Advice needed - baby car seat questions (merged)

angela72

I am currently 34 weeks pregnant with child number 3. We currently have 2 daughters - aged 5 (in a booster with back) and almost 4 (currently in Isofix but we are probably moving her into a booster). We obviously need to get a baby seat in the back as well.

Does anyone have any experience of this situation. We don't really want to change our car.

Any recommendation of which seats fit would be great.

Thanks
Angela.

GeorginaAlexi

3 exceptions allow a child over 3yrs old under 135cms in height to use an adult belt;

• in a taxi, if the right child restraint is not available
• for a short distance in an unexpected necessity, if the right child restraint is not available
• where 2 occupied child seats in the rear prevent the fitment of a third child seat

hope that helps :T

Madmel

I have put 3 children in the back of an old style Scenic with no problem at all. I seem to remember putting my older DD in the middle, I think she was in a booster with a back (stage 2?). DD2 was in a stage 1 seat which we left permanently in that car in the left hand rear seat. My neighbour's DS was a couple of months old and in his stage 0 seat on the right hand side. DD1 loved the responsibility of keeping an eye on the baby

Now I have a Grand Scenic, and again have had 3 people across the middle seats with no problems. If MiL comes anywhere with us, DH sits in between the DDs in the back and MiL in front, which seems to work fine.

molerat

A scenic is very difficult if not impossible to get 3 seats into safely and correctly fitted. They need to be very narrow. The main problem is that the centre seat sits on top of the seat belt buckle / release button ..... with the forces exerted in an accident who knows what might happen.

likabu_2

We have a scenic -not the newest model though. Last summer we went caravanning and took our son (4) in a booster seat with a back, our son (23months at time) in one of those huge forward facing seats from 9 months - 11 years and my dp's little sister in the middle with a booster seat without a back. They all had enough room and the seats went in without a problem.

Lisa

skylight

Angela,

Take the car to Mothercare - they have trained specialists instore and you can try out a range of car seats to find a good combination that fits.

But, if you need to get a larger car, whats the problem? Don't take this the wrong way, but is the safety of your kids not far, far more important????

Morty_007

charlotte664 wrote:

Angela,

Take the car to Mothercare - they have trained specialists instore and you can try out a range of car seats to find a good combination that fits.

Good idea about Mothercare, they are excellent.

charlotte664 wrote:

But, if you need to get a larger car, whats the problem? Don't take this the wrong way, but is the safety of your kids not far, far more important????

I can't help feeling the OP was only trying to get some advice about using what she had rather than just going out and buying a new car from the outset!! This is a money saving site after all and buying 3 new seats has to be cheaper than a new car...and a lot more ethical...Nothing to do with wanting to stuff the kids into the cheapest available option regardless of thier safety.

swizzle_2

Do you have a quality save/ home bargins near you? They are selling boaster seats, but only the bottom bit- but law says thats all they need from 4 years.

Anyhow they are safe and only £2.99 I think but they are narrow and should fit in. Been looking at them my self, we have a senic, and have a problem when we have an `extra` child

code-a-holic

I agree it is impossible or near impossible to get 3 seats safely in the back of a scenic. I had a scenic and tried a a booster, 2nd stage seat and newborn seat - it was not possible. The graco booster is wider than the middle seat and would sit too close to the buckle and cause buckle crunch in a accident - or before! The 2nd stage next to booster meant they were touching the buckle causing buckle crunch. My graco infant carrier wouldnt even fit on its own - the belt was too short! Even then it was touching another seat which is not safe. So when my uyoungest was a few weeks old my husband had enough of squeezing in to the middle in the back and i bought a 7 seater. Have tried 3 seat combinations in many cars and can not find a safe alternative!

I can see hear that some people have managed it in the past.....i cant think hoe. Mothercare and halfords told us you could not get 3 boosters in a row or a mixture of different chairs. Renault told us no car seat is safe in the middle seat as it is not a standard wisth chair. My personal opinion is i would not risk it - have seen and heared off too many childrens deaths and injuries due to the wrong or poorly fitted infant chairs. Could you carry the baby in the front seat?

crutches

until we got a 7 seater wehad baby in front 2 car seats in rear(either side) and me squashed between them whilst DH drove.
not fun,not recommended for yr hips but at least children all safe and strapped in.however if you have a passenger airbag this is NOT an option.