How do you have the seats arranged in your van?

I can't figure out the best way to arrange the car seats / seat in my van. We have the twins in infant seats, and a 3 yr old in a Graco Nautilus. I drive an Odyssey, and my 3yr old can not buckle/ unbuckle himself.

I can
Scoot 2nd row captain chairs together and put twins there with 3 yr old in the 3rd row (babies closer to me, may be able to put them both in from one door, can fold down part of back seat for more trunk space)

Remove 1 captain chair from 2nd row, put 3 yr old in 2nd row and twins in the 3rd row (allowing more room for me to climb in and buckle everyone)

Leave captain chairs in outboard positions, remove console/jumpseat in the middle and put 3 yr old in the 3rd row


How do you have your van set up? How does it work/ not work for you?

 

I have my 5 year old DD in the middle of the back seat (Nissan Quest). She is in a Britax regent which is a 5 point harness. But she is able to get herself in and out. The twins are in the captain chairs in the middle in Britax Marathans. It's impossible to get in the backseat unless you crawl under the twins' carseat. This arrangement works for us very well for the time being. When I'm able to turn the twins around it will be perfect!

Can you teach your 3 year old how to get himself in and out? That would be your best bet! I think my DD started doing it by herself when she was 3.5.

 

QUOTE(beachbum @ Jan 7 2009, 02:35 PM) [snapback]1136529[/snapback]
Scoot 2nd row captain chairs together and put twins there with 3 yr old in the 3rd row


How do you have your van set up? How does it work/ not work for you?


I have a Sienna and this is what we did. Works well for us.

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Jan 7 2009, 09:47 AM) [snapback]1136553[/snapback]
I have a Sienna and this is what we did. Works well for us.


I also have a Sienna, and have the same set-up.

 

Thank you for this thread.
I have 3yo and twins on the way and was looking for the car to acconmodate all carseats.
so far we end up with sienna 8 passangers seats because I want to put all babies on the second row.
I am afraid to teach my DS to buckle himself up and unbuckle because I am affraid he will do it during the driving for fun. might be when he woudl be older I will try to do it and put him on the 3rd row.

 

I dont drive a van. However, I do have an SUV. I have four kids total. My 11 and 6 year old sit in the very back of the vehicle. Twins sit in the middle seat. There is also room for one person between the twins.

 

I have the odessy and am planning on putting the two captain seats together too, otherwise, how can you get past the rear facing infant seats?

My back seat doesn't fold down with the split, but one of the people who drive my oldest DS to school, folds down the back seat and goes in through the back, which might work for you too! but you cant have too much stuff stored there.

 

I have the Odyssey, a 3y/o and 3 month old boys. I slid the captains chairs together and put the infant carriers in the 3rd row. 3y/o sits in second row so that I can help him fasten his seat belt around his booster seat. This works fairly well now, but I don't know what I'm going to do when my little guys outgrow their infant carriers and they need to be in rear facing car seats.

 

We have a Town & Country. The twins are in the 3rd row (rear facing) and my 2 1/2 year old is in the captain's chair behind the passenger seat. We stow the seat behind the driver to make it easier for me to climb in and out of the van with the car carriers. Works great for us. If the weather is bad, I hope in, close the door behind me, get everyone situated in their seats and just walk up to my seat and climb in!

 

I have a caravan, which doesnt have captains chairs, just two rows of seats. I initially put my 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr old in the 3rd row seat, w/ the twins right behind me. Once the twins switched to front facing seats, I put both DS's in the back and the girls in the second row behind me, but Ive just recently moved older DD back to the back, and again have the twins in the second row.

For your situation I think it would be easiest to move the captains chairs together and put the twins there, w/ DS in the back.

 

QUOTE(gonersgirl @ Jan 7 2009, 03:07 PM) [snapback]1136986[/snapback]
We have a Town & Country. The twins are in the 3rd row (rear facing) and my 2 1/2 year old is in the captain's chair behind the passenger seat. We stow the seat behind the driver to make it easier for me to climb in and out of the van with the car carriers. Works great for us. If the weather is bad, I hope in, close the door behind me, get everyone situated in their seats and just walk up to my seat and climb in!

I have a Town & Country as well...this is the same set up that I have. It makes it so much easier to hop into the van, buckle everyone & like this poster said, if the weather is bad, I can just climb into my seat.

 

Here's our Odyssey set up:
Middle captains chairs - twins in infant seats - w/ space in middle.
Back row - Britax for 2 1/2 year old who does not buckle himself in - I reach over one of the twins' seats to adjust straps and buckle (he does climb in on his own). After some "training" our oldest learned to climb up into the vehicle ( I refuse to say van ;-) and duck under the infant seat - if it's not in the base he doesn't even have to duck, just walks around it. There are times when I climb in before the seats are in the bases and stand in the middle to buckle him in or adjust things. I can also reach around from the back hatch opening and buckle him from there. We keep one of the 3rd row seats down, too, so he can climb in from the back, as well. I love our set up and have no problem climbing all around in the Odyssey. It may be a little different when the twins are in their Britax Marathons in a few weeks because they are bigger and more "permanent." I'm hoping to keep it set up this way for a while, though. On another note - DH is 6' 3" and he climbs in and around it, too. It's a squeeze, but totally workable.
Good luck w/ what you decide!

 

QUOTE(beachbum @ Jan 7 2009, 09:35 AM) [snapback]1136529[/snapback]
Scoot 2nd row captain chairs together and put twins there with 3 yr old in the 3rd row (babies closer to me, may be able to put them both in from one door, can fold down part of back seat for more trunk space)


I have an almost- 3 year old and 3 month old twins and this is what we do in our Odyssey. The twins are in the 2nd row on the captain seats that are pushed to the driver's side of the van. My oldest sits in the 3rd row on the passenger side so there is no chair in front of her and I can easily reach back there to clip her in and out. She is in a Britax Marathon, the babies are in Graco Snugrides.