Leslie asks:
I’m curious to know your carseating plans for three little ones. How is Bo currently carseated and what are your plans for your girls?
I currently drive a GMC Acadia, which I love. We have no plans to trade in the Acadia or switch to a minivan. My car will be the family car and will house all three carseats.
I have put a lot of thought into how we will arrange the car once the girls arrive and I think that a lot of the organization will be trial and error. I am unsure at this point if it will be smarter to put Bo in the far back and the girls in the captain’s chairs or to leave Bo where he is currently (captain’s chair behind the driver) and put both of the girls in the far back, leaving the second captain’s chair empty for another passenger and to move forward to place the girls in the back. Any thoughts or input on this would be greatly appreciated!
As far as actual carseats, we have two Graco SnugRide 
carseats for the girls. One is the seat that we bought new for Bo and we bought another one, new, recently. I still need to purchase a Double Snap N Go Stroller to haul the carseats. While I do not think we’ll be going too many places when the girls are really little, I know that there is no way I am going to be able to carry both carseats and corral Bo on my own without a stroller.
carseats for the girls. One is the seat that we bought new for Bo and we bought another one, new, recently. I still need to purchase a Double Snap N Go Stroller to haul the carseats. While I do not think we’ll be going too many places when the girls are really little, I know that there is no way I am going to be able to carry both carseats and corral Bo on my own without a stroller. Bo currently has a Britax Marathon
and we plan to buy two more of these for the girls when they are ready. The Marathon holds little ones to 65 pounds — so it is a long-lasting carseat and has the top safety rating.
and we plan to buy two more of these for the girls when they are ready. The Marathon holds little ones to 65 pounds — so it is a long-lasting carseat and has the top safety rating. We have two extra carseats that we inherited from cousin Charlie and one of those is in Mike’s car and one is in my mom’s car. I assume those will stay in their respective vehicles, as Bo will probably leave the house more than I will for awhile! 
I am also still pining for the Valco Twin Stroller
with the toddler attachment
so we can go for walks in the neighborhood and have a stroller that will hold all three. I just can’t justify the cost at this point.
with the toddler attachment so we can go for walks in the neighborhood and have a stroller that will hold all three. I just can’t justify the cost at this point.How have you arranged the carseats in your car? Those of you with experience with three under two, how do you do it? What products do you recommend?
Friday’s Feature at Sticky Feet Part Deux is Ask Jamie. Feel free to email me or leave a comment with any question you would like for me to answer. Anything is fair game!
I only have two, but I can tell you that my 6 yo still fits into her Britax Marathon, although I think that we shall be moving her to a booster soon: she is finding it uncomfortable in the crotch area and seems to be a bit tall (although quite light still) for it. We have had yeoman's service from it, though and have one for my 3 yo as well.
We have a van with the captain chairs, so it's similar to your vehicle.
We put the twins in the captain chairs, and A in the back. A has access to her dvd player to watch, and we typically don't go anywhere with other people, so we don't need to have a spot for someone to sit. I have spent many times in the very back of the van feeding both babies. I move up the passenger seat when we are loading everyone in and out of the vehicle and A just walks on by the carseat into her seat.
Stroller: We couldn't afford that stroller you want (I did, too), so we have a Joovy Caboose. There is a sit/stand part in the back of the stroller and A typically sits on it. But, there isn't a lot of head space for her. If we are all going out then we just bring an umbrella stroller for A and the other person pushes the Caboose.
Wow… I never even THOUGHT about having the three car seats.
My big two kids are in the very back. That works well for us because they can climb into their own seat instead of us having to lift them. Then we can reach around from the side to buckle the belts. That's in our van though. I think you'll still have to crawl all the way in anyway, so it might not make much difference to you. Whatever you do, having one of the captains chairs open for an adult is a must. I think my vote would be having the capt chair behind the driver open, so you can open up that door and let Bo climb in the car (getting him out of whatever parking lot you're in, while you load everyone else). I'd put him in the far back, behind the driver. Then put the twins one behind the other (on passenger side), so the person in the empty capt chair can easily reach the babies (with right hand), and can also reach Bo if need be (but would have to turn around). You could start out with that arrangement and of course change it if it's just not working for you. Just my two cents….
Jenny
I say move Bo to the back, he is probably already able to crawl up into the seat on his own and soon he will be able to buckle himself. It would be easier on you than trying to haul both infant seats back there.
I had the double snap frame for LG & SB, it is wonderful and gave me so much more freedom. If you don't have one already, check Craigslist, I paid about $35 for mine and it was in perfect shape.
I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee and have had a Snugride in it's base, a Graco Comfort Sport, and an Evenflo Triumph Advance (a very wide carseat)all side by side. It worked best to have the Snugride near the door so I could reach the child in the middle seat before setting the Snugride into the base.
I would put the twins and their carriers in the middle — easier on your back.
Get the Snap & Go! It's very handy for the first year and well worth the $100. I'm going to be putting mine on Craigslist in another month or so. The girls have nearly outgrown their carseats and now we're shopping for 2 convertible seats that will fit in our PT Cruiser & Pontiac Vibe. It's a challenge. I think we're getting the Graco Nautilus in a marvelous pink pattern. I am so tired of the black & gray carriers.
I know that hospitals and/or fire stations often offer free clinics to help you make sure things are installed properly (the gal at the clinic who helped me said that 95% of the seats she saw weren't installed right). With three seats, it might be a big help.
huh, good luck. i don't have any good advice other than whatever you do while you are loading your vehicle, make sure Bo is inside the car (as Jenny stated). i think that idea is HUGE, so he doesn't get hurt otherwise.
I also drive the Acadia with two captain's chairs. I find it easiest to put my oldest in the back. One reason is that I can only find one LATCH anchor in the rear row of seats. I thought there were two, but I can only find one and I prefer to use the LATCH installation. Another problem though, is that the snugride seats stick out so far that it can make it almost impossible for a passenger to get through to the back. I have been known to load the rear carseat from the trunk.
We have our oldest in the back in the middle, with the twins in the middle rear facing. (we wanted to keep everyone rear facing as long as possible! But we had to forward face our oldest due to not being able to get him into the seat rear facing way in the back!!) It's much easier to have the two that snap in right there in the middle like others have said – save your back! Bo should totally be able to climb into his own seat! And I second craigslist for the snap & go – those things are great and we used ours all the time!!
We have a Chevy Trailblazer, and we have Isabella in the center, with the twins on either side in their infant carriers. Of course, she pokes and prods at them at times, but we've found the arrangement works fine, mostly because that's the only option we have.
As for the stroller, this is what I have. It's about $400, and it accomodates the twins with a ride-on/sit-on stand/seat for Isabella. We love it.
http://www.joovy.com/pages/pd_bigcaboose.php