[nikkirxd]

Hello. I posted this on a different forum, but thought I'd try it here too. Looking at test driving soon. Have two convertible car seats, currently one rear-facing and one forward facing. I hate minivans, so trying to decide the best configuration to get in order to actually be able to use the third row seat. You would think someone would have thought about this issue when designing a family car. Anyway, others have said that the second row captain's chairs without a center console allows a person to sneak around the baby car seats through the area where the console would be and into the third row. Does anyone else out there have any insight on how easy/difficult this would be?

 

[clbhk]

Not directly answering your question about captain's chairs, but maybe something to think about. We have two car seats in ours. One is a rear-facing infant car seat for our newborn niece, whom my wife watches daily. The other is a booster for our 4 year old.

We have 8-passenger seating, so we have the car seats/bases anchored in the second row on the driver's side. We have the booster in the middle position and the infant seat base on the outside, for easier in and out. The passenger-side middle-row "single seat" is then free to slide, allowing for easy entry into the third row. Our two older children have no problem getting in and out of the third row.

The middle row bench also allows our three kids to all be in the middle row when we travel, freeing up the entire back for stuff. But then we are down to 1 car seat.

It might be difficult to fit two infant/toddler car seats side-by-side the way we have ours. It would depend on their width. Something maybe to look into.

 

[t4me]

Our experiences with two car seats were both in our Venture minivan. However, currently having both the Venture and the Traverse and using both, I can tell you the experience would be the same for both. We chose the two captains chairs in the minivan on purpose since we did not have the easy-slide/glide feature available like it is in the Traverse. It worked very well for us. Obviously, you would not get around the rear facing seat as easy as a forward facing seat. We were able to move around the forward facing seat and in between the captains chairs into the third row, or if the third row is down, you get right to the cargo area with the third row down and can crawl around til your hearts content in the back. What I actually miss (never thought I would) is the Venture's built-in ability to step over the mesh floor storage between the front bucket seating and right into the second row (to help adjust children's attitudes or get to snacks in the cargo area by stepping right down the middle to the cargo area). This is mostly impossible with the large console found between the two front Traverse bucket seats. To date, our 5 and 6 year old are in booster seats in the captains chairs of the Traverse. We have the ability to sneak around their legs and literally walk into the third row or get right to the folded-down third row and thus the cargo area. There is plenty of room for me personally between the captains chairs in the second row. The exact measurements just taken by me show 12" from bucket edge to bucket edge. However, the inside arm rests on each chair, which swing up and down, leave only 7" of actual space to squeeze through to get to the third row. Funny, I never realized it was that little space as I always turned sideways and never seemed to uncomfortable moving through. I never had the chance to get used to the new slide feature so I do not know how that would work for you on the road. Good luck.

 

[mihalich]

Slightly different perspective, since this doesn't affect you now, but will in the future. Both of our kids are in booster seats now. We have the two captains chairs in the 2nd row. I can say that getting the seat belts fastened on them is a little more than slightly annoying. The booster seat bases are just wide enough where if they're in the correct position on the bottom seat cushion, the seat belt is almost impossible to get into the buckle because of the angles involved. You have to slide the booster seat to the side a little (with the kid in it), then buckle the seat belt, then slide the seat back to the center of the cushion. We have the Graco booster seats, with the seat backs.

The same problem exists on both chairs, only in the inverted direction obviously.

That being said, I still like the 7 seat configuration and am glad I got it.

- Joe

 

[t4me]

Joe, Ditto that concern with my 5 and 6 year old. We have the booster seats without backs but with the side arm rests. The arm rest has to set right up against the seat belt clip and in the winter, the kids cannot buckle their own seat belts easily because there is no room between the arm rest of the booster and the seat belt clip. As bad as I thought the Venture minivan 2nd row captains chairs were seat belt wise, I swear these clips are mounted even closer in from the outside of the seat bottom (did a single guy or gal design this? :banghead. I thought this was going to be a huge problem right now, but my wife has been using it all week and the kids buckle themselves in just fine without the seats needing to be moved. I am not convinced that the booster seat sits exactly flat. My wife disagrees and says all is well. I cannot imagine having to buckle the kids seat belts yourself (I have purged that history inside the Venture minivan from my mind).

Also, just remember that if you do attempt to walk between the 2nd row captains chairs, make sure to pick up the tissues, hats, jackets, gloves, toys, computer games, sunglasses, etc that all seem to flow to that floor area. I think there is some magnetic force going on : that pulls everything into that area.

