Question ugh! 2008 Rav4...help!

[twins+1]

Well, thanks to this awesome sight, my wife and myself realize, we made a mistake buying our Rav4. Well eight months ago we found out we were expecting our third child. No problem, what is a another kid to add too 2 year old twins.
Wife drives a Sienna and I drive the Rav, checked the online measurements for the back seat. 52.3", found the Sunshine kid carseats, and the Chicco 30, figured no problem. Well we just bought all the new car seats, went to put them into the back seat, and excuse the phrase(WTF!) the seat belts are all screwy.

So with only 5 weeks to go before the new one arrives, I'm stuck with a 24,000 dollar mistake.
I found the thread showing all the successfuly installs, three car seats across. Any who, I'm looking at a 2007 Passat, 2009 Civic, 2008 Accord...etc,.

Question: Will any of these cars work for us and will they work once the new one turns around and is forward facing. Assuming the twins are not in booster's???

Sorry in advance for the long post and hopefully it makes sense. I am in severe scramble mode right now. Any advice and thougts are welcome....

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[wendytthomas]

Hi Jeff. Welcome, and congrats on your upcoming arrival!

Any of those cars would work better than your Rav. The Civic is narrower than the others, the Passat is shorter front to back than an Accord. American cars, if you're open to them, have deceptively roomy backseats for three across.

However, your two year old twins should not be in boosters until they're probably at least five, and possibly longer if you have a tight three across (can you imagine reaching between two seats to buckle up a million times a day? Harnesses are easier in a three across), and your baby should not go forward facing at a year. Since 2002 the AAP has recommended otherwise, and now state that two is the new bare minimum for forward facing, preferably three to four years old. So if your twins are small enough, I'd turn them rear facing as well for their safety. Kids generally go back to rear facing very easily.

Here are links, videos, and information about why rear facing is so important. This includes several AAP links.

http://carseatblog.com/5168/why-rear-facing-is-better-your-rf-link-guide/

Wendy

 

[Jan06twinmom]

Jeff -

I was wondering if you can get away with just having car seats in one vehicle for awhile. Or two car seats in your vehicle and have the 3 car seats in the Sienna?

Several of the moms in my local twins club has the same situation you do - older twins and a baby - and this has been their longer term solution. Basically, whoever has the children has the car with the car seats. Or one of my friends has just 2 car seats in her husbands vehicle and on occasion, he'll use it when he just has to take 2 kids. I think they actually had it set up to just take the older twins in dad's car.

If you decide to put 2 car seats in your car, you might want to get something like the Evenflo Triumph 65 and keep them both rear-facing. The ET65 has an adjustable harness strap so you could easily adjust the height to fit either the baby or one of the toddlers.

Melanie

 

[ketchupqueen]

If you go with a Passat, may I recommend the Passat Wagon? Much roomier for 3 across. But seriously, I had 3 rear-facing in a Corolla. I've put 3 in many, many, MANY vehicles, most of them you WILL be able to find something to work, especially as you've got Radians to work with. (Don't recommend a Sentra, or a two-door. But other than that, really, lots of options.)

But yeah, I hate that seatbelt design in the new RAV4s. Don't you want to beat down (or at least publicly humiliate) the person who decided it's ok to market that as a 5 passenger vehicle? Or possibly the person responsible for the belt design in the first place? Or both? Sheesh it's annoying.

 

[twins+1]

Wendy- thanks for the insight. We will keep the twins in harnesses for as long as possible. The turning around thing is a little dicey, I'm 6'3" and when the kids were in there snugfits, I had to move my seat way forward. Which made for intresting driving. Yes, I feel like a hard case.

Melanie- I wooould love to do the carseat switch, buuuut my wife works at a hospital and with her call schedule. My wife starts work after I do and when she is on call, I pick the kids up.

K-queen- Passat wagon, that would be useful with the dogs. And yes, I would like to drive the Rav through the front window of toyota's head quarters!! I can not phathom how such a stupid mistake like that made it to production, let alone four years of production.

 

[wendytthomas]

The good news about rear facing convertibles is they can sit a LOT more upright than infant seats. Once babies have head control they don't need a 45º angle anymore, like your Snugrides had. Also, depending on where you had the handle that may have affected your fit.

I'd look at something with a big front seat front to back, or something that's easier to install rear facing seats in, like a Camry, and try to rear face all three.

If you do leave the twins forward facing, at least rear face the baby as long as possible. You can put the baby behind the passenger. That would be safest for one twin, anyway, since forward facing is so much less safe than rear, you give the least protected passenger the most protected position. With twins it's not cut and dry. I'd probably put whoever would sit next to the baby better in the middle.

Wendy

 

[ketchupqueen]

My husband is tall-- 6'1" with long legs-- and we had rear-facing seats behind him comfortably for years and years in a Corolla. Besides the fact that, as Wendy said, older kids can be more upright rear-facing (though the Radian may not be the best choice for that in a lot of models), the RAV4 has a TEENY TINY back seat front-to-back! Most sedan models are going to offer you a LOT more room front to back than you are accustomed to having, really!

 

[twins+1]

Thanks, ladies. Very enlightening, especially concerning keeping the kids rear facing longer.

And, the more I hear about the Rav...the more I LOVE it. j/k!!!

Oh forgot, the wife seen a 08 Jetta for sale, is that pushing it for size of the car.
Thanks again for all the info., I can't even begin to explain how much we appreciate all the help.

 

[HayleyCPST]

Are you tall? A jetta with 2 rear facing radians seems a bit much to me, but I'm sure it's been done. You might be hugging the steering wheel though.

 

[twins+1]

I'm 6'3" and suprisingly I fit rather well in the Jetta, test drove one yesterday. And even more surprising all the car seats fit, no problem. Of course I'm comparing it to my Rav. I drove a Passat and liked that too. I'm going today to the dealership where I bought my Rav and have a little conversation. Just because...

 

[gigi]

Jettas are built to accomodate enormous German men, so it makes sense it would fit better. If you are able to put the baby in the center between 2 FFing Radians, you'll probably be able to fit quite a few seats.

Maybe look at the new Britax convertibles for RFing your baby when the keyfit is outgrown...they fit well in tight front to back situations. Hopefully they puzzle well with FF Radians, but I'm thinking in such a tight side to side your best luck will be with a seat that sits higher up to fit between the Radians like the Britax.

 

[HayleyCPST]

Radians don't fit well FF next to a RF Britax. The shoulder part is too wide. If you fit in the Jetta, go for it.

 

[gigi]

That's too bad. Hopefully another seat will work better in that center position to keep the little one rear facing longer.

 

[twins+1]

Well, I went to the Toyota dealership on Friday and checked out the 2011 Rav4, The seat belts are the same, Toyota has not fixed this problem. Our salesman was completely baffled about the seat belts and quickly told the manager. He was very apologetic and has bent over backwards to help us.

We finally agreed on a 2011 Camry, much bigger then the Jetta and comparatively spec, we get much more for the money. Plus, the VW dealer wasn't very helpful, "old school" dealership.

All three of our seats fit perfectly, with a lot of room to spare. And once I get the car I'm going to have our nearest CPS tech, check out our installation.

Thanks everyone for the helpful tips.

Jeff, Toni, Giavanna, Anthony, and Matteo

 

[HayleyCPST]

That's great! Always nice to hear good outcomes.