frontier? I like the Frontier a lot but the arm rests will make it difficult for her to climb across the third row with her brother's seat nearby.
Many thanks in advance for all of your great advice!
Trish
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