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Three Car Seats?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by boulder_bum, Dec 22, 2008.

  1. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    Well, Priuschatters, I know a few of you had three carseats in the back seats, and I'm wanting to get advice on that possibility.

    I currently have a 6- and 17-month old and it turns out my wife might be :preggers: again.

    I figure the configuration will be two front-facing seats with one rear-facing (probably no booster seat for awhile).

    We currently have two Graco "Safe Seats", and it's clear that they are going to be too big to fit a third seat in.
     
    #1 boulder_bum, Dec 22, 2008
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    It's doable, but you've gotta find the right seats for sure.
    What specific advice are you looking for? Basically you just have to try various seats...and they're TIGHT, but they will fit if you find the right ones.
     
    #2 efusco, Dec 22, 2008
  3. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    You have three, right?

    Which seats do you have packed in there?

    As an aside, I wish they had hybrid or electric minivans (Estima?). The hybrid SUV's with third row seating all seem to be gas guzzlers. I hear such minivans might come as early as 2010, and we want to find a way to make our current car work until then.
     
    #3 boulder_bum, Dec 22, 2008
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I don't know what they were...my 3 are 9 y/o twins and a 4 year old...the 4 y/o is in a booster and the boys are in the regular seats now and it's been years since I had all 3 in car seats. There were Graco, but I have no idea what models.

    Our HiHy gets around 28-30mpg in our daily driving, not as great at interstate speeds (drops to low 20s)...so really not terrible. And that's with my wife as primary driver and a very short commute (about 4 miles). When I drive I typically average 35mpg+.
     
    #4 efusco, Dec 22, 2008
  5. eklabbers

    eklabbers New Member

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    Congrats on the pregnancy. I have no experience with having 3 car seats in the Prius, but just wanted to give you some advice. While most states say it is ok to FF (forward-face) kids when they're 1 year old and 20 lbs, for their safety you should RF (rear-face) until the upper RF weight limit of the car seat. For a Britax Marathon and similar convertible car seats this is 35 lbs. Look up a video on YouTube by typing in YouTube rear facing in Google and you'll see how important it is.

    Check out different convertible seats, I think the Evenflo Triumph Advance,which gets really good ratings might be a good fit. We bought one recently but haven't installed it in the Prius yet. However, installing two of those and an infant car seat may be tight. Our second car is the Highlander Hybrid and that would have way more room for three car seats. Good luck!
     
    #5 eklabbers, Dec 22, 2008
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Actually the HiHy does not have "way more room"...there are a few inches more space at the hip level making installation of three seats a bit easier, but they're still tight. You can look up the 'hip width' online to compare, but it's not as much wider as you'd think.

    I, too, have heard that keeping the kids rear facing up to age 2 is better... but to get on my soap box a bit, I'm not convinced. The incidence of serious injuries and the limited ability to compare similar cases make me skeptical that there is a significant difference. And cramping up a kid's legs tightly, particularly on longer trips, make me think this is an OVERabundance of caution.

    There are some serious car-seat nazis out there that will make you think you need a week long course to properly install a car seat or you kid will die in the slightest collision. Again, I'm skeptical. YES, I fully believe in car seats and their proper use, but not to the extremes that some prefer.
     
    #6 efusco, Dec 22, 2008
  7. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    Does the HiHy come with third-row seating?
     
    #7 boulder_bum, Dec 23, 2008
  8. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    I hear ya. I consider the rear facing set up dangerous for other reasons. It's important to be able to see kids that age to make sure they aren't choking on a goldfish cracker, throwing up, or doing something else hazardous to their own health, etc. Having them turned nice person backwards makes that nearly impossible without dangerous levels of driver distraction to monitor them. While I understand the safety mavens concerns, I disagree with their prioritization of risk--I detect some myopia. 9 years ago I was toying with making a video baby monitor camera to plug into the dash to solve the problem...back before the camera phone craze. One concern I had was that in a collision the imaging device would be hurled at the child if not well secured.

    Perhaps my judgement is skewed by childhood experiences: I'm a firm believer in seat belts, but I survived standing upright during drives in the front seat of Corvair as a very small boy. (I remember my mother throwing her arm across me when she braked suddenly.)
     
    #8 Celtic Blue, Dec 23, 2008
  9. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Yes Very cramped for all but the smallest kids though. My 9 year olds only like sitting back there for very short trips.
     
    #9 efusco, Dec 23, 2008
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I don't want anyone to get me wrong here. I'm an ER doc, my wife is a pediatrician. ABSOLUTELY every child should be rear facing until age 1...no question, no doubt...their heads are larger, their necks are weak, and the safety up to that age is unquestioned. There are mirrors that you can install to let you watch the child so I don't think that's a huge issue. But beyond age 1 the kids are getting long, sitting rear facing puts their legs in very uncomfortable positions and I'm not yet convinced that an average sized 1+ year old benefits from being rear facing.
     
    #10 efusco, Dec 23, 2008
  11. VTMRGRTVL

    VTMRGRTVL New Member

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    We switched the twins to FF seats at just over a year. I had to spend some time in a Walmart and Kids Town with a tape measure to make it work. We currently have a 5 yo and a pair of soon to be 3 yo in the back without too much trouble. I'll have to verify the brands of the seats. I am sure that two are graco and the other is Cosco. It works with 3 in the back because the seat we have in the center is a bit higher off of the seat.

    You will also need a good ShopVac for the Goldfish, Cheerios, Pretzels, ......
     
    #11 VTMRGRTVL, Dec 23, 2008
  12. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    Are there child seat anchors in the third row of seats?

    :)

    I am curious to see what your seat arrangement is!
     
    #12 boulder_bum, Dec 23, 2008
  13. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I don't think so.
     
    #13 efusco, Dec 23, 2008
  14. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    It is a design rule here that every seat position behind the front row must have an anchor screw hole. Is it not the same there?
     
    #14 patsparks, Dec 31, 2008
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