Family with 3 little kiddos in Sportsmobile?

[canoe4me]

TBUNCH
I feel your pain. I travel with 3 kids and up to 7 bikes at times in our Sportsmobile sprinter with penthouse. We all sleep great in it (though we have to put the bikes out at night).



We started with a crew model and penthouse which is comfortable while driving and sleeping. My wife and I sleep up high and the kids all sleep on a platform in the back.



There is little room for much else. You could easily put a porta potty under the rear sleeping platform. We store clothes under the forward part of the sleeping platform and have a kitchen on sliders in the back For showers we use a shower tent with a stove top heated water system or solar shower.

The size of the small Sprinter is great. We can still go through drive-throughs and have no problems with typical height and length restrictions. We had no problems with the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier park for example.

It is a compromise on the bathroom/shower part but the mobility makes up for the inconvenience for us. How and where you stay in the van makes a huge difference.

[TBUNCH]

Originally Posted by canoe4me

TBUNCH
I feel your pain. I travel with 3 kids and up to 7 bikes at times in our Sportsmobile sprinter with penthouse. We all sleep great in it (though we have to put the bikes out at night).

I love this!!!!!!

So we are not the only crazy ones

[TBUNCH]

Originally Posted by canoe4me

TBUNCH
The size of the small Sprinter is great. We can still go through drive-throughs and have no problems with typical height and length restrictions. We had no problems with the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier park for example.

We took Class B on that road and hit the mirrors with some other one in one of the turns. Ha ha

[BogusBlake]

Originally Posted by mikracer

I didn't think 3 child seats would fit on the one bench seat. If they can fit, then the 50 would be a good solution.

3 Toddler seats will not fit on a '50 bench. We have two Britax seats and when Momma has to go back and pacify someone, it's a squeeze and she's skinny. Also the lap belts suck, especially for holding carseats.

My neighbors have a homebrew van with a bench / bed seat right behind the drivers seats. It has 3 shoulder belts and they can fit 3 seats on it, but while that configuration is awesome for road and sleeping mode, it wrecks the awake-and-camping area inside the van.

Re: Shower inside- There's always the old "stand in the rear underfloor storage box with a curtain around you" trick to avoid consuming dedicated space. Do that once and showering outside in a tent won't seem that bad.

[TBUNCH]

Hmm - My Husbands swears they will. We have 2 boosters and one regular car seat. They do fit in his Durango which is 51" across. According to the specs the seat should be 54". Seat belts - there is system we can by to bypass the problem.

Originally Posted by BogusBlake

3 Toddler seats will not fit on a '50 bench. We have two Britax seats and when Momma has to go back and pacify someone, it's a squeeze and she's skinny. Also the lap belts suck, especially for holding carseats.

My neighbors have a homebrew van with a bench / bed seat right behind the drivers seats. It has 3 shoulder belts and they can fit 3 seats on it, but while that configuration is awesome for road and sleeping mode, it wrecks the awake-and-camping area inside the van.

Re: Shower inside- There's always the old "stand in the rear underfloor storage box with a curtain around you" trick to avoid consuming dedicated space. Do that once and showering outside in a tent won't seem that bad.

[TBUNCH]

I think I have been successfully talked into the OUTSIDE SHOWER.

[canoe4me]

I have a regular car seat in the middle with two boosters on either side in my regular 3 person crew bench. I did shop for a narrow car seat that was a little more expensive than the Walmart stuff but it works just fine. I cannot remember the brand but here is the best photo I have of it.



No shots of the outdoor shower in action though...

[TBUNCH]

Originally Posted by canoe4me

I have a regular car seat in the middle with two boosters on either side in my regular 3 person crew bench. I did shop for a narrow car seat that was a little more expensive than the Walmart stuff but it works just fine. I cannot remember the brand but here is the best photo I have of it.



No shots of the outdoor shower in action though...

Darn it and I hope to see some showering. Kidding

Yes we have some narrow ones that we got because we want the kiddos to seat in my husbands Durrango in the second row.

[canoe4me]

Diono is the brand that makes narrow car seats.

[ANZAC]

Originally Posted by mikracer

I didn't think 3 child seats would fit on the one bench seat. If they can fit, then the 50 would be a good solution.

I am pretty sure they'd fit on a 50 bench. I think the issue would be if you're using a booster with a back, that there is only one shoulder belt (RH side). The other two are lap belts. They'd be ok with a booster bottom or to secure a child seat.

I've had 3 adults sit on my bench....