6 adults + 2 child seats in a minivan?

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What about the setup i described earlier: 1 car seat in center of 2nd row and 1 in center of 3rd row? Not doable?

I see your update with further information now. The child seat in the second row's middle jump seat is going to rob the passengers on either side of room. If you can fit it, that might work, but it's going to be very uncomfortable for the surrounding adults.

Got it. I was actually more worried about the third row where the bench is a lot more narrow than in the second row.

 

[Pesca]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What about the setup i described earlier: 1 car seat in center of 2nd row and 1 in center of 3rd row? Not doable?


in fact, it will depend also of the size of the people travelling with the children: are they all adults or do you have teenagers too?

It will sure not be fun to travel sitting side by side to a child seat, compare to seating on the front row.

Depending of the persons you will have, you'd rather install the older ones on the second row than at the back, and you can stack teenagers and smaller adults at the back.

Like JHZR2 said, middle seat on second row is more a "you are late, you will have no choice" seat. One of my DIL, the nicest of the two, will always volunteer for this seat, but she is more the exception that the rule (she wanted to be with my daughter).

You can try your solution but people on the third row may sit more sideways than straight depending how big they are.

Or the two child seats on the second row as the middle "not so good"seat will get more lateral space than usual making it less uncomfortable.


For sure, it will be an ideal time for bonding for the family

 

[rjundi]

I think a Suburban/Yukon XL is a much better vehicle for this.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
I think a Suburban/Yukon XL is a much better vehicle for this.

I don't think they have any more space though? Or atleast very little more.
Anyways, a little discomfort and inconvenience isn't a bad thing once in a while, builds character and appreciation. Its not like they travel this way 3 months of the year, every year.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: rjundi
I think a Suburban/Yukon XL is a much better vehicle for this.

I don't think they have any more space though? Or atleast very little more.
Anyways, a little discomfort and inconvenience isn't a bad thing once in a while, builds character and appreciation. Its not like they travel this way 3 months of the year, every year.

They have much more space. The seats are wider and there is more cargo space behind the third row, all of which is important when trying to wedge 8 people into 8 seats for an 8 day trip.

 

[BryanTDI12]

Adding in my 2 cents. I rented a 8 passenger 2015 Toyota Sienna for 9 days last week to travel from Arizona to Florida to Missouri then back to Arizona; 4k miles total.

With 4 adults, 2 kids, and 1 car seat there was plenty of room (compared to the Honda Pilot my aunt wanted to take). However, I had to put the car seat behind the driver's seat as the car seat was too wide to fit in the center seat not allowing the passenger seat to slide to gain access to the third row. 1 of the 2 kids sat in the center seat which they liked because it had the armrest which would cradle them. The center seat does not slide forward independently.

If you are concerned about LATCHES, the Sienna is limited to 2 in the third row and 1 in passenger seat? I didn't use the LATCH just the old fashion seat belt.

I did log my gas mileage and averaged 23mpg doing avg 75mph and at times up to 100mph. It's in Fuelly under "Rental Sienna" if you want to see the details. There was no differences in running different octanes.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
I think a Suburban/Yukon XL is a much better vehicle for this.

I was looking at it, too. But at least on paper, Suburban's interior dimensions are actually smaller than Sienna's.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: BryanTDI12
1 of the 2 kids sat in the center seat which they liked because it had the armrest which would cradle them.

Thanks. How tall and heavy was this kid?

 

[threeputtpar]

In our Ody, we have the rear-facing car seat in the middle of the second row and can easily fit two full-sized adults along side. The two side seats do slide out towards the doors by 2", and it makes a huge difference. Both of the outside seats are able to roll and fold forward at the same time to allow access to the 3rd row seat.

Now, to have a car seat (rear or forward facing) in the middle of the 3rd row and still fit two adults might be a bit of a cramped situation. We currently have two forward-facing seats in the 3rd row for our 7 and 4 year olds and it would be impossible to get an adult in the middle or even another small child. Maybe with the narrowest child seat on the market in the middle you can get the smallest two adults in the 3rd row, but I wouldn't want to draw the short straw and sit back there for more than an hour.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: threeputtpar
Maybe with the narrowest child seat on the market in the middle you can get the smallest two adults in the 3rd row, but I wouldn't want to draw the short straw and sit back there for more than an hour.

Thanks. The second rear-facing infant car seat has not been purchased yet. I could try to buy one that is narrow - any suggestions? I need something relatively cheap as it'll only be used on this trip and never again.

Still debating on this. We might just stick to two cars as we will all be more comfortable that way, but will need to have two drivers.

 

[threeputtpar]

Honestly, my wife purchased all of our car seats so I don't know much about them. Britax is our preferred brand.