Hello,
I despise mini vans but I’m pregnant with triplets. Is there any other vehicle that can accomodate 3 car seats plus equipment comfortably?
Maya
Not really. Minivans are pretty much designed to accommodate families with kids. You might try a large SUV, but the fuel mileage will be horrendous. Friends of mine have a Honda Pilot, which is actually pretty nice, even though I generally don’t care much for SUVs. The Pilot even gets decent gas mileage, but I don’t know if it will allow for three child seats across the second seat. There is, however, a third seat, and I’m sure one will fit back there.
Quite possibly a full size sedan can handle it. You will need to go to a showroom with one of more child seats to test this theory. Try the Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Marquis, or Toyota Avalon.
Let us know; we are all curious.
Not even larger cars like a Ford Crown Victoria can do this. A mininvan is your best bet, otherwise look for a full size SUV like Ford Expedition or Chevy Tahoe/Suburban.
Your best bet would be to go with a full size SUV,like a Ford Expedition or a full sized sedan like a Lincoln Town Car. Lincoln’s are basically the same as a Ford Crown Victoria but more room in the back.
I have a 1993 Caprice (same size as a Crown Vic), there’s no way to put 3 baby seats in the back safely in my opinion. When my wife replaced a 1998 Ford Windstar with a 2006 Toyota Sienna, we looked at at RAV4 and a Highlander with 3rd row seating. My 9 year old barely fit in either and access was difficult for both. Accessing a baby seat in the third row of either vehicle would be difficult at best.
Unfortunately a minivan is your best bet. The Mazda MPV minivan is a bit smaller than most minivans. Mazda also has some crossovers (CX7?) that might work for you. I’m not crazy about minivans myself, but they are pretty handy and get the job done.
Good luck,
Ed B.
A Crown Vic can indeed accommodate 3 child seats in back…And the trunk can hold a lot of stuff. But I would talk to a GOOD car salesperson who SHOULD know what might work best for you. One is GREAT! THREE is three times as good! I suspect traveling with all three at the same time will not happen that often, not for the first year…
Cadillac SRX crossover, provided that the second row of seat can hold three infant seats. The third row seat folds flat for all the baby stuff. Very cool Mom car.
Subaru Tribeca. It’s a little funny looking, but it’ll do the job. Anything other than a minivan is going to be hard to load and unload the kids, will get bad gas mileage and will eventually cause you to strain your back trying to get the Cheerios out from under the third row. With 3 kids the uncoolness of a minivan with be completely unimportant.
Personally, I would shun the SUVs. They are large outside and small inside. A minivan is the first thought, but with triplets you might want to check out small full-size vans. They make short wheelbase versions of the full-size vans so they are easier to park, but they have lots of room inside.
I know this may not be what you wanted to hear, but aside from possibly the Crown Vic and its cousins, a van is probably your best bet. I’d look seriously at the Crown Vic and see if you can work with that.
Hey! I jut noticed this thread was started back in July. Who dug up the old thread, and why?
Just a thought, the Chrysler Pacifica has third row seating and isn’t half bad looking. I checked www.edmunds.com and there is currently a $3500 rebate on the 2007 Pacifica.
I have 3 kids. not triplets, but they’re close together. We have 3 car seats in the back of a Subaru Legacy wagon. It isn’t easy - when the 3rd was born we had to move the oldest to a booster even though she wasn’t quite big enough for it. We had one infant seat, one toddler, and one booster - and that was manageable. Two boosters and a toddler seat was also workable.
Now they’re all in boosters and it is one big pain in the butt getting the seatbelts buckled in between their seats. My inlaws have had 3 seats in the back of their Ford Taurus and that actually seemed to work at least as well as the Subaru, though they haven’t done the 3 boosters yet. I really do not want a minivan or SUV so we’re just going to muddle through this.
Can three seats be appropriately attached? I don’t know much about those LATCH thingies, and my '99 came before them, but it only looks like there are two of them. The Town Car has all of its extra length in the back seat so you might be able to squat in there to get the middle kid out, but a minivan will be very much easier.
I’d recommend any car with a trailer hitch, and a utility trailer with 3 car seats bolted to the bed. When they hit 13, take the pin out of the receiver. 
You may not like minivans now, but you most certainly will when the newbies arrive. You might consider something unusual, like a Sprinter. It won’t fit in a garage, if that is important to you. You really need 3 rows, and the minivan is the best implementation of that. If you simply cannot drive the best car for you, then look at second best: a SUV with 3 rows. The best configuration is on kid in the middle row and 2 in the back row. That way Mom or Dad can ride in the other middle row seat and care for all three.
I am having the same problem.