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Our 3rd rows - over many, many years and several vehicles - were very rarely used.
You definitely do not need a third row with one child and another planned in three years.
The extra space DOES come in handy for hauling stuff, though!
I looked at small SUV's and then I bought a minivan. I liked the way there was so much space between the kid's carseat and the door. I also liked how easy it was to get in and buckle her in.
Some of the small SUV's aren't much more than a taller small station wagon, not much room for cargo, especially the big stroller which will soon become a necessity for you, and the back seats can be difficult to buckle a rear-facing infant seat in. If you know what kind of infant carseat you want, you should buy it and try fitting it into the vehicles you're considering. Also look at the cargo space...if you have to take the stroller out and leave it at home to have room for groceries, that's inconvenient.
Get a minivan now, and think about the SUV only when you have multiple kids and when they are bigger.
For the next few years your primary concern will be ease of access: buckling the d*mn car seat every single time you get in and out.
When your kids are older, your needs change. I had a huge 3rd-row SUV that was perfect through middle school. I have three boys. We carpooled a TON for sports, and it is great to have extra room for kids AND equipment.
Third rows come in handy on road trips when your kids are 6'3" in 9th grade and they don't want to sit shoulder to shoulder for 500 miles. The price of gas is a REAL consideration, though, so if you only have 2 kids, forget the land yacht.
When my oldest started driving, I downsized to a crossover. MUCH better gas mileage, easier to park, and (sadly) we're all 5 only in the car together once MAYBE twice a week.
We are expecting our first in March, and want to upgrade one of our small sedans to an SUV. One option is going for a 3-row SUV, as we can grow into (we plan on having a 2nd kid in roughly 3 yrs).
However, my wife likes the idea of a 2-row SUV. She'll be the main driver, and doesn't care to drive a big SUV with only 1 kid. Also, it will be cheaper and provide better MPG. Then after having a 2nd kid, we can re-evaluate our needs and get a 3-row SUV or minivan (if we can't fit 2 kids + cargo in a small SUV). Obviously we’d lose some money on doing a trade-in that quickly, but at least we would save money on avoiding the 3-row SUV.
Any thoughts from those who have been in this situation? Has anyone gotten the smaller SUV and had regrets about not going bigger from the start?
We were in a similar situation 2 years ago when we bought a 2 row SUV (the RX350). I think there may have been 1 or 2 times in the past 2 years when we wished we had a 3rd row (i.e. 5 adults and 1 child meant we had to take 2 cars to a restaurant), but even then the 3rd row wouldn't have been very comfortable for 2 adults.
I'll agree with keeping the current vehicles you have now. See how it all works when you actually have a child and you will then know what you want when you are ready to change.
Personally I hate the bucket carrier/infant seat and did not buy/use one.
With my son, 4th child, I went straight to a convertible seat that worked for newborns up to 65 lbs and could rear face for longer than most. That particular seat fit fine in the Toyota Camry we had, as long as it was in the middle, but we now needed a vehicle that could seat 6.
We went with a mini van because it had sliding doors and made for far easier in and out access. I didn't have to bend over to buckle him in and I could crawl in if in was raining and shut the door and have room enough to buckle him in easily.
I could put in the booster seat for 3rd child in the back row and leave it, put the convertible seat in the middle seat by the driver's door and not have to move it again. No seats had to be moved/leaned forward for all to get in.
Today my kids are 31, 27, 15 and 10 and we all still fit nicely in the van when we go out to dinner as a family (usually on birthdays) and not have to take 2 vehicles.
I agree that you should not make any MAJOR decisions until AFTER the baby is here so you know what you're actually dealing with.
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