How to fit 3 car seats in a 2 rows SUV?

I never wanted a mini van - especially being 26 - but I got one and i LOVE it! With twin baby boys it is the most convenient thing ever! I would seriously go out and test drive one :) Good Luck!

You will have to go car shopping. I also have 3 children and we bought a mini van, not only will the children be to close to one another, but the fighting will drive you insane. Also it is not safe, so they say to have a car seat in the middle. We had the same issue, and looked into all the possible ways, and finally setteled on a mini van. I love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember those days!!! We had 4 in carseats and when we went car shopping, we brought all 4 seats to try them in the cars and you should have seen the salesmen run the opposite direction!!! LOL!!

A regular car does fit 3 carseats but you have to get a larger car. For the price and size of the car, a minivan is a better route. I understand not wanting to go that route because I didn't want to do it either but it was the best thing and now I wouldn't know what to do without my van.

Good Luck!

S.

I tried to avoid the minivan too. Now I think it's the best vehicle I've ever had. So easy to get in and out of. A lot of people like the Honda minivan too. My Dodge Grand Caravan has built in car seats. The middle bench seat has two built in car seats. This is the greatest convenience ever. I have always been a truck SUV person. This is the only car I've liked better than my Explorer. Now minivans come with those seats that fold into the floor - Stow-n-go. Wish I had those too. I know they aren't cool, but I cannot believe how I resisted and now how much I love my van. I had custody of my nephew for a while and had 3 car seats. I had to have my minivan repaired due to an acident and needed a rental. The only thing all three fit comfortably in was my minivan or a big full size SUV like an Expedition or a Suburban. But those SUVs are gas guzzlers.

Also remember, when buying a new vehicle, to check with your insurance company for rates. My insurance rates were reduced dramatically because of the minivan. With rising gas prices, remember to consider every expense. I know a lot of people love SUVs (so do I!), but I could not afford it at today's rates. I am an older M. and have experienced a lot of debt because of what I wanted, not what I needed. So consider everything: car payment, increase in gas payment, possible increase in insurance, registration cost for various vehicles. All of these things add up quickly.

I think 3 car seats in a regular vehicle is a stretch. Two is crowded enough.

Be sure you read the fine print on the 3rd row seating in any vehicle. I have a Chrysler Pacifica with 3rd row seating, but the manufacturer's manual specifically states that the 3rd row is not meant for car seats or booster installation -- only the 2nd row, which has 2 captain's chairs in my particular model. We were really surprised to read this, and somewhat dismayed as well. So, read very carefully about the safety considerations for that 3rd row in any vehicle!
~B.

I had the exact same problem and crammed my 3 kids into one row for a few months but it was such a pain! I did some extensive research and shopping around (I am also avoiding a minivan at all costs!!) and I ended up buying a Ford Freestyle which is a cross over vehicle with the 3rd row seating (the new 2008 line is called the Taurus now). I love it because it looks like an SUV, it seats like a mini van, there is plenty of space in back for the stroller or whatever, and it drives like a car and gets really good gas mileage (ave. 25 mpg) I sound like a commercial! But honestly, I've been really happy with it!

I hate to say it, but a mininvan is going to be your most comfortable option, unless you want a big SUV. They provide much more room and better gas mileage, as well. On the SUV route, there is the GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook. I know the Acadia does have the option of captains chairs in the 2nd row. Depending on which seats you have, it is possible to fit 3 across in a sedan like the Chevy Impala, Nissan Maxima, or Toyota Camry, but trunk space and such will be very limited. I don't know of any regular sized SUV that you can fit 3 across. Maybe the Trailblazer, but you would have to bring your seats and piece them together to see.

Honestly, I only have 2 kids and drive a minivan. The space is so much nicer for trips and carting around family and friends. The seats can be flipped over or taken out and there is so much more cargo space for all their things. You really should test drive a few, before crossing it off the list! :)

I too have 3 children in car seats. I hate to say this, but you are going to have to car shop. I tried 3 across the back of my large car and it just didn't fit. I have a mini van now, yuck I know, and I have 2 in the back and one in the middle captain's chairs. You can try an suv, but you may find that it is a pain with little ones getting in and out of that back third row. A mini van works well with lots of space for strollers and such. Good luck to you!

By the time the next child comes your 3 yr old should be in a booster,your 4 month old will be over one and will be in a car seat, then the infant seat should be available for your third child. They can fit in a small SUV if you put the oldest child in the middle so that way they can climb in and then you will have the outer seats for the smaller children. I hope that helps.

