Carseat configuration for toddler twins and new baby

I'm sure many of you have minivans, or at least vehicles with a third row, so my question is:

We have 2.5 year old toddlers plus a new little one arriving in a month or so, currently the twins are in the second row of our Honda Odyssey (07) and have that small chair
in between them.

So...my natural instinct was to put them side by side in the third row, then remove the middle seat in the second row, push the chair over to meet the second chair, and therefore have
the baby in the middle of the second row with an empty seat next to him, in case I need to tend to him, and then have that little aisle which would lead nicely to the twins in the third row.
It would be tricky to get stuff to them, since I am constantly handing them snacks/water bottles but they'll just have to adapt I guess.

My husband wants to put the baby in between the twins in the second row, and keep them all close to the front, but I don't think that the small middle seat is intended for a baby car seat, it doesn't have its own LATCH hooks or anything, plus the seatbelt comes out of the ceiling!!!

Tips???

 

I have an odyssey and am in the same situation. I tried all in the same row and it is just too tight so I will put the boys in back and take the middle out. I think I will scoot the captain chairs together and leave a path on the passenger side for them to get to the back.

 

I have a 2006 Odyssey and I have my 2 year old twins in the third row and my 8 month old in the second row in a captain's chair. I removed the jump seat and the second captain's chair for easy access to back. We tried to keep one of the captain's chairs, but there just wasn't enough room to get back there to buckle the twins in (they can't do it themselves yet). Even with the chairs removed, it's still kind of a pain in the butt buckling the twin in that sits behind the baby!!

Congratulations on your latest pregnancy and good luck in the coming months!!!

 

This is exactly what we did. Now they are all in big car seats in the back row but this was the easiest way I found. I had a little storage bin between the twins full of toys and that really seemed to help.

 

we have the girls in the outside middle row and the baby rear facing in between them in the oddyssey (2011). I just found it would be too hard to get to the third row to buckle the girls into their 5pt harnesses. the only down side is having to lift the baby in his carrier seat over the girls roundabout to snap him into the middle. I like having access to hand the girls a tissue or something when I'm driving.

GL

 

I have a Yukon XL, we put our older kids (then 7 and 2.5) in the third row, and we got one with captains chairs so we could put each twin in a captain's chair in the middle row. That way the big kids could walk back between the seats to get into their chairs.

Right now, because of school, we have the twins (2) in the back row, and the older kids (9 and 4.5) in the middle captains chairs. Once school is out, the big kids will move to the back again and the twins will go in the middle again

 

You CANNOT put a baby seat in the 2007 Odyssey "jump" seat. Only the 2011 Odyssey can fit a safety seat in the middle seat of the 2nd row. When my #3 came along, I put the twins in the back and removed one of the big captains seat (passenger side). I put the baby in the driver's side captains seat and kept the "jump" seat in just in case someone needed to sit back there (rare). Removing the larger seat allowed more room to climb back there. Now that we have #4, we have both those seats occupied but I can still get back there. Just not as easily.

 

Thanks everyone, yes I called Honda to confirm and only the 2011s allow the three in a row in the second row. I guess enough parents expressed that they wanted this so they finally did it. My husband wants to go trade it in for a 2011 now (not happening) but I think we'll just do the tried and true method of two in the third row, baby in the second row. Yes the issue will be buckling in the girls, so we'll play around with it I guess. Plus side: no double stroller taking up the cargo space anyway! I have a nice single BOB now, the new 2011, and it will be such a joy just using a single!

 

I have a 07 Explorer and will have the twins in boosters in the 3rd row and the baby in 2nd row. I will put the seat down next to the baby so the twins can climb in and out. By that time, I've got to teach them to do their own buckles!!

 

I did the same thing in my Toyota Sienna. I put my girls in the third row and my son in the second right behind the driver. The girls were both on the ends and we put a basket of toys between them and they had the little compartments back there that they could put toys in also plus cup holders for their drinks. We also moved our seat next to our son so it was easier getting back to my girls to help buckle them in. We usually kept the extra seat down to make even more room of buckling them in and it was there in case we needed it. Even now that is the way we do things and when I have an extra two kids (I baby sit) in the car we just put up the seat. It's very convenient that way.

 

Hi! Congrats! It is way easier than I thought it would be ... the car and everything else! My twins were right at 2.5 when my little one was born (she is now 14 months.) I have a Sequoia and put the twins in the 3rd row and baby right behind me. The middle row is captain's chairs and they fold and slide forward so it is really easy to get the twins in the back by sliding the empty chair forward. I, like you, was used to passing them snacks, pacifiers and etc ... but they really got used to me not being able to do that anymore. They were old enough to "get it." Plus they have their own cupholders and I just made sure that they had everything they needed before we took off and let them know firmly that if they dropped something then I could not get it for them until we got to "point B." I won't say there was NEVER a time that I heard them fuss for 20 minutes bc they couldn't reach their snack that they dropped between the seats or what have you but it wasn't often and really, there is a BIG difference between 2.5 and 3 so it should be a short time for you to be inconvenienced. Way better than having to try to twist and turn and crawl in weird positions to try and get the infant carrier in the 3rd row. Good luck! Really, at this point, I don't think the twins even remember life before Caroline ... the car or the house or any of it!

 

We have an 8 passenger Sienna and the reason I went with this one instead of the Odyssey is because you can put a car seat in the middle seat in the 2nd row. Since I want to extend rear facing my twins, I needed a way to allow my older ds to get to his seat in the 3rd row so the captain seat behind the front passenger seat is removed. That gives me tons of room to move around if I need to be in the van with the kids buckling them in. When we go on vacation, I move my older ds to the 2nd row and put that seat back in. Then we can put the 3rd row in the floor and have tons of cargo space.

 

we also have an oddsey we have our 4 year old twins in the way back with a square tote between there carseats with some car toys in it for them to use on car rides, the baby is behind the drivers side and the second seat is taken out for now to make it easier for me to just jump in and help buckle everyone in and it also makes emergency diaper changing easy on the space on the floor with a changing pad. hope that helps

 

That helps a lot, that's exactly what we are doing-our twin daughters in the third row, but maybe side by side instead of a seat apart, haven't decided if that's good for them or disaster waiting to happen! Then baby behind the drive, with the small extra seat (Honda) next to him in the middle. The captain chair behind the passenger seat will be taken out, so same thing, so we have room to get to the back and buckle in the ladies.
Sigh...feels like we are constantly reorganizing/coordinating/selling/buying something!

 

We have a Chrysler Town & Country and we have the twins in the 3rd row. I don't see how another car seat could possibly fit between them. Ryder is in the middle row captain seat. We have the stow and go seats so we always keep that 2nd captains seat down in the 2nd row so it's super easy to get the twins in and out (and more storage for strollers/groceries, etc...). It has worked out REALLY well.

 

We have a Honda Pilot, which has 3 rows. We have all 3 kids in the second row (baby in the middle). It's a really tight fit and hard to get the baby in her seat, but I wanted to have the back for storage. (We keep the 3rd row of seats down, except for the dog's seat in the 3rd row).