 

[Narg]

Not sure I agree, but this guy seems to think car seats are worthless to kids over 1 year old...

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats.html

Worth a watch, very interesting.

 

[OVurt]

We have the 2 bench rows for 8 passenger seating. We have 4 kids and wanted the extra seating for their friends.

We have 2 older kids and an infant rear facing car seat and a front facing toddler car seat. The infant car seat is on the left side behind the driver. The toddler car seat is in the third row on the 40 portion of the 60/40 bench. This allows us to quickly flip up the second row seat to get access into the 3rd row. This also allows us to fold down the 60 portion of the 3rd row for more cargo space. Then the older kids sit one in the 2nd row and the other in the 3rd row.

With this setup we can get the toddler easily into her car seat in the 3rd row. With the size of our carseats, we couldn't put them side by side in the 2nd row and then still be able to flip up the seat to get into the 3rd row.

The kids like it. But sometimes my wife is in the car with only the toddler. And it's weird to have the toddler sitting all the way back in the 3rd row with no one else in the 2nd row. Once the toddler is in a booster seat, we will probably move her up the middle spot on the 2nd row bench seat.

 

[SarcastiCarrie]

Keep in mind: There is no LATCH in the 3rd row and in the 3rd row, only the center position has a top tether.

We have the rear-facing infant seat behing the passenger and the forward facing pre-schooler (in a Graco Nautilus) behind the driver with 8 passenger seating. To accomodate driving with more adults, I just moved the pre-schooler to the 40-portion of the 3rd row. The seat fits fine there installed using the vehicle's seat belt, but it is not a recommended place for car seat installation (I have no idea why).

 

[09Enclave]

Yeah, I just had to pull our my manual....it seems funny that the 3rd row only has the middle teather, but no LATCH on any position, and the 2nd row (bench) has the LATCH on just the outer two positions.  ??? (We have the 8-pass) and our 3 year old rides in the 40-portion of the second row, and my 6 year old rides either in the second row, or third row outer spots with a booster.
 

 

[fdefulvio]

Instead of starting a new topic "Experience with THREE car seats", I thought I would just post here.

I finally got a chance to check out a Traverse today at my local dealer, and I was surprised to see no Latch in the third row. I have three kids, and thought that my two older kids ( 5 and 6 1/2 ) would be in booster seats in the third row with my 3 month old in the second row. Do minivans typically not have the Latch in the 3rd row either?

I was thinking about getting the 8 passenger seating, before the Latch issue, and placing my two older kids in the third row. Since there would only be one car seat in the second row, it would be easy enough to fold one seat forward for them to climb back there, and we would be able to get two more people in the second row, when needed. Now I'm thinking I might just need to put all three kids in the second row. Or do I go with the buckets and put one kid in the middle third row? Can the second row seats be folded forward with a booster seat attached?

I didn't notice if there was a Latch in the middle second row with 8 passenger seating. I was able to get three across in my Envoy by sharing the outer passenger Latches, which I no is not recommended, but that was my only option. I'm interested in hearing what others are doing with three or more car seats.

 

[Narg]

I personally have never seen a latch in a 3rd row of any vehicle. I've not seen a booster with the need for a latch either. When my daughter turned 6, I got rid of the boosters and bought a device to adjust the shoulder harnest to make the seat belt fit her better. Seems to me a booster could be very dangerous in an accident rather than the other way around. Nothing beats the solidity of the original seat in a vehicle. And if the kid is buckled down properly, adding seat adjustements seems wrong. I'm starting to agree more with the guy in the video above, that the seat industry is over-selling their products. Especially since the real world data shows no difference in the crash results for with or without a seat.

 

[danthechevyman]

I just went out and visually confirmed that the Traverse has LATCH in all 3 positions on the middle row and in the middle position of the third row. This was an LS model.

 

[fdefulvio]

I just went out and visually confirmed that the Traverse has LATCH in all 3 positions on the middle row and in the middle position of the third row. This was an LS model.

That's goog to know. I think I was looking at a leather interior when I noticed no latches. I didn't check in the 8 passenger cloth interior. I'm assuming the 8 passenger cloth in the 2LT would be the same as the LS. My kids are on the smaller side, and my wife had me get boosters with a 5-point harness and Latch.