My sister has a Jeep Classic which is not a mid sized SUV with a smaller backseat. We were able to fit a Graco Booster Seat, Evenflo Triumph car seat, and a BRitax car seat all at the same time. I noticed that Britax car seats were narrower than my Evenflo Triumph. So...if you didn't want to purchase a new car maybe look at different car seats. I know if you go to Babies R Us they usually allow you to try out the sample seats in your own vehicle to make sure they will fit. At least we did when we were shopping for seats.

M.

Get a minivan....I love them, they are totally made for moms with little and big kids....I drove my husband's small SUV for a trip this summer and found out that it was not family friendly....when my kids are all grown I'm getting a convertable VW. We have a Honda Odyssey and it has a ton of cup holders, TV, easy fold down seats, built in window shades that you just lift up to keep the sun out of their eyes and everything you want.

Congrats on baby number 3!

Another option to look into would be the Acura MDX. I know mine can fit 3 car seats in the middle row, and that still leaves you with the third row free, although as other posters have said, you would have to climb through the back since you would not be able to flip the second row forward with 3 car seats.

We looked at the Lexus RX350, GMC Acadia, and Volvo XC90 before making our choice. The safety ratings and Honda/Acura's quality is what one us over to the MDX. It might be one to check out!

Hi Marisa - Congratulations on your third! My kids are 6 mos., 3 and 5. The baby is in a rear-facing infant carrier, and the older two are in forward-facing toddler seats (neither kid is big enough yet for a booster seat). I have a Toyota Matrix and was amazed to discover when we were expecting our third child that we could fit all 3 car seats in the back seat - the toddler seats are on the ends, and the infant carrier (base and seat) fits in between them. There's no room to spare between the seats, but that's okay; I was just thrilled not to have to go buy a bigger vehicle, especially with gas prices being so high. Good luck to you!

I have a friend who just went through this with her Honda Civic! She had a Britax Roundabout that her older child used and now her baby sits in, rear facing, but needed to take care of carpool for her daughter's camp and didn't want to buy a new car just for that! She purchased the Radian 60 and the Radion 80 (both of which are highly rated for safety) and used the seatbelts rather than the LATCH system (as the police technician recommended for three in a row) and has had great luck! If she can fit three across in a Civic, anyone can fit three across in an SUV! Good luck!

I'm with Jenny E and have the Volvo XC90 and love it, love it. We were pretty anti-mini van also. I think there are plenty of options with larger SUVs that work just fine so you don't have to go that route. I will say that my husband and I are taller so reaching into the middle seat of the SUV isn't that big of a deal. If I were shorter I may feel different. We bought a two year old XC90 so it was more affordable. We are expecting our second child in January and the built in booster seat will be perfect for our then 3 year old. So we'll just have one car seat and then my older daughter will be big enough to transition to the built in booster. I also have a frined who loves her Honda Pilot - both vehicles come with a third row and plenty of storage room for strollers, groceries, etc. Good luck shopping and congratulations on #3!

Hi Marisa,
We have three little ones, and my hubby refuses to go the mini-van route...SO, yes, we have had three car seats in the back of our Jeep Cherokee for the past four yesrs. It has worked fine, although I would love to have that extra seating room, because we can never car pool with anyone. But, I guess it's better than having another car payment! Also, when my husband has had the Jeep, and I needed to take the kids somewhere, I have even fit the three car seats in the back of my Pontiac Grand Am...it's a tight squeeze but it does work. GOOD LUCK!

Sooooo been there! My husband and I fought HARD on staying away from the minivan when we had our third on the way. In the end, the practicality of the Odyssey won. There's no way we would ever go back, either. Although it is possible to line all three carseats up in one row, we rarely do. Unless your kids are extraordinary with their abilities to keep their hands to themselves at all times, the third row is a must :D The minivan is the only vehicle that has true accessibility to the third row, despite what some SUVs may claim. Plus, if you have an infant carseat base locked into a seat in the middle row, you will not be able to move that seat to get to the back row. Just something to consider. Minivans have that covered though.
Plus, if you're going to have playdates in the future, you'll need a place for an additional child and carseat or booster.
The black Odysseys don't look so minivan-ish, either.
They get better mileage than an SUV, too.
For functionality, just check out a minivan. You might be pleasantly surprised :D
Good luck with #3!

