Car seats question

[gpzrider]

Toast,

That Maxi Cosi looks pretty large. You better test fit it on the passenger side to see how far up you will have to move the front passenger seat. The glove box is large and sticks out quite a bit so you'll have issues if anyone sits there over 5'8" tall.

 

[jmck123]

I've searched high and low and am now coming to the greater community with my questio

First time posting. I just ordered a new Explorer Sport and will need to fit 3 across. Did you have any luck? Our third is due in june. The other two will be 4 and 2.

Thanks

 

[peterk9]

First time posting. I just ordered a new Explorer Sport and will need to fit 3 across. Did you have any luck? Our third is due in june. The other two will be 4 and 2.

Thanks

Welcome to the Forum jmck123.:wavey:
Congratulations on both. Hopefully another member will be able to answer your concern. I have two 'kids', 5 and 7 (see avatar) but they ride in the back.

Peter

 

[blwnsmoke]

I have 2 right now. One is 3 in a front facing, the other is 7 weeks in a rear facing. There is no possible way I can see to get 3 across. As it is, they are both on the outside seats. When my wife climbs in the middle 5"5, 120lbs) she keeps her body and shoulders angled to sit back there. She can not sit straight. With the bulk of a car seat, it won't happen.

 

[LukerDooker]

The Ex is really too small for 3.
I drove 3 in child seats with friends in a 2011 Yukon XL and even that was a challenge - overall the seating area with the child seats installed,
no room at all and very very tight.
Good luck.

 

[jmck123]

The Ex is really too small for 3.
I drove 3 in child seats with friends in a 2011 Yukon XL and even that was a challenge - overall the seating area with the child seats installed,
no room at all and very very tight.
Good luck.

Thank you everyone for the insight. We have pretty narrow car seats (17" width) so will give it a try but if not will just use the back row as some others have suggested. Since I haven't seen a minivan with 365 hp on the market we will make it work with the sport.

Thanks again.

 

[huie1983]

Not going to happen...

I have 3 kids also, 2 in boosters and one newborn in a car seat. There is just no way to do it in the second row safely.

Both my older dudes like riding in the back so I have them in the 3rd row. I have the baby on the drivers side and leave the passenger 2nd row flipped up so the boys in the 3rd row can get in and out without my assistance. They aren't strong enough to pull the strap in the 3rd row to flip the seat up, dumb design by Ford, they are 7 and 8...

Honestly after having the Ex for a year now and adding a 3rd kid to the mix a few months ago, it's borderline too small. With the whole family and the baby stroller crammed behind the 3rd row, there is no cargo room left... Wish I went with a Expedition LOL. <-- kidding, I love the ex.

On long trips we have another kid in the 2nd row and leave 1/2 of the 3rd row flipped down flat for cargo space. I think this summer I am going to have to get a car top hauler for cabin trips etc or sadly upgrade to something bigger and or more kid friendly. I can't imagine cramming them all in the Ex when they get a little bigger.

 

[ieee_raider]

Best bet with 3 car seats is the Nissan/Infiniti... the 2nd row will slide and tilt forward with a front facing car seat in it.

 

[gpzrider]

Here is your solution

After trying everything I could this is how I was able to fit two car seats in the second row and still have enough room for my wife to sit back there confortably on the right hand side.

Middle seat area: rear facing Snug ride classic connect 30. Not the quick connect. The classic connect base has a very narrow footprint, i.e. base which allows it to fit in the narrow middle section.

Left side: Britax Boulevard front facing mounted using the Ford's lap belt system. Yes I have the inflatables and after much doctoring I was able to make it fit. Since the inflatable are so thick I had to build up the area around it with some high density foam. The belt is about a 1/4 inch thick so I simply placed some high density foam above and below it to make the seat back nice and flush.

Right side: plenty of room for my wife to sit. So if she can fit, there is a good chance a booster or front facing seat will fit there as well.

NOTE: the middle seat is mounted using the innermost latch brackets from the left and right seats. The manual says that is completely allowable so long as your base will allow it. Unfortunately the design of the second row places a large plastic bracket right were the base of the middle seat folds. When you place a plastic base on a plastic bracket, it moves quite easily. I rectified this problem by anchoring the base, i.e. tethering, it to the middle row. The Snug ride classic connect has lots of slits in the base which allowed me to thread a non ratcheting tie down through it and under the middle seat bracket. After I finished you could hit that base with a sled hammer and it won't move. If you want a picture I'll be glad to send it.

Good luck.

 

[TxTom]

I'm looking at the 2014 Ex Limited with 2nd row bench seat option (inflatable seatbelt 302a option). My son and daughter-in-law are avg size and have a 10 mo old in a "bucket" type, rear facing car seat (bucket separates from the base). Soon will move out of the bucket arrangement into a rear facing car seat, then later forward facing car seat, then eventually a booster seat. Can all three ride in the 2nd row, with the bucket/car seat in the middle, for all four possible setups? Neither adult wants to ride in the 3rd row if I went with the 2nd row bucket option. Plz advise any ideas. Don't know the specific car seats in question. Assume avg size units. Many thanks...

