Child seats

[joelawrence]

I have 2-year old male twins and a third baby on the way in July.  We need a car capable of carrying three child seats.  This probably means a car with a third row of seats, as we cannot fit our current child seats three across in our 5 Series wagon.

Question:  Will the third row in an XC70 accomodate a child seat, or is it intended exclusively for larger kids that sit directly on it?

I would prefer to go with an XC70, but if its third seat cannot accomodate a child seat, I'll have to go to an XC90 with third row I think.

Any thoughts/advice?

Thanks...Joe

[gary]

Joe,

Firstly, congratulations!  My '03 XC70 has the third row seat and I wouldn't recommend putting a child's seat in it (I don't think Volvo does either).  The seat is designed for bigger kids (under 80 lbs) to sit directly in it and for short duration rides.  My kids are 8 and 6 and they don't get back there unless it's absolutely necessary.  The third row seat also faces towards the rear, so I would anticipate that it would be difficult to keep an eye on an infant back there.  Hope this helps and good luck.

[barrysharp]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (joelawrence @ April 12 2003,02:54)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I have 2-year old male twins and a third baby on the way in July. We need a car capable of carrying three child seats. This probably means a car with a third row of seats, as we cannot fit our current child seats three across in our 5 Series wagon.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Joe:

WELCOME http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Have you considered if the XC70 can accommodate three child seats on the 2nd row? I believe the 40/20/40 seat arrangement allows a booster seat in the center section. If this is correct could seats be place/installed outboard of the center one thus providing three child seats.

Also, I presume the front passenger seat isn&#39;t available to you for a child seat for air bag issues and/or because an adult will be sitting there. If not and the air bag system can be switched off for that seat that might provide an addition place for a reversed child seat. Of course, this front seat location has to comply with your local laws governing where it&#39;s legal to place a child seat.

Just some thoughts.

If you go with either the XC70 or XC90 I believe you will have a &quot;Volvo for life&quot; &nbsp;http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif &nbsp;Of course my choice would be XC70 and hopefully you can find a good XC70 soln. Call your local Volvo shop/dealership and put the inquiry to them -- I&#39;m sure this question has arisen before and maybe they can give advice to you.

Good luck and post back your solution.

[dcawd]

Joe--

The twins are too young to use the optional built in boosters, which would be located in the two outboard positons in the rear (second) seat--per Volvo, the seats are designed for children who weigh 33-80lbs and are 38-54 inches tall (kids ususally need to be circa 4 yrs old to qualify).

According to Volvo, the optional rear-facing third seat can take two kids, each weighing between 55 and 808 lbs and upto 55inches in height.

You could consider the three across approach I&#39;m not sure whether you could in fact fit a rear facing infant seat and two forward facing seats there--worth trying though. Another option would be the XC90 with the optional third row seat. An interesting feature of the XC 90 is that the middle portion of the second row seat can be moved forward independently of the outboard positions, which provides easier access for the front seat occupants to an infant seat placed there.

Good luck.

[littlewaywelt]

Volvo specifically states in the owners manual that you cannot put a child/infant seat in the 3rd row rear facing seat. &nbsp;I don&#39;t think those seats have the autolock or autoretract seatbelt..
That said, you should be able to fit 3 seats in the back seat, though it would depend largely on the seats. &nbsp;I know in my xc70 I can put out pegperego viagio infant seat in the center, rear-facing position and on either side put a forward facing britx advantage. &nbsp;The xc70 is a breeze installing child seats.
Hope that helps some.

[cjbell]

Is it possible to use a latch system seat on the center seat in a 2002 XC70? I am using an infant seat &quot;base&quot; with a latch strap using the inside tethers on the outboard seats, but we need to upgrade to a convertible seat. Any ideas?

cj

[littlewaywelt]

Latch/IsoFix anchors are not located in the center position.
I used my convertible seat in the center position rear facing with the Auto-Locking Retractor belt and one of the floor teathers from the side. Turth-be-told, you don&#39;t need latch with the seatbelt systems in the Volvo when combined with a good car seat with tethers. My seat wouldn&#39;t budge an inch if I put all of my weight into yanking on it without using latch/isofix.

This is probably the greatest child seat accessory. They should make it mandatory with all child seat sales. Once you have one, you&#39;ll wonder how you lived without it.
http://www.babyant.com/bv022084.html

After the seat is installed and the belt is fully retracted, this device allows you to ratchet in the belt.

As to an upgrade for a convertible seat, I can&#39;t recommend strongly enough the Britax Advantage. &nbsp;It&#39;s super easy to install, very convenient on a day to day basis to use and obviously it&#39;s one of the safest seats made. &nbsp;Britax is the only company out there that has their own crash testing sled to test infant &amp; child seats. &nbsp;Also, they use a much higher quality impact absorbing foam (like what&#39;s in bike helmets) than most companies which use cheap compressible foam. &nbsp;If you have any specific q&#39;s feel free to send me an email here.