Narrow car seats

LilacPixie

Does anyone have any recomendations for narrow car seats. I have 2 children and 1 on the way and can't fit our 2 stage 1 seats and an adult in the rear of our car. Money is tight so rather than buy another car I hoped that a change of carseats may help.

AT the moment DD1 is 3 and is in a 1st stage recaro young sport car seat. She is 14.3kg so not quite ready for a stage 2 seat. DD2 is 2 and also in a recaro young sport car seat. Our car is a vauxhall signum.

Any help appreciated.

VK-2008

i would just pop into halfords or any baby shop and just have a word with them
most would love to help

LilacPixie

I tried halford today but TBH found the boy i spoke to less than helpful. He looked about 12 as it was but then he told me its illegal to have a child in the middle of the rear seat which I knw is poop because with our 1st the local police helped check the seat fittings and they said centre of rear was safest place for an infant whenever possible.

I then came to the cnclusion I would ask here and see if anyone on the offchance had the same car or is familiar with the seats we have and could say what was narrower for a starting point. as it is the gap between rear child seats is about 5inches too narrow for my bum

GobbledyGook

There's not many car seats that you can fit 2 plus an adult in the back of any car.

I tried loads of combinations at Mothercare after getting my new car recently.

It was easier (although not easy lol) to find 3 car seats that would go across the back seat together.

fernliebee

i have an astra, and I have a britax first class, and a britax prince. My SIL sits in the middle, and though it is a bit of a squeeze getting in once she is in it is fine. As both seats are on fairly high plastic plinths (not sure how else to describe) they are narrow on the seat. Although obv I don't know how that compares to the ones you already have.

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_67_10751_-1_14570_96588_10001_14568

Says it has a slimfitting base, if that helps?

TUS

I have a similar dilemma.

1 x 7 year old on a booster seat
1 x 18 month year old in a forward facing seat
1 x 8 week year old in a backward facing seat

They just will not all fit in the back. Even with the 7 year old off the booster and in the middle, it's not safe.

I have a Vectra and have resigned myself to having to change cars. Although I think I'll be able to change to a Citroen Zsara Picasso and only have to spend a small amount extra. In the meantime, we can't all go out at once :-(

spendaholiceejit

Hiya,
You could try the Mamas and Papas Pro-Tec car seat, it's quite tall and narrow.

The guy in Halfords was definitely wrong, the middle is the safest place for the most vulnerable passenger in the car. If they are belted in correctly then being in the middle gives them nothing to bump into if they are thrown forward.

pigpen

We had a fabulous service from the guy in Mothercare when we were looking at car seats.. we have 2 for the older children too and found the britax one fit in perfectly.. makes it very tight on seat belts but they do fit!

GobbledyGook

TUS wrote: »

I have a similar dilemma.

1 x 7 year old on a booster seat
1 x 18 month year old in a forward facing seat
1 x 8 week year old in a backward facing seat

They just will not all fit in the back. Even with the 7 year old off the booster and in the middle, it's not safe.

I have a Vectra and have resigned myself to having to change cars. Although I think I'll be able to change to a Citroen Zsara Picasso and only have to spend a small amount extra. In the meantime, we can't all go out at once :-(

You could go out at once, but you'd have to put one of your forward facing children in the front.

I had to do this in my last car and was told that the safest way to do it is to move the seat back as far as possible so I put my newborn in the back behind the passenger and then moved the passenger seat right back.


Is the Zsara Picasso really any wider than a vectra? I thought it was deceptively narrow when I was looking for cars recently.

I have a Mondeo and have a Britax something for DD2 - could be an Elipse? I'll check later, a booster for DD1 and then the maxi cosi rear facing for my boy. It's a bit of a squeeze, but none of the buckles are in danger of crunching.

When I went to Mothercare the woman told me that she had 2 tips - put the one in the booster in the middle because they tend to be the narrowest and secondly don't get all the same brand because they tend to be all the same shape at the bottom.

gratefulforhelp_2

You can get an all in one thing with three car seats in, and you can choose the combination of forward/backward facing.

TUS

GobbledyGook wrote: »

You could go out at once, but you'd have to put one of your forward facing children in the front.

I had to do this in my last car and was told that the safest way to do it is to move the seat back as far as possible so I put my newborn in the back behind the passenger and then moved the passenger seat right back.


Is the Zsara Picasso really any wider than a vectra? I thought it was deceptively narrow when I was looking for cars recently.

I have a Mondeo and have a Britax something for DD2 - could be an Elipse? I'll check later, a booster for DD1 and then the maxi cosi rear facing for my boy. It's a bit of a squeeze, but none of the buckles are in danger of crunching.

When I went to Mothercare the woman told me that she had 2 tips - put the one in the booster in the middle because they tend to be the narrowest and secondly don't get all the same brand because they tend to be all the same shape at the bottom.

Having the 7 year old in the front with his booster is no good, as there's no room for my OH in between the other 2 car seats. But we can just about do it with the 18 month old in the front.

The Picasso has 3 individual seats in the back and can take all 3 kids in their respective seats :-) Fortunately the 7 year old isn't far away from not needing his booster anymore as well, which is handy.