Families of 7 - what do you drive?

[4dramamama]

We are currently a family of 7 expecting family member #8 in spring 2013. We were full up in our Dodge Grand Caravan. We upgraded to a low mileage used Ford E350 12 passenger. I'm glad we did because my oldest son is 6 feet tall and it was really uncomfortable for him with leg room and head room. Plus we are open to more children so an 8 passenger vehicle would have only lasted us 2 years. We were looking to purchase a 15 passenger but there were none on the market that met our requirements at the time. I would love the extra packing room. We went tent camping for two days last week with our five kids and we were stuffed in. . As it is we are going to purchase a hard top storage unit for the top of the van. We already don't fit in the carport.

Hope that rambling helps someone.

[3MonkeysMomma]

We have 4 in car seats my 6.5 yr old moved fulltime to a hbb, we drive a 7 passenger Ford Windstar.

[4boys1girlforme]

Originally Posted by dolphingirl Well, we are a family of 8 (6 kids ages 3 months to 12 years), and we drive a Town and Country (same thing as a Dodge Caravan). We really didn't want to drive a 12 passenger van and so we were looking to buy a used 8 passenger Odyseey or Sienna. The prices that they go for used just seemed so high to us, especially when we knew we could get an equivalent Caravan or Town and Country for way less. So, I came across a few big families online who said that they took their two captain's seats out of their Caravans and replace it with another three person bench seat. I was skeptical at first, especially with the kids getting in and out, but my parents didn't really want their 3 person bench from their Caravan anyways and said we could have it, so we gave it a try. It works out beautifully! It is actually way easier for the kids to slip into the back seat through the sides than when they had to go in between the two captain's seats. 5 yo ds is in a Nautilus in the middle back, and myy 12 year old and almost 10 year old are no longer in boosters on either side of him. (In the past, though, we have had a few combinations of car seats and boosters, including an Evenflo Big Kid Booster and 2 Radians, and also we've done a booster, a Radian, and a Britax Marathon. Marathons and Radians "puzzle" really well together when they're both facing the same direction.) Then in the middle row, we have 2 yo dd rear-facing in a Radian, 7 yo dd forward facing in a Radian, and 3 mo ds in a SnugRide. I have petite kids, so it helps that they can stay in car seats longer and thus the lap belts aren't an issue. Dd 7 is almost too tall for the Radian, and then I'll have to switch her and the baby's position so that she will have a shoulder belt for a booster. I can fit 2 rear facing Radians next to each other just fine, though. Anyways, would we prefer more space? Sure, but to us the financial strain of getting a larger/different vehicle just wasn't worth it. I was all worried about it working out, but now that we're doing it and it's a part of our daily life, it's totally fine. We've gone on weekend trips, etc. without a problem. The only issue would be if we're going on a longer trip with more luggage, more coolers, etc., but we have a car-top carrier which is really handy. Obviously this won't work once we have more than four kids who are not in car seats since I won't let them ride in just a lap belt. However, by that time, the newer vans that come equipped with all shoulder belts will be older and selling for more reasonable used prices. Also, by then we may decide we need a bigger van because all of the kids are bigger and it's too crowded. But for now, this works just fine.

Another thought for mamas that would be interested in what this mama did is to search for a seat at junk yards (you usually can search online). When our #5 was born my husband was driving a 6 passenger Ford Freestyle and we were able to locate one that was the same year with gray leather interior that was totaled and we bought the 60 part of the 60/40 second row seat to make our Freestyle a 7 passenger vehicle- worked perfectly!

[teachermama]

We drive a 7 passenger Toyota Sienna and we have a smaller, compact car for driving to work. The Sienna is awesome for 4/5 of our kids still being in carseats/boosters, but I am longing to get a second vehicle that seats everyone and has enough room for an extra passenger too. We will probably go with a larger SUV when we upgrade our little car....still researching options.

[nrsenadenos]

5 kids, we have a Honda Odyssey.

[MamaBearTo5]

I didn't read all the replies, but we are 7 and have had the dodge grand caravan and it works fine for us. I've got 3 in car seats and while the back seat is a bit of a squeeze... it CAN be done.

[4kids4me]

We are a family of 7 and drive a 2005 Honda Odyssey (8 seater)

[4kids4me]

So what about having a suburban is a pain? I only have 2 in carseats and the other 3 are just in seatbelts (13, 10, 8). We thought we would move to a suburban in about 2 years as the older 3 would be quite squished riding in the minivan on longer trips.

[ServingHim]

We are a family of 8 and drive a Suburban. I have 2 in carseats and 2 in boosters and I think we could fit in a minivan but it would be a tight fit. If we are blessed with any more children we will be upgrading to a 12 passanger van!

[cowangel]

An excursion will easily hold 8...you can also get an extra seat to install in the back that will hold 2 additional kids...9 seater suburbans are nice too...there are toyota siennas that seat 8 total too...but they are few and far between....that's all I know of except for the 12-15 passenager vans...