 

[peterk9]

I'm looking at the 2014 Ex Limited with 2nd row bench seat option (inflatable seatbelt 302a option). My son and daughter-in-law are avg size and have a 10 mo old in a "bucket" type, rear facing car seat (bucket separates from the base). Soon will move out of the bucket arrangement into a rear facing car seat, then later forward facing car seat, then eventually a booster seat. Can all three ride in the 2nd row, with the bucket/car seat in the middle, for all four possible setups? Neither adult wants to ride in the 3rd row if I went with the 2nd row bucket option. Plz advise any ideas. Don't know the specific car seats in question. Assume avg size units. Many thanks...

I don't know if this will help or not but I have included a couple of pictures of the bench seat. As you can see, you only have about 11 inches to work with if you want to stay within the center seat area.

Peter

 

[gpzrider]

I'm looking at the 2014 Ex Limited with 2nd row bench seat option (inflatable seatbelt 302a option). My son and daughter-in-law are avg size and have a 10 mo old in a "bucket" type, rear facing car seat (bucket separates from the base). Soon will move out of the bucket arrangement into a rear facing car seat, then later forward facing car seat, then eventually a booster seat. Can all three ride in the 2nd row, with the bucket/car seat in the middle, for all four possible setups? Neither adult wants to ride in the 3rd row if I went with the 2nd row bucket option. Plz advise any ideas. Don't know the specific car seats in question. Assume avg size units. Many thanks...

Don't get the inflatables. There your problem is solved.

 

[TxTom]

I found the bass of the carseat is 17" wide, so the only option is the outboard seating positions, likely the passenger side best for safety. Makes it very tight for the person that would sit in the middle position of the second row. The seat belt connector/base gouges into one's lower right side. I tried it at a dealer yesterday. Thanks for the info above.

 

[jmck123]

Here is a link to a car seat blog that discusses the same question posed in this thread. Looks like you might be able to do 3 carseats across in the second row, so long as you do not have the inflatable seat belts and use narrow car seats. When I get our new Explorer I will provide an update on how we made (or didn't make) it work.


http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=241421

 

[jmck123]

Here is the update to my last post. Installing 3 carseats accross is doable. The first time I tried to fit 3 accross I was by myself outside of the store testing demos. That resulted in 2 hours of frustration and good portion of a bottle of scotch. I then hired a professional carseat installer and went back to the store with her and we (she) got 3 accross safely installed (booster, carseat, infant seat).

She also works with the local police at traffic safety stops to look for improperly installed car seats so I'm confident they are installed right. The trick is to install using the seatbelts on at least 2 of the seats. The majority of people on this forum are probably much more handy than me but if you are having trouble installing I would highly recommend hiring a professional for help.

 

[AZmom]

My sister had twins 5 weeks ago, along with a 3 yr old and a almost 2year old- recap 4 kids 3 and younger. Her Explorer is a limited with captains chairs, only her family fits.

Last week she had complications so I took my Explorer to get all the kids, the difference is I don't have captain chairs. I wish I had. That middle seat was worthless. I can fit being 5'7 but not comfortably so the diaper bags fit and then we were headed to Grammie's house so we could watch the "clan".

The twins are in Graco and the toddlers are in Britax. Everyone fit but there wasn't a ton of space either. In the end I realized I should have purchased the captains chairs... Or take her Explorer...

 

[jbrabham]

I have 3 kids (2 in booster and one car seat) and no chance you can fit all 3 in 2nd row w/ inflatable belts. even a regular booster in the middle covers up the belt receptacles for the left and right seat. I had an LR4 before this and it was no problem fitting 3 in the 2nd row. I am using one 3rd row seat now (it is a popular seat so no problem). As it was stated previously, it seems the receptacles for the left and right seat are too far in the middle, so the middle seat was not really designed to be used as a seat (at least not often).

 

[.:TF:.]

Ah, the ancient puzzle of fitting car seats in the new Explorer. Before ordering/buying I think it would be useful if the sales team advised potential buyers of the difficulties they might run into if they want to fit one car seat, let alone multiple.

In my opinion the middle seat on the bench is useless. Seems like it was included just so they could call the car a '7 seater'. It's fit for occasional use at best. As far as car seats go, I don't even consider the middle as a viable location for fitment.

The slimmest car seat I found was the Clek Foonf but it is expensive, very heavy and it's still a bit too wide to fit in the middle 'properly'. Having three across also means loading the middle seat is that much harder and using the 3rd row is impossible.

In my opinion if you want to put three car seats in the car I think two need to go in the 3rd row leaving half the bench to be tumbled allowing access to the rear.

 

[DamnRock]

Anyone with 3 child seats in the 2nd row?

Hello all...

My wife and I just learned we're having twins... and we also have a 2 year old. We currently have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited (the smaller Cherokee), and it is not possible to fit 3 child seats, so we'll be purchasing a new vehicle soon.

So, we've narrowed it down to the 2014/2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee or the 2014/2015 Ford Explorer... I know for a fact 3 will fit in the Jeep, and I've read a few sites where they say 3 have fit in the Ford Explorer, but I've also read a couple places that say 3 won't fit.

I'm hoping some of you have 3 children in carseat age and can comment on your experience with a late model Ford Explorer. I'll be doing 2 infant car seats and 1 toddler car seat. They all 3 have to fit in the 2nd row (won't be using a 3rd row of seats, even it were available).

Any comments?

Thanks!

Rocky

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum DamnRock.:wavey:
Rocky, I've merged your thread with this existing one that you may or may not find helpful. It is almost impossible to sit 3 adults in the 2nd row bench because of the narrow middle seating position. Good luck and congratulations on the soon to be additions to the family.

Peter