three car seats in a row

I have 19 month twins and I am expecting another baby in Febuary. I am
currently using the Britax Marathons for my twins and I have a graco
infant seat which I was intending to use for the new baby. But I'm not
going to be able to fit all three car seats into my volvo 240DL. I am
moving abroad in about six months time so I really don't want to spend a
lot on a car. And I don't like SUV's. If anybody has any suggestions as
to what kind of car I could get - that isn't too big but that will fit
three seats - I would really appreciate it! THANK YOU!

Ericka Kammerer...

Good luck! I can't imagine you'll be successful,
though. Friends were in a similar situation and measured
how much space it took to get three carseats in a row
(a Britax, an infant seat, and a decent sized booster)
and they ended up with an Expedition. They claimed
that short of a large luxury sedan sort of car, it
was the only thing that fit :-/ I don't know how
extensive their research was, or what sorts of cars
they focused on though. We ended up with a minivan
because it felt less large to drive than the other
options when we went to three kids (and we only had
two in carseats).

Circe...

Well, those folks ended up with an Expedition was that they were unwilling
to to consider minivans, not because the Expedition was the only thing that
would work short of a luxury sedan.

Ericka Kammerer...

True. For some strange reason, they weren't willing
to have any kids in the "way back." They wanted all three
right behind the front seat, so they were looking for something
that would fit all three of the carseats they had (big ones--
a couple of Britax seats and an infant seat) across the one
row. Maybe it's because they were planning a newborn, a
2yo, and a 4yo who has some developmental issues so they
wanted them all closer to hand. Frankly, I'd rather have
the kids more separated myself ;-)

Circe...

LOL, I'm totally with you! When we drove the minivan off the lot, I remember
remarking to my husband that being able to have the two squabbling siblings
in separate rows was, by itself, worth the price of admission.

Ericka Kammerer...

You betcha ;-) Whichever one is being a pill gets
to be Far Away From Me. That way I don't hear the under
the breath mutterings and I can chalk non-responses up to
being too far away to hear ;-) Although, the boys are
big enough that if they choose, they can get into between-
rows warfare. Drives me nuts sometimes...

Circe...

We get some between-rows fights as well, but not too many yet.

Ericka Kammerer...

We've got plenty of sibling rivalry to go around
at home and in the car, at least between the boys, who
can't seem to keep their hands (and feet, and other body
parts) to themselves.

Nikki...

Or bodily fluids. This seems all so familiar :-) I'm lusting after a
minivan, lol.

My problem now is that I need *three* separate rows : one row per kid. At
almost 4yo, the youngest is old enough now to be perfectly capable of
squabbling with either one or both of his older siblings (and usually at the
drop of a hat). As a general rule, I keep my daughter (who's 6.5yo) in the
back row and the boys (8.5 and nearly 4) in the middle row, but sometimes,
the boys fight with each other almost as much as they fight with their
sister.

dragonlady...

We insisted on captain's seats in the middle row instead of a bench
seat, hoping to cut down on some of the antagonism. It helped, since
the kids could sit without touching each other.

Oddly, my daughter and the youngest are really very close and play together
well and often at home; it's just that when we put them in the car next to
one another, their relationship seems to degenerate very quickly. I have no
idea why!

Ericka Kammerer...

Strangely enough, we're still fine with two rows.
For us, it usually works best with DS1 (nearly 11) in the middle next
to DD (2), and DS2 (8) in the back. DS1 and DD get along really
well, and he's great about helping her out and keeping her
entertained. But, DS1 is also the one who's most likely to be
a pill. If things are going south with DD and DS2 is sitting
next to her, he usually just manages to make the situation
worse somehow (not on purpose--he just doesn't have a clue
what to do with her).

As an amusing side, DS1's birthday is early next
month and he's been wanting to go to Medieval Times, which
is conveniently running a kids free special, so we're going
to surprise him on his birthday with a trip there and he'll
be knighted in the arena. I think he'll get a big kick out
of that. But we're not taking the small fry (the show and
dinner doesn't even start until her bedtime), so we'll only
have two in the car for that trip.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Best wishes,
Ericka

And I would be willing to bet my life that three seats would fit quite
handily in the back of a new Ford 500/Mercury Montego. We rented one when we
were in DC over the summer and they are VERY spacious in the rear. They run
around $22,500, which isn't exactly cheap, but isn't want I'd consider the
"luxury sedan" price category, either...

If you're willing to change carseats, you'll
have more options. I have another friend who managed
two boosters and an infant (later toddler) seat in a
moderate sized sedan, but she had to shop carefully
for the carseats to find small ones. She couldn't have
fit two Marathons and an infant seat in her car, though.

Best wishes,
Ericka