3 kids in a Prius?

well it all boils down to the fact that cars are simply not designed to be wrecked. there are compromises that are taken in reference to safety verses comfort verses convenience.

no one disputes the fact that rear-facing is the way to go because you have all the padding of the seat between you and the momentum of gravity. but lets face it. no one, even my child of 15 months wants to not be able to see where he is going.

so its a trade off. when in a car, we risk our lives and we can only do what is in our power to lessen the risk. i do it by not hitting anyone or getting hit or getting hit severely. i have been in a half-dozen car accidents, some very severe. in all the ones when i was doing the driving, there was always time to perform some evasive maneuvers and most were not conscious decisions, they were simply reactions.

 

Wow. I've been checking this site since 2006 when I decided to purchase my Prius, but this is the first thread that's ever compelled me to post, as I was searching for info on multiple carseats. I'm disappointed in the responses, especially concerning safety of the most precious cargo I will ever haul in my Prius.

This is from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

The IIHS also recommends that you rear-face your child as long as possible, up to the recommended height and weight limits of the carseat maunufacturer, and they have a video that shows a child's legs bent while rear-facing and said it's perfectly OK.

There are some carseats that will rear face a child safely up to 40 pounds including the Radian
and a ton of other seats that will rear face up to 35 lbs.

So while the minimum weight to forward-face in most of the US is 20 pounds AND one year old, that is the bare MINIMUM and most any safety organization will tell you to rear face for the maximum allowable by the carseat manaufacturer.

In my experience, most one year olds aren't 35-40 pounds, and they have no comfort problems with their knees bent sitting in the carseat.

I'm sorry I don't have links to any scientific research, but time is at a premium with little ones running. However, I strongly suggest that parent's consider rear-facing until reaching the limit's of the carseat manufacturer's weight recommendations. In my opinion, switching to forward-facing so the child has more interesting things to look at is a lousy reason.

**Edited to add: I included links to several of the pages I quoted, but the forum says I can't add them because I don't have enough posts. Unfortunate.

 

my son when forward facing around 14 months and we went right to the limit on weight. but to be honest with ya, he got to an age where he was more aware of his surroundings and the biggest reason we turned him around was because he simply no longer wished to not see where we were going any more

that is also the time when SO went from riding in the back to the front seat and she was VERY happy to move up

 

My wife and I always say we'll have a third child when we win the lottery.

 

For future readers, I just blogged about how to easily get three kids in the back seat.

 

When we had our first kid (four now) I had a Toyota MR2 (a 2 seat car) I had to buy a big Ford van. I have only one 13 year at home now, the other three are out of the nest and gone. The Prius works fine for three of us. I still have my MR2. I keep cars a long time. Also have a 10 year Toyota Avalon. Sold the Ford van 5 years ago.

 

I have read this whole thread and I can't help with either family planning or morality. My husband and I tried to have more than 1 year between our two children, but that um, didn't work. As for 3 car seats, it works best with three backless booster seats. However, it is possible to fit a 5 point restraint seat in with a couple of boosters. What you need to do load and buckle in the 5 point and then load the next booster and slide that over. Then you can load the last booster. This is most effective if the small people in the seats don't mind being so close and will not start grabbing at each other. I have had to pull over a cople of times and restore peace. I hope this was helpful.

 

We will be hauling 3 kids (ages 8, 12, and 16) in the back infeqeuntly. My new (2007) replaces a smaller vehicle with limited rear seat space. What seems to have worked was having a larger vehicle that my wife drives, while I take the "shuttle". It is rare that all 5 of us are together at one time given the various activities we have. When I do take the party on the road in my vehicle, it usually is short trips of about 15 minutes.

 

Anything is possible and the Prius is designed to seat 5. On the other hand, you should consider the kids and think about a bigger car unless you have money constraints. Kids have wants and needs and like to fit in and be stylish in school. A family car is part of their self image. Unless you plan to home school, your kids will start to know by preschool that some parents have bigger cars than other parents. Then they will know who has been to Disneyworld and who has not. Welcome to parenting in today's world. What they need to survive and what they need to promote self esteem (new store bought clothes for example) are different.

We as adults often choose to deviate from the pack. It is harder on children. You don't have to drive a Lincoln Navigator but a bigger car would be nice.

When I was a kid, I was not allowed to exchange Christmas cards - my parents considered them a waste of money. I am still have not gotten over the shame and embarrassment of not being able to return my friend's Christmas cards. Then my parents got rid of the TV, even though I was an excellent student. By the way, they were not poor.

So while I have strong feelings about what is right, I also want my kids to fit in - to just be like everyone else.

Physically 3 kids and 2 adults would fit. But then you know this. Socially, if you can afford it, a bigger car and a Disney trip may be better.

 

The 2009 Prius that I test drove had a weight sensor in the passenger's seat that turned off the airbag if the passenger was too light. The airbag status was clearly shown on the dashboard display right in front of the passenger's seat.

 

I've had 5 adults in my car many times, 4 adults and a toilet, 2 adults and 2 70# dogs w/gear...........as long as your kids are normal size you should be fine!

 

Evan, Thanks for bringing common sense with you to this thread. Your posts are enlightening

We almost got rid of our GEN II.

For the record:
a 4yo, 2yo, and a 4 month old.
-ALpha Omega front-facing on the drivers side (2yo)
-Graco Booster in the middle (4yo)
-Smaller rear-facing infant seat on the passenger side. (4 month old)

I'll take a pic and post later.

Thanks again

 

In our 2010 Prius, we presently have a Britax Boulevard front-facing passenger side, and a Chicco Key Fit in the middle. This fits great, and then a passenger can sit in the back with the baby and she is in the center, which is safest.

However, she's already outgrowing the infant car seat, and now we need to get her in a convertible seat. I'd like to keep her in the middle.

We could either put the baby in the Boulevard in the middle rear-facing and get a new seat for my 3-yr-old, or we could get a different convertible for the baby and leave my son in the Boulevard. Suggestions? (We know that 2 Boulevards won't work in the configuration we want because the rear-facing Boulevard gets all crooked.)

I'm even considering putting my 3-yr-old back to rear-facing if possible (He's only 37 inches and 27 pounds). We moved him forward-facing because we didn't think we could fit rear-facing very well on the sides and because I didn't fully realize how much safer it might be rear-facing even at his size. Have other people successfully done rear-facing on the sides without having to scoot the passenger seat annoyingly forward? How might that change any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

We have drifted off topic, and nobody really answered the OP's question. For the record, this has all been gone over before - see Three Car Seats in a Prius (or Other Mid-Sized Car). Easily!

Now, I have a 7 month old, a 2.5 year old, and a 10 year old. Pretty soon, the 7 month old will get out of the infant carrier and into a car seat. I plan to get two of the Sunshine Kids seats - only 17" across, and that should leave enough room for the 10 year old to sit comfortably.

Most car seats we saw are well over 19" across. My wife's Britax Advocate is almost 24" across. So the Sunshine product, at 17", is really quite narrow. It should do the trick.

-MKL

 

How does the Radian (Sunshine Kids) do rear-facing as far as infringing on the space of the front seats? Can the seats still slide back for longer legs?

I read somewhere that somebody couldn't get the Radian well installed in the middle of the Prius, and in general that they are a pain to install and easy to do wrong. So I am hoping for other options if people know what can fit next to a Boulevard.

 

The Radian takes up way less fore / aft space vs. the infant carrier, so that's not an issue. Re installation whatever you read to that effect is pure nonsense. Installation was a snap and actually easier than our Britax, Graco, or any other car seat we've ever owned.

-MKL