We have 3 car seats in a Honda Accord and Honda Odyssey. You need to get the measurments of car seats and measure the back of the car with doors closed. We had to get a different car seat for my son (slimmer) in order to fit in 2 infant seats for his twin sisters. It can be done. I will say that you would not be disappointed in a minivan. Everyone I have ever known who was hesitant has never regretted getting one. Makes everything so much easier.

http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=bcus...

how old are your 2 kids
what seats are they in now
how much do they weigh and how tall is their torso
i can get 3 accross in my M.'s escape

J.

I think when you have the 3 kids you will really come to value that space that they need from one another....so I vote new car if you can swing it. We have a Town and Country (with captains chairs) and a new GMS Acadia (Also comes in a Buick version and Saturn version. The Saturn one is the cheapest and gets the best gas mileage) All of these have great room. My husband would rater die than drive my mini van. He is very happy carting around our group in his big SUV.

The Toyota Highlander is a good alternative..I checked into that myself..But after all the looking we have been doing, I have become OK with the Minivan! They have come a long way since we were kids!

I have a Honda Pilot that can fit three seats in the middle section, and there are three extra seats in the back (although much less room and no room for multiple car seats back there -- but you could do one, it's just hard getting the kids in.) My Pilot is the best car I've ever owned. I have 100,000 miles on it and not one single problem. I pretty much hated all my minivans. Maybe if I had had a Honda Odyssey I would have liked it. Good luck!

I understand what you are talking about, however my role is a little different. I am a mother of a 6 1/2 month old boy and I take care of two other infants. We also own a small SUV, a Mitsubishi Montero. You can try, but there is no fitting three car seats in the back of our truck. The other two infants are even in convertible booster seats now. They take up as much room as the pumkin seat for my don, if not a little bit more. We are now looking into a van b/c after car shopping for a couple of months, there is really not much other than a van or a larger SUV for options. Especially with the rising gas prices I would take the van. Sorry, it stinks I know.
A little about me: 25 yr. old SAHM of a wonderful baby boy and daycare provider

I also have 3 kids in car seats and REALLY didn't want to do the mini van thing either. After looking into other options and realizing how expensive they were we broke down and got the mini van. I have to say, I LOVE it! The room is unbelievable and it makes traveling with the kids a ton easier. Once you get past the un-cool factor of the mini-van you will be fine....

Hi! I had the same concern when we found out we were having our third. I haul around a 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 7 month old in a regular sedan (Toyota Avalon)and have no problem whatsoever. Unless you need the extra room to haul more people or stuff; you should be fine with the immediate backseat. All carseats fit right within their places. Actually comes in handy sometimes when the baby needs some consoling - his older siblings are right there to play with him. I'm sure eventually down the road we'll make the upgrade to an small SUV or related vehicle, but for now - everyone is doing just fine with what we have. Good luck!

Hello;
When we bought our car a Subaru legacy I made them prove to me that 3 car seats would fit in the back seat, because I plan to have 3 kids in car seats at the same time. They fit so I would think that you should be able to get all 3 car seats in the back of an SUV. I would try putting the infant seat in the middle and then see if the other car seat will fit on both sides of the infant seat.

Hi there-

I'm a M. of two children...6 year old boy and 3 yr old girl...and also a daycare M. to a 2 year old girl. So technically I have three kids 5 days a week. Due to gas prices.... just a couple of weeks a go I traded my minivan for a Nissan Versa. It's a cute little 4-door hatchback. And the back seat fits two regular size car seats and a booster seat. And the trunk fits my double stroller and few other misc. things. I was AMAZED!

We have a chevy malibu, which we have had since we found out we were expecting our first in 2003. We currently have a booster seat, a car seat, and an infant seat in the back seat. We did have to get a seat belt extender for the booster seat because we were having a difficult time trying to reach to buckle it each time, but since then we've been doing fine. We go away to a summer trailer home almost every weekend in the summer, and we've had enough room for the stroller (a regular sized graco stroller, not an umbrella stroller) and all of our other stuff along with the miscellaneous baby items that we need all in the trunk. We also went up to a cabin in MN for a week this summer, and were able to fit all but the stroller and swing in the trunk. (we used a car top carrier for those two things.) If you are really against a minivan (which my husband is!!!) check out the malibu, or the impala which might even be a little bigger.

I'm able to get 3 car seats in my corolla backseat. However my daughter has only a booster seat. But my car is very tiny....your's should be ok. Good luck!

Hi! I just have 1 bambina right now, but very good friends of ours are pregnant with their 3rd child and have just been discussing this very thing. They currently have a Land Rover and have determined that there is no possible way they could put three car seats in the back if they want all of the children to survive in an accident.

