Where do you put two convertible carseats in a minivan?

We are in the process of upgrading from our little Toyota Corolla to a Toyota Sienna. Wo-hoo on having more space! Boo-hoo on having a car payment... OK so we were originally looking at the 7 passenger model which has the two captain chairs in the second row, we really like that model and thought for sure that was what we would end up with. Now we have the opportunity to purchase an 8 passenger and so I'm trying to figure out what would be the safest and most functional way to put two convertible carseats in there if we do end up buying it. It's just my two girls for now, but occasionally I give rides to people and I want the back row to be accessible. I'm not sure if I should just take out that middle seat and sit them on the sides or take off one of the sides. There are a few different possibilities but I can't quite figure it out since I don't have the van to play around with and we haven't bought the convertible seats yet. Anyhoo, all you Minivan Mommy's I would appreciate your expertise in this situation.

Thanks

MJ

 

We put them in the captians seats. I love my sienna!

 

Our boys are currently in their infant seats, and in the back row. DD is in one of the captain's seats, and we leave the other captain's seat folded down - that gives me space to get the boys in and out.

We are soon moving them to their convertible seats. DD will move to the back row, and the boys will be in the captain's seats.

 

QUOTE(Ash Twins @ Aug 17 2008, 10:38 PM) [snapback]934477[/snapback]
We put them in the captians seats. I love my sienna!


Ditto and Ditto!!

 

I love my Sienna as well and we do both in the captain seats.

 

We also put our boys in the Captain's seats when we had our van- that way they cannot bother each other as much I just got a CRV last October and the boys are closer to one another and it was a huge adjustment. I miss my minivan and plan to get back my "Minivan Mama" status as soon as I can. Don't get me wrong- I love my CRV but I miss the extra seating and room of my van.

Tracy
Mom to Griffin & Alex :itwins_boys:
03/14/02 34wks

 

QUOTE(Ash Twins @ Aug 17 2008, 06:38 PM) [snapback]934477[/snapback]
We put them in the captians seats. I love my sienna!


Ditto!

 

I love my sienna as well. We have the 2 captains seats. The onle slides to the middle if you need people to get to the back.

 

We have a Windstar. We took out the middle seat and moved the big back seat to the middle. We put all 3 kids there. Then I have all the room for stuff in the back. =)

 

you will loooove thye sienna!! ditto on the captain seats with one moved to the center to allow room to get to back seat.

 

We have a Hyundai Entourage, and have the girls in the captains seats. The occasional passenger sits in the back row (or sits in the passenger seat and mommy sits in the back row).

 

My girls are older so they are both in the backseat but, if they were infants, I would have put them in the captain's chairs. As a pp mentioned, you can probably take out the center seat and slide one of the captain's chairs towards the middle so that you'll still have access to the back. That is how our Odyssey is currently set up.

 

We traded in our CRV for a Dodge caravan while we were still pregnant. We have the baby seats in the second row and our 3yo in the 3rd row. Our 3 yo old can climb into the back and into her seat and we can strap our boys in through each passenger door. This works nicely for us. My DH really did not want a van and loved his CRV. But now he LOVES the van.

Loralyn

 

I love our Sienna and when it is time for the next step in car seats, they will be in the captains seats as well!

 

We have the captain's chairs and put a carseat in each captain's chair.

 

captains chairs!

We have a town and country and love it!

 

Our 5-yr-old sits in the back seat and the twinnies are in the captain seats. We have a Town & Country and looooove it :good:

 

We got our Honda Odyssey when the boys were around 5 mos old. They were in their infant seats, but even after we moved up to convertible seats, they've always been in the middle row on the sides by the sliding doors. I have a seat in between them that does fold down (to make 2 captains chairs) & I can move the 2 'captain chairs' to one side to be side by side. I won't lie, when they were rear facing, it was nearly impossible to get to the back row (except in the infant seats b/c we'd get back there before snapping them into the bases). Now that they're forward facing, it's MUCH easier! Until we have another little one, they'll stay right where they are...they each get a window to look out, they can't TOUCH each other, & they're easy to load in & out.

Enjoy your van! I swore I'd never get one, but I'm in love (DH TOO!)

 

Captains chairs when they are in the van and whoever sits in the back seat climbs in front of the seats to get in the back. I miss the van, my dh drives it to work now and the girls are in my Saturn (way too small).

 

We have them in the captains chairs.

 

Thanks for all your help and advice! We are buying the Sienna today and I am SO excited :icon_biggrin:

MJ

 

We have a Kia Sedona van and we'll put the babies in the captain chairs and my three younger stepdaughters (16,11,9 y/o) will have to ride in the back row. I'm not lugging those infant seats and/or babies over/past those captains chairs!

Congrats on the new van!