Those with 4+kids...Car Question

[shalom]

We've got five kids and I think it isn't just the number of kids but the age range that matters. Our kids are all close together so I really liked the fact that our first mini-van was smallish - it had three in the middle seat and two roomier seats in the back, so I could reach and interact with the younger ones easily while the older ones who could do their own seatbelts (just booster seats) and whatnot were in the back and had the extra room.

Not sure that'd be something you want and would hate that van myself now I've got teenagers. But it was perfect at the time, and I wouldn't like one with captain's chairs in the center if I was dealing with three car seats (kids who can do their own booster seats if they've got the row to themselves sometimes need help if there's someone else in the same row).

We've got a Dodge Grand Caravan with the seats that fold down flat and love it - more inside storage space than any other mini van we've dealt with and the captain's chairs in the middle mean we can put both boys (who're rapidly approaching six foot each, with shoulders to match) in the same row without second son whining about his brother crowding him. We rotate the older three on long trips and leave the non-teenagers in the back - works fine when we limit trips to six hours a day but the kids have started lobbying for longer driving days going out and I'm interested to see how the younger girls feel about that after two 9-hours-in-the-back-seat days getting to Orlando...

Also consider what you'll be doing with it. Our last van (Windstar) was plenty roomy enough in town, but packing it for trips was always a pain. Just not enough storage space for us. And if you're into camping or other "haul lots of stuff around" kind of things, your needs will be different than those of people who mostly fly for their vacations.

 

[dizneemom]

I drive a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan and just wanted to point out that we don't like ours because of the fact that car seats dont fit well in the middle row. There is not enough space b/t the middle seats and front seats. Our sons infant carrier was snug up against the drivers seat and we had that moved up almost as far as it would go. Now that he is 2 he is in a larger car seat and he is constantly kicking the front seat.

The Moral to my post:
If you look for a car-try to bring along the baby's car seat to see if it fits