They have started shopping for a larger SUV, something like a Suburban with a 3rd row. Also, my husband drives a Lincoln Navigator, and we love it! True, it is a gas guzzler - believe it or not, it's a company car, so we had no say in that matter (and they company pays for gas, thank goodness!). But it is easy to drive (I've driven it myself), is smoother than my Infiniti on the road, and has all of the amenities you could ever want in a vehicle (DVD player anyone?!). Plus tons of a space, and that desirable 3rd row. I would highly suggest checking one out, or maybe looking at its counterparts like the Infiniti Q series or Lexus' big SUV.

Good luck in your search and congrats on your pending arrival!

Sorry I don't have any specifics, but someone I know was talking about some newer model car seat that has a much narrower base. It might be easier to invest in new car seats than a new car. Also, how close is your son to being in a booster seat. We moved my daughter to a booster at about 3 1/2, but she is big for her age. The booster takes up a bit less room than a car seat, so it might help things fit better.

One of my girlfriends is expecting her third and will also have 3 in car seats. She recently bought the 2008 Dodge Caravan. I am also not a fan of minivans, but the new Caravan looks more like a crossover suv. It has the third row seat and tons of storage. You might want to take a look at it. Who knows, you might change your mind on minivans. I know I did!

Hi Marisa,
I saw your post and since your oldest is 3 years old, you could possibly get by without buying a new vehicle by purchasing one of those soft, travel, "seats"--I think they sell them for straping your child into airplanes. I had a friend who had one and since it is soft it does not take up a lot of room and my child who was around 3yrs old did fine in it. Good luck!

I would vote for the car shopping if you can afford it, whether you go for the minivan or a bigger SUV. We have 3 in car seats and a fourth on the way. We have a Town & Country and love it. I'm not a big fan of the mini vans either. I call them loser cruisers and laugh about it. We all turn into soccer moms at some point even if we vowed not to. We also have a Yukon XL and a Durango, both with 3 rows and you really can't beat the Yukon except for price of the car itself and the gas if you really are completely anti-minivan. A word about the 3rd row whether you go with an SUV or a minivan -- get captains chairs in the second row. The third row is impossible to get to with a car seat in the second row without captains chairs (like our durango). The Yukon has captains chairs and I can get to the third row to see what the kids are into if needed. The new Town & Country comes in black and has a lot of cool features like the table and the twisting seats. The black one doesn't look so mini-van-ish. My mother tries to cart all 3 in the back of her crossover so it is possible (some kind of Pontiac something) but all they do is fight and hit each other because they are too darn close for comfort. When she adds winter coats to the mix I'll bet they'll look (and feel) like stay puff marshmallow men back there!

I recently found out that I am pregnant w/our 3rd. We too have a suv w/o 3rd row and really don't want a minivan...or the payments of a new car as ours is payed off. I have done some research and the Radian 80's are 17 inches wide, so I am pretty sure they will fit 3 across. Like anything else there are some drawbacks, (I have read that they are a pain to install.) But, I can only imagine that installing 3 car seats is going to be a pain no matter what. I have found them for $250 w/ free shipping on the Sunshine kids website. That is a hefty sum when you multiply it by 3, but is better than $250 a month for 5 years for a new car payment. My plan is to find a store that sells them and see if I can really fit all three in the back before buying them. Some places let you try the seats in your car before buying them. Who knows, you may be able to get away with just 1 or 2 new ones. Good luck!

Hi! I used to have a jeep liberty and it fit 3 car seats quite nicely. I now own a Cadillac srx which is a 7 seater. I have 4 car seats in there and it works out well. I was the asme way about now wanting a minivan.

We're going to look at the new 2009 Chevrolet Traverse, it's one of the SUV cross-overs. I've been looking at pictures online and it shows third row seating and two captain's chairs.

But odds are we'll end up going with a Honda Oddessey (minivan). I know they're ugly but convenience is more imprtant that appearances.

I know that this isn't answering your question, but I was totally anti-mini-van too. I went from a convertible to a Grand Caravan, which was a little sad, but I have to tell you, I love my mini-van. I told the dealer when we were negotiating that I had to have the Blue because it was as close to sporty as I could get and have since been banned from car shopping with my husband, but I think as that little ones grow up and start sports, the extra room comes in handy. The thing that sold me on the van was my sister in law, (who had 2 kids at the time, I only had one) told me that she loved when they traveled from IN to IL that she was able to walk to the back where the kids were and was able to be in the back with them if they were out of hand or to do something with them. My kids are 6, 5 & 3 and I wish I had a bigger car maybe with 3 rows so I could separate them at times. Good luck and Congrats on the new addition.

