My family is flying to LA next week and will need to rent a car to get around. We are staying with my sister who owns a small car. It would be nice if while there we could go siteseeing in one vehicle, so we are considering an SUV that we could all ride in. My question is whether with the two kids (ages 2.5 and 4.5) in car seats we can all fit? The "standard" SUV is a Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar. The "Full size SUV" is almost twice as much money, and is not worth the extra convenience. Does anyone have experience fitting an adult in between two car seats in a car like this? I guess I should mention that I am fairly small (5'3", 130#) and would probably be the one in back with the kiddos. We'll be bringing their car seats on the flight with us. They are a Britax Marathon and a Cosco Summit.
Thanks for the info, Moms!
What about renting a minivan? We had 4 adults, 2 kids and gear in one for a trip to Disney World when the kids were 3 & 5. I was perfect and we had an extra seat if needed.
The third adult would be a bit squished in between the carseats. Should be fine for short trips.
Yeah.. you won't have the most comfortable ride you've ever enjoyed... but it'll get the job done. We have an Xterra (I guess that would be a "standard SUV" right?) and my MIL would be able to fit between 2 carseats in the back of ours. She's about your size, maybe a smidge smaller (5'1"? and 120#?)
If your 4.5 yr old uses a booster it might be more comfortable for YOU though. The most challenging part is usually getting the seatbelt secured for the middle person. (you'll have to reach between yourself and a carseat!)
My sister has a nissan xterra and I can fit in the back seat with 2 car seats-but it was with me on the side, one car seat in the middle & the other on the other side. And I have very generous sized hips!
My mom has this Jeep & it's a tight fit but for short trips ok.
I think you will be fine. It won't be the most comfortable ride, but since you probably won't be in the car for an extended period of time, you should be fine. In my Honda CRV, which I think maybe smaller than the Cherokee we had the Britax Boulevard, which is bigger than the Marathon, and an infant car seat that takes up a lot of space too and the person in the back was okay.
We have 5 kids, two of them being teens, and one child in a car seat and we all fit (snuggly) in a Chrysler Aspen. We also have an Excursion and a Suburban but we drove the Aspen a lot. =) Minivans would work too. Have a good trip.
You won't be comfortable. I drove from Colorado to Kansas in my sister's Cherokee squeezed in between my nephew and niece in their carseats on each end (I was in the middle) and it was AWFUL. I hardly had any leg room and I thought I was going to be carsick from sitting so close to their smelly sticky seats. That was pretty bad b/c I never got carsick back then - I was one of those roller coaster fanatics. With teh LA traffic - starting, stopping and swerving, you might want to get something more roomier, like a mini van.
YES! I had a STD SUV...Ford Escape..pretty small but it fits two car seat and ME...I'm just a bit shorter then you. I actually like sitting in the middle between the two kids to take care of their needs/want. Plus, nice to have their carseat for a head rest when I need to sleep. We take frequent drive from Seattle to Portland (3 hours).
No point in wasting rental money AND gas money for the bigger one....harder to find parking for bigger SUV also.
Yes I have done that, and unless the person that will be sitting in between is really skinny not fun. I would say my sister and I were at the time normal size women (size 10) so it might be better for you, but basically we had to sit at and angle as we could not fit our bottom between the two car seats. We went on a trip to Lake Chelan with my sister, mom, our two kids and myself. We did know better to try to fit all of us in one car on the 10 hour drive up there, but for short trips to the grocery store we tried to get us all in her car. We had 2 Britax Marathon seats, and the car was a Jeep Cherokee. I have to admit even the 10-15 minute drive to town was too much, so one of would take the way there, and the other on the way back. If you are looking at driving any more than that I would say it would be best to get the larger car.
After that trip needless to say I got a minivan so we would never have that issue again on trips with my sister and I.
Good luck on whatever you decide.
