3 Car Seats in a Car – Required

Alice recently got a new role at work and has had to move offices.  Her commute has increased by 10-15 min each way, which puts even more strain on getting back in time to pick up the kids.  We tend to be one of the last parents to pick up at the daycare/pre-school on a semi-regular basis.  We need more flexibility.

One of the big issues has been we only have the mini-van which can haul 3 kids around with.  Yesterday that changed.  We are getting rid of my lovely Acura TL  (have loved this car) and took a trip to Car Max.  We had a very good experience at Car Max, although they didn’t offer us as much as we’d like for our TL  so we kept it.  We ended up leaving with a 2003 Acura MDX.  It has all the bells and whistles we’re used to and then some…  It also has about the same mileage as my TL and is in good condition.  It’s also relatively inexpensive, so we won’t be suffering financially.  Plus it has 3rd row seating, so we’ve got another car that can handle 3 car seats – without having a 2nd mini-van.

On the way home I picked up 3 more car seats – (make sure you remember to ask for that Twin’s discount at Babies R Us) – and installed them that night.  I bought 3 Graco Cargo car seats.   Since these are our 4th or 5th ones, we know what features to look for now (ones that are important to us, I mean)…  These were relatively easy to adjust and are a good value as far as we’re concerned.  BUT, their true value showed up later in the evening.

We figured out we didn’t need to use the 3rd row seats afterall… All 3 car seats fit in the back seat (middle row) of the Acura MDX, side-by-side, easily!  SWEET!!!

We have not been able to find a vehicle that can do it, except for the largest SUVs or a mini-van.  MDX is neither and works for us!