We had the same situation and just traded our SUV (which I LOVED) in for a minivan - not at all excited about having a minivan :-( BUT, the space really is great. I didn't want another SUV b/c I knew that the 3 carseats would just fill the entire car again - no extra room for other people or for carpooling other kids.

My friend has a Toyota Sequoia and can fit 3 regular size car seats. I remember her going nuts trying all the SUV's but this semed to work best! Good luck!

We test drove and really like the Mazda5- it has 3 rows but feels & drives like a car- all rows were very easy to get in & out of.

Don't worry, you don't have to do a mini van, we are looking into Honda Pilots, 3rd row seating and, it's a Honda, reliable.

Marisa,

Check out the link below....you can also post over at car-seat.org with you vehicle, child and carseat info and they'll help you out they are awesome!

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33226

If you end up with a minivan it's not the end of the world...I think I'm still pretty cool and have one and you can't beat the wonders of side sliding doors and the storage space.

Congratulations on #3!

B.

The newer Toyota Rav4's now have a third seat available. I have been car shopping and that is looking attractive to me. I have nieces and nephews that I would need to fit in the extra space. I test drove the Rav4 and I liked it because it's not huge, it gets good gas mileage, and it's reasonably priced. I think also for the long term it will work for my son when he gets involved in sports and other things and we can car pool. just food for thought...Good luck and congradulations on the new baby...

My sister just bought the Acadia. She's putting the older one (4 yo) in the 3rd row and the two youngest in the front row. She had a Lexus SUV and it just wouldn't fit with three carseats (well, one booster and two seats).

I will say that it CAN be done, it's just a matter of if you WANT to do it. I have a 5 yr old and a 3 yr old, both in full booster seats and a 1 year old in a carseat- all in the back of my Malibu. It doesn't leave a lot of extra room in the car but it does work. For me, it was worth not having another car payment now that my car is paid in full.

I had a three year old and twins and we bought a Volvo XC90. it ahs a built in booster in the middle and then I put the twins car seat on either side to be able to get them in a buck easily at each door. We love it and still have the kids taht way. My daughter is now 7 and the twins 3 we have one too small so still in a car seat the other in a booster with a back and my oldest still in the middle. When she has friends come it is awesome to have the third row they can sit in the back together or two friends can come and she still sits in her middl booster or if I have one seat down and one seat up there is still room for a friend and my stroller and grocries etc.
The only downfall which we noticed is that with the car seats you cant really get the middle seat down to crawl to the back row. We usually let ehr friends climb in the back to sit or they can climb over the seat even when it is up.
Does this make sense? go to the show room and take in your car seats that is what we did and when it worked we bought the car.I love it it drives great big enough yet small enough for me and an suv instead of a mini van for my husband!
good luck
J.

I just bought a Mazda5 and love it! Although it is technically listed as a mini-van because it has sliding doors, it is more the size of a large wagon. The benefits are 3 rows of seats, great gas mileage and low cost for lots of features. The third row is split, so you could put one seat down for more cargo space, otherwise the cargo space is very small.

I have 3 car seats in my 2003 Hyundai Elantra. 2 are forward facing 5 point harness and the other is rear facing baby carrier. Congratulations!!!

Hi, My daughter is 3 1/2 now and i just had a baby 8 weeks ago. We were also concerned about the amount of room we were going to have. So we bought our 3 1/2 year old a booster car seat. It works perfect and doesn't take up much room at all. Your child just has to way 30 lbs. When we originally got it she was only 29 lbs. But she still fit perfect. The only concern we had was the seat belt being across her shoulders and chest. We bought these padded straps that go over the seat belt. This way if she falls asleep in the car i don't worry about the seat belt strap choking her or leaving a mark on her neck. But i do highly recommend the booster car seat. The one i bought was from target and it has a back seat on it that you can remove once your child reaches 40 lbs. Hope you find this useful.

I only have one babe, but we recently moved him out of his infant seat. I chose the Radian after reading that it is narrow and one of the few seats that let you fit 3 across if you need to. I don't know what our future holds, but I liked the seat and how my son fit in it and wanted to keep options open for more kids down the road.

