Three kids and car seats?

Newnoel

Rambosmum said:

rach_k said:

pinkshoes said:

Ok, so you will have a newborn, a 1.5 year old and a 3.5 year old. 

The newborn will need to rear-face, the 1.5 year old will be in a stage 1 harness seat, and the 3.5 year old will almost be in a stage 3 seat.

Crikey, not in our case!  We opted for the safest seats, which are rear facing for as long as possible.  That was 5.5 years for us (two seats in a Golf).  I personally wouldn't consider any child under three forward facing.  

OP, see if there is an independent shop near you that offers a range of seats and go and try them out.  If you are interested in extended rear-facing seats and there's nowhere nearby, Hakan at carseat.se is very knowledgeable about what seats will fit in which cars.  Yes, it's a Swedish shop but the cars and seats are the same and Hakan's English is perfect.  

Avoid the multimac.

Why?

Newnoel

Thanks all for your posts so far.
We are keen to keep all 3 kids rear facing. Will the multimac or any others do this for kids up to 5?

Rambosmum

pinkshoes said:

Rambosmum said:

SUVs can be deceptive - nissan qashqai  and duke for example you cannot get 3 across. I don't know many SUVs where you can unless they are the huge BMW ones, even then, it isn't as easy as you would think.

Most infant seats are the same width. It is much easier to get 3 seats across if you don't use isofix. Take the seats with you when you buy a car. Be prepared to buy new seats. I would advise an axkid move for the eldest, an axkid minikid for the 18month old and a joie igemm or maxi cosi pebble/ cabrio fix for the baby -NO BASE. 

ALWAYS check that the car manual allows you to have a child seat in the middle seat, not all of them do  (for example vauxhall zafiras from 2014 onwards). 

Cars you can definitely fit 3 across - VW Touran, Citroen picasso C4, honda jazz, ford s max, kia carens, grand picasso, VW Tiguan, VW Sharan, Skoda Kodiaq, Ford C max, Vauhall Insignia, Renault Scenic, Peugot 5008, Toyota Verso, Audi Q7, Skoda Octavia, Volvo XC60, Citroen C8, Land Rover discovery (only certain models), Seat alhambra, Audi Avant, Vauxhall Mokka, Skoda Superb, Kia Sorrento, Land rover freelander (but quite difficult), Hyundai i40, 

Where is this data from?? I have a Mokka and no way can you fit 3 car seats across the back!!! I cannot even squeeze my 9 year old between the two seats. Also struggled in the CMax!

It's dependent on the carseats. All the cars above CAN fit 3 across, but might have to be a specific 3 seats. And generally not isofix seats. If someone is set on having specific seats in a car then I recommend taking the seats with the and trying them in the car as part of the test drive/ purchasing process. 

Rambosmum

Newnoel said:

Thanks all for your posts so far.
We are keen to keep all 3 kids rear facing. Will the multimac or any others do this for kids up to 5?

Multimac only rear faces to 13kg. Which is why I say avoid it. 

I

sweetsand

Visit halfords for free advice but check if they have that seat first

pinkshoes

ElephantBoy57 said:

pinkshoes said:

I have a 9 year old and 4.5 year old twins and we are just having this same dilemma.

A 9/10-year-old will likely be above the legal height that requires a car seat, which is 135cm

In some short, unplanned journies a car seat is not a legal requirement.

He is 1m45 so doesn't need a car seat, but even without a car seat, I cannot physically fit him between the twins seats! The gap in the middle between the side head impact bits is about 20cm!! 

He sits in the front usually, and on long journeys uses a booster seat. If all 5 of us need to go somewhere, we take the van!

I have many friends with an S-Max who can easily get 3 seats across the back (including my friends with triplets). Unfortunately Mr Pinkshoes wants an automatic, and apparently Ford automatic transmission is "rubbish" so he has ruled this car out. 

Ultimately, try the car seats out before buying a car!

Newnoel

Any thoughts on the Tesla model X? As a 45% taxpayer, it can be quite good value to buy one through salary sacrifice

Rambosmum

Newnoel said:

Any thoughts on the Tesla model X? As a 45% taxpayer, it can be quite good value to buy one through salary sacrifice

Should be possible. May require a specific 3 seats though.