 

[intotheoh]

Nothing that hasn't already been said. I have a Traverse with a bench seat and two convertible car seats (Recaro's!)


They only take a moment to re-engage but I often wish I had captains chairs.

 

[admin]

We got our Acadia (exact same seat configuration - sister car) with 2nd row capts chairs for EXACTLY this reason. In fact, I'd go so far as to say none of my lambda forums would exist if it weren't for this exact feature, which is why we bought the Acadia to begin with... which subsequently lead me to create these forums

At the time, we had the same configuration as you - 1 rear facing and one front facing seat. With the capts chairs (no center console), one can easily accommodate two child seats and still have access to the 3rd row. We configured ours to maximize functionality by sliding the front facing seat all the way back - this facilitates easier access to the third row for adults climbing in. On the other seat (rear facing at first, now second front facing), we slide it about 2/3 of the way forward - just beyond the reach of the 2 year old's kick to the back of the passenger seat - to maximize leg room for one of the 3rd row seats. This configuration makes it fairly easy for even a normal sized adult (I'm 5'10" and 175lbs and have no problems getting in/out) to both enter/exit the 3rd row and still have plenty of room once there.

 

[imgntht]

Just to add my .02 to this, my wife has a 2009 Traverse LT with Captain's Chairs, and I own a 2007 Acadia SLE with the 2nd row bench. Each year we take a road trip to Michigan and last year we only had my Acadia to take on the trip. At the time we had a 5 month old in the rear facing carrier and a 3 year old in a front facing booster. They both sit in the 2nd row on the outboard seats, leaving a space between them to avoid the usual brother beatings. My in-laws share this trip with us and drive their own car, but once we reach our destination we try to all drive in my Acadia to do little shopping stops and whatnot. My mother-in-law literally had to climb in and out through the tailgate in order to get into the 3rd row...not that I'm complaining about that It really was funny, yet embarrassing, when we arrived anywhere. We folded one side of the 3rd row down so she could cilmb up and around into the non-folded seat.

This year we plan to take my wife's Traverse as it will avoid this entire situation. Although my wife still thinks we may take mine...I thought she loved her mom more than that! :

 

[Chuckndiscs]

My perspective:

I have a rear facing 6 month old and a 3 year old forward facing. We just traded in our 2002 Durango with the 2nd row bench and third row seating for a Traverse LT with captain's chairs (and Leather). We spent the extra money for the captains chairs AND WE ABSOLUTELY love having them! We have not used our Durango's third row in 6 months due to the second baby seat and now, with the Traverse, we can use it just fine. The rear facing seat, as previously mentioned, is tougher to get around but can be done. The forward facing older child's seat is very easy to get around and back to the third row. WE ARE FINALLY able to use our third row seating again, HOW NICE!!

You should be fine using and getting to the third row seat with the captains chairs and 2 car seats in a Traverse...we are!

Chuck-n-Discs

 

[OVurt]

I just rearranged our carseats. We have the 2nd row bench. I have a forward facing car seat for the 2 year old in the left spot and a rear facing infant carrier in the middle seat. This allows easy access to the 3rd row for the 2 older kids. I had never tried this configuration because it looked like the car seats were too wide. But surprisingly it fits.

 

[imgntht]

I just rearranged our carseats. We have the 2nd row bench. I have a forward facing car seat for the 2 year old in the left spot and a rear facing infant carrier in the middle seat. This allows easy access to the 3rd row for the 2 older kids. I had never tried this configuration because it looked like the car seats were too wide. But surprisingly it fits.

I think I am going to experiment with this in my Acadia with 2nd row bench. I always thought the same thing about the width not allowing it to work. The only negatives I can see with this are that my 2 boys will be able to hit/annoy each other more and reaching over to the center to get the baby out would be difficult. Suppose I could place the 3 year old in the middle, but is this as safe as the outboard position? (ie. more chance for him to fly through the windshield in an accident?)

 

[tsavos]

The reason we went with the Traverse (1LT) with the co-captains chairs option was because we wanted a third row for Grandparents/others to ride in with two forward facing toddler seats on the chairs. One of the toddler chairs is oversize (Graco) so putting them both together on the 60/40 2nd row bench was not an option. The 2nd row chairs are slid all the way forward and it's still far to reach to pass them their sippy cups or toys! We love having the ability to take the Grandparents with us without them "following" us everywhere in their car. The kids love the built-in DVD player, but we haven't tried to do the wireless headphones yet.