I started off with a Chevy Cavalier when I had my first child (now 14yrs.). We pretty much went to the GMC Safari after he was about 1year, do to all the "crap" needed to take with when we would vacation. We stuck with the Safaris until my 4th child was born (now 8years). That is when we went to a GM Savanna. I love the Savanna but now that the kids are a bit older and have play dates that I may bring home from school and we have a large dog on vacations with us I really would like a Club Wagon type van. We looked into mini vans but the Safari originally was the best with the room. I hated trading my Cavalier in but I love the bigger vans. Good luck in whatever you decide.

3 car seats is tight in the one row, we tried it. I worried about the saftey of cramming the seats all in. It was tight. I was also very anti mini van, but I will tell ya, I love having it! I put the 2 older (4 and 2) in the back row. and the baby in the front seat middle. Now I am not worried about little fingers touching the baby while I am driving. It also freed up the other captains chair for when I have adults with me. I can fit 7 people in the van with the car seats. It is so nice at the stores when shopping, I just open the doors, they all get in and no one is out of the car while I am loading the groceries. Do not be so down on the van....I think they get a bad rep, but I have found out how nice it is to have it!

It is unlikely that you will NEED a new car unless for some reason all the backseat locations in yours do not allow car seat installs. We actually took delivery of a Ford Focus on the same day that I got a bfp with our 3rd. As we drove it home we were a bit nervous about this but the Focus was for dh and I drove a Taurus so we figured something would work. The Radian 65 or 80 is the narrowest convertible seat out there. Most kids are fine with the 65 version as the top slots are the same height as the 80. They are the same width as well. Chunkier kids might benefit from the 80. The Radian actually fits newborns quite well (compared to most convertible seats). But if you plan to use an infant seat, the Chicco Keyfit is one of the narrower ones and so are the Combis. New seats definitely cost less than new cars. And you may be able to use one of the seats you have now. It all comes down to how well they puzzle together. Some seats sit up higher on a base and others sit much closer to the vehicle seat. I can tell you that things tend to puzzle together better when you have seats sitting next to each other going opposite directions (like rearfacing, forward facing, rear facing) and since your youngest is so young yet, you should be able to keep both her and the new baby rear facing for quite a while yet - which is safest anyway. I would caution against getting your son a booster for many reasons. One - it is a lot harder to buckle in a booster when you have 3 seats across. We still have the Focus and we've had many a skinned knuckle getting our 6 yo buckled into his with his sisters's seats in there as well. Two, most kids aren't mature enough either mentally (to stay seated correctly all the time)or physically (think spine and bone development) to handle a booster. And you definitely want to avoid the backless variety until your little one gets too tall for the back if you can as crash tests show that the high back boosters provide significant more side-impact protection. Anyhow, I would definitely go to a site like pp have mentioned - either car-seat.org or baby center's car seat board and talk to them. I have gotten a lot of great info from them. Congrats and good luck!

I have a toyota corolla and I can fit 3 car seats in my backseat so your vehicle should be fine.

I also have three children. I tried to fit three car seats in regular cars and smaller SUV's, and just didn't have much success. We were also trying to avoid the minivan route (especially my husband) so we purchased a Chrysler Pacifica. We have absolutely loved this car! The car seats fit in easily and it has loads of safety features which I love. Good luck!

I'm with S. W on this. She's right on with everything she said. The Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia are your best SUV options for 3rd row seating. We are kind of in the same situation except we'll have 2 children in car seats plus I have 2 teenage step children that we have to have room for on at any given moment. I am NOT keen on getting a minivan so we're investigating the Outlook/Acadia. They're both made by GM so they look, interior and exterior, the same. They both get 24 MPG (pretty good and comparable to a lot of minivans) and have 100,000 mile warranties. And they do have the second row option of having captain chairs. So the interior has a minivan layout. I was very impressed with the vehicles and when it's time for us to buy we're most likely going to be getting one of these 2.

Again, going back to what S. said, you can fit 3 car seats in any larger sedan but you have to think what are you going to do with everything else? Once you get the stroller in the trunk, it leaves little room for much else let alone a week's worth of groceries. You would have to go shopping alone if you were to make a trip to Sams or Costco. Or what if a friend or family member wants to come along?

I think you're going to be better off shopping for a new car. Most of the vehicles I found with 3 rows were either out of our price range or you had to fold a seat down in the second row so someone from the back could get through. That wouldn't work for us because a car seat would be there so esentailly the 3rd row would be useless. I was so happy to see SUV's coming out with the captain chairs in the 2nd row. So far the Outlook/Acadia are only ones I've found like this although there may be others.

Mazda cx-9 is a cross-over, not a minivan. it has 2 back rows. I can fit 3 full size car seats in the second row alone, leaving the back for strollers etc.