Car seats and boosters - What fits NVP

[sampson]

We have a small but growing army of kids in car seats and boosters. When people stop and ask me questions about the NV, it is usually about gas mileage, with seating capacity being a close second. Specifically, they are often curious about how it handles car seats. I thought I'd post what seats we have and add comments about their fit as I add/remove/change seats in case it helps anyone.

 

I'll go through our newest one first...

 

Recently we added a diono radian GTX to our seat fleet. We choose this seat as it feels as sturdy as the NV itself, has a high rear facing weight capacity, is a 3 in 1, and is a little narrower in case we need it to go in the last row beside other seats/boosters.

 

Currently we have this seat rear facing in the first row middle position. The bench is in the forward location, with the single seat in the same row in the aft position. The single seat has a rear facing child carrier seat installed.

Width of the GTX is not an issue for either an adult seated behind the driver occasionally, or for the carrier seat beside it. I would not expect it will be an issue, even if the single seat is in the same fore/aft position as the rest of that row.

Depth of the GTX is an issue. This seat in rear facing mode is very deep due to the shallow angle of the seat. As the middle seat somewhat overlaps the drivers seat (it is not perfectly centred in the van as I had assumed it would be to take advantage of the void above the console) it severely limits the driver's choice of seating positions for all but the shortest drivers. I purchased the diono "angle adjuster" (code for foam pad) which puts the GTX in a more upright position to allow it to fit nicely in the NV with the drivers seat all the way back at a comfortable recline.

Install was easy as the centre seat has LATCH and the NV is tall enough for one to put their weight onto the seat while tightening the strap to get an excellent install without much effort. Seat frame provided an excellent additional tether for the gtx in rear facing mode using the anchor strap included with the GTX.

GTX looks comfy enough and no complaints from our 19mo so far.

 

I'll get some pictures as requested and comment on the rest of our seat fleet as I have occasion to move them around.

 

Kindly add any data you may have on car seats fiiting ( or not fitting) in the NV in hopes that others may benefit from your experience.

 

Thanks!

[bachex]

Sampson - Haha! You just won major points with my wife....she's a car seat nut and wondering if maybe you're one of her buddies from car-seat.org. Here's what we have and a question...

 

Question: We never thought about having the single seat in a different position than the rest of the bench. What does that do to the single seat in the third row? Can you post some pics of this?

 

<the wife>

 

We have a Radian (now Diono) rear-facing in the same position you do, also with an angle adjuster. (Depending on when you got your angle adjuster, you may need a new one. The first batch didn't work well and left deep impressions making the angle adjuster hardly worthwhile. The newer ones are thicker and sturdier and they'll send you a new one for free if you call them.) Our 21 month old sits there. That's it for the front row. (Although I have ours installed with the seatbelt because I don't trust the LATCH since Sunshine Kids had some issues with the SuperLatch and tried to cover it up.) I have it tethered to the driver's seat (at the bottom near the console) with the D-ring.

 

2nd row, we have a Radian in the middle seat, forward-facing. And a Britax Frontier 85 next to it on the driver's side. The Radian does not install well forward-facing in the passenger side position due to the long buckle stalk. I have them both tethered to the seat next to them. (A technical no-no, but I have many tech friends who don't think it's the end of the world.)

 

3rd row I have a Sunshine Kids (now Diono) Monterey booster seat. It is LATCHed into the only position with LATCH back there. 

 

In the past, I had 2 Radians rear-facing in the middle row. One on the driver's side and one in the middle and that worked well. 

 

</the wife>

 

The overall safety, headrests, seating flexibility, number of LATCHes, etc was one of the primary reasons my wife wanted this van. It hasn't disappointed at all this regard.

[sampson]

Having trouble adding photos... here are some quick shots...

 

The rear position for the front seats is about 3-4" behind the front position. If you move the seats back, the legroom for the middle row is reduced significantly, though its no issue for most of my gang with their little legs. Not ideal for adults. If you move the second row seats back, legroom in the last row is very limited.

 

We have the single seat in the middle row removed for ease of entry to the back so the offset created by the front row seat being moved back is no problem. That Britax boulevard carrier seat makes the front passenger seat too far forward without the offset row config.

 

So far we like this layout but we change it up from time to time so we'll see how long it lasts.

 

Too bad the passenger side rear 2 seat bench isn't compatible with the middle or front rows. That would allow us to make a few more nifty high passenger count plus hefty cargo area combos...

 

Edited July 18, 2013 by sampson

[BuyinganNVP]

I know this is an old, old thread....but, car seat nut here with 6 kids in seats (7th on the way).

I drive an S without a console, so there is more room to walk behind the RF middle car seat so an older kid can get to his booster on the side.

I also am very short (too short I think for this van, I added a pillow to increase visibility over the hood since we don't have power seats, but now reaching the accelerator isn't so comfortable, so I'm looking into pedal extenders) so no installs have interfered with position of the driver's seat (yet -- my husband is 5' 5", but he hasn't driven it with the seats installed for me to know if it works).

 

Right now we have a Cosco Scenera RF in the middle position as we needed something quickly. I am not happy with the install at all, I don't feel like it's as good as we have gotten with other seats, and it could be due to the common need to use a noodle.

But I just bought a Diono Radian RXT, and I will hopefully be trying that instead for that position. I am unsure if I will need an angle adjuster yet since the seat is completely forward right now and we have space behind the seat to maneuver without a console.

 

Behind the driver's seat I have a Harmony Literider and it's a cinch for my 8.5 yo to buckle himself there.

 

I moved my 5.5 yo's Evenflo HBB to the passenger side of that row from the middle of the next row, since the three across there was too tight to easily buckle a booster in for her.

 

Next row has a Britax RA Classic installed FF for my 4 yo and I can basically reach in to unbuckle her without climbing in (buckling I do climb in, but she does half of it herself).

I can fit a narrow seat next to that, but right now it's empty.

Driver's side has another Evenflo HBB for my 7 yo.

 

My 10 yo opted to go in the backrow with his Harmony Youth booster (he prefers his Bubble Bum, but we need that in our Sienna for 3 across right now for daily use, I told him for trips, he can swap them).

 

I'm thinking of moving the Britax over one seat when I need an infant car seat to go in, and put the infant seat where the Britax is. But I have a couple of months to worry about that.

[NVP]

Congrats on #7! We just had our 8th and find the biggest difference in car seat arrangements happens to be the size of the seat. It often seems that the higher priced seats are slimmer and much better in a row. Our rear facing infant seat works best in the middle of the second row (but we have a console)- and then our 4 year old sneaks over to the window and buckles herself in. We LOVE the space of the NV coming from a 9 seat tahoe.

[BuyinganNVP]

Do you find it hard reaching into the middle seat to click and release an infant seat? I was thinking I would purposely want to place it outboard so it wouldn't be a long reach in.

[NVP]

No, we don't find the middle seat an issue bc we would have to step in to release seat even if it was on the end. Also, it makes it so much easier for front passenger to take a look back at baby or reach a hand back when needed. We do though have our oldest child on the end seat (no car seat needed for her) so there is nothing to get in the way when getting baby in and out.

[BuyinganNVP]

So that's the difference here...all my kids are still in seats, as my 10 yo is very short and needs a booster, so I can't really rest it on the seat next to it as I climb in.

 

I'll have to play around with my options.

[NVP]

I'm sure you'll figure out what's best for you. It's sure nice to have lots of options!

[BuyinganNVP]

Update: I moved my 2 yo to a rear facing Diono Radian behind the driver's seat with an angle adjuster. We're not the tallest people around here, so the driver's seat is never fully back, so I don't know if someone would be able to use that option if they needed the driver all the way back.I have a

Graco Click Connect 35 (with a base with built in lockoffs which is great for a non-LATCH seat) outboard in the same row. I can easily fit a booster in between for an older kid to take care of my 2 little ones.

[Angoraknitter]

Hello, just joined the forum for this thread, as we have a 2012 NVP and 7 kids, 4 car seats and 1 booster right now. Two seats are expiring and the infant carrier will soon be outgrown so I'm looking to shake up our arrangement.

 

Right now our first rear row is set back with driver side position high back booster, Recaro Proride rear facing, then Britax Chaperone infant seat with base.

The second rear row is not set back and has very narrow leg room space and has Ricaro Prosport in seatbelt instalation, very snugly installed next to anothe Ricaro Proride forward facing, and the aisle seat open for our 5'5" preteen. The back row we removed the passenger side bench for Costco runs and put the almost 6' teenager in the back.

I'll post a pic one of these days after I can figure out how to.

[starfrenzy]

All these layouts are really helpful.

 

We are expecting baby #5 in two months and I am still trying to figure out the best spot for her infant seat.

[BuyinganNVP]

Depending on what else you have, I found being able to put my baby in the first seat I can reach (behind the passenger) to be most convenient for when I don't need others climbing into that row. And when I do, it fits on the floor next to the middle row so my baby isn't outside while waiting for others to scramble in, and then I can just click it into the base when I am ready.

I keep the passenger seat folded for more ease of access to the row behind the front.

 

Good luck!

 

(Oh, and if you're car seat shopping for an infant seat and don't plan on using the middle seat, look for built in lockoffs on the base since there is no LATCH on the side seats.)