Fitting 3 children in car

[playdohismylife]

Hi
Long time lurker but posting for the first time as DH and I are after some advice from the good people of Mumsnet.
We have 2 DC aged 1 and 4 and have recently been talking about the possibility of tryjng for another baby. Whilst taking into consideration the impact of having another baby - the boys are both getting to a stage where the youngest is sleeping through (phew!) and quality of life is getting a little less hectic - we are both feeling broody but not sure whether it is a good idea or not based on how the boys would react to a brother/sister and how we would cope as a family - another thing we are stuck on is how to get three children into our car. I have a Mini Countryman and have two car seats in the back (but no room for another seat in the middle) and DH has an Audi A4 which is the same (once both car seats are in you couldn't fit another in the middle) my question is has anyone else had this issue and how did you overcome it? Is a people carrier the only way? Or could you safely have a car seat on the front seat? I have looked at the government guidelines and all I can find is where it says that the eldest can sit in the middle with just a seatbelt for short journeys but for longer journeys I am not sure? Any advice on this would be gratefully received as we cannot really afford to change cars so will be a decider in whether we decide to try for another baby. thanks 

[Beamur]

Can you turn off airbags in the front seat?
Perhaps you need to consider the timing of when you might need to change your car anyway?
We had 3 kids in normal cars, although changed to one which had 3 good sized rear seats whilst smallest still in a car seat as her siblings were getting squashed.

[katykins85]

Car seats can go in the front with the airbag off, but that will mean one of you adults squeezed into a half seat between the other two in the back, grim!

When we went from 4-5 we bought an Audi 4X4 thing that has 3 full seats in the back. There are others too, like the ford S max and Citroen C4 Picasso.

[bifflediffle]

4 year old in car seat in the front with the seat pushed all the way back and the airbag ON

or

baby in rear facing carrier seat in the front with the airbag OFF

[WaxOnFeckOff]

If you can't afford to change cars, can you really afford another child? I think you need to have at least one car where you can fit 3 appropriate seats in the back. I think for occasional low speed, short journeys then having one seat in the front is okay. I wouldn't transport a young child in the middle of two car seats with no booster in anything other than a life or death emegency. There are lots of normal ish cars that will take 3 seats in the back.

[PancakesAndMapleSyrup]

You are defo going to need to change one of the cars. Even if you had one in the front. What happens when you all want to go out as a family? No adult is going to squeeze in the middle back row seat. I would look at 7 seater cars as at some point in the future possibly you will also occasionally want to take friends home from school etc and where will you put them? We don't often use the two seats in the boot but the are bloody useful to have!

[autumnboys]

When we were thinking about a third, we changed to a car that could accommodate 2 high backed boosters and a baby seat (Ford Smax). It was the first in a very long line of things that made having three kids disproportionately more expensive than having two.

It could work if you take both cars every time you want to go out, I suppose, but if it’s you & 3 kids, just put the oldest in the front.

[tinesltitties]

Change car. If you don't want to venture into the 7 seat market, look at the Renault scenic and Citroen Picasso (not sure which model) they are 5 seat cars with 3 full seats in the back.

[playdohismylife]

Thanks all for the advice - we changed my car a year ago to the Mini so hadn't planned to change it again for a few years but it sounds like we would seriously need to consider it - my husbands car is a company car so not possible to change.
I can't imagine we would be travelling too far when the baby is very young but as they all get older a people carrier or 4x4 would make more sense.

[MushroomRaviolli]

multimac.co.uk/home

I came across this a while ago and was thinking about getting it as and when we have more dcs, not looked at many reviews yet though

[lorisparkle]

If you do decide to get a new car and plan on 3 dc definitely try it out first. Some ‘massive’ cars have rubbish seats in the back and whilst look like they could fit 3 car seats they certainly can’t. The middle seat is so important. They often are really uncomfortable so not practical even when the eldest dc does not need a car seat at 12yrs. We have a galaxy which whilst is a bit like a tank is fantastic to drive and plenty of room for all the dc, visiting children and even grandparents! You also have to think about the boot space if you would need a double pushchair etc

[Pinkprincess1978]

Needing a car big enough for three car seats is when we realised we couldn't afford 3 children. We were looking to upgrade our car and couldn't afford to go any bigger. It seems a slippery slope on what you need for a third child though so I'm glad we stopped at two in the end 😀

[katykins85]

It's so true pink, the car was the least of the worries really. Since having 3 holidays have almost doubled as they are all based on 4 so have to either have 2 rooms or rent a villa. Hotels in the uk won't let you have 5 in a room so every time we do a day out I've got to pay for 2 rooms. Eating out etc obvs a lot more expensive and don't get me started on the childcare Its a good job we both work FT in decent jobs that's all I can say haha!

[Branleuse]

youd need to get a decent seven seater eventually, although when really tiny we were ok with a scenic

[nightcap]

We have 3 and had two in high backed boosters and one in baby seat at the same time (they’re now 10,5 and 1) and fit in a Honda jazz. It’s a bit tight (ours is 2006, newer ones might be bit bigger) so you need to check the width of the car seats but is totally doable and the jazz has more space than other much bigger cars so can fit a surprising amount in the boot too.

[imip]

Yes, you need to check your car seats and be aware that a baby seat may be wider than a high back booster and the combinations will all change. Our 4 dc have been in varying combinations in a Passat and now an s-Max. All have fitted but it has been tight (we needed to do seat belts as older kids couldn’t do it themselves).

[tinesltitties]

youd need to get a decent seven seater eventually, although when really tiny we were ok with a scenic

You don't need a 7 seater. Example of a scenic, it has 3 full seats in the back and reasonable boot size. It's perfectly do able with older children.

I had a scenic and now have a sharan, but I chose the sharan because DH became disabled so our needs changed regarding boot space, but for an ordinary family, there is no need to get a 7 seat car, unless you want to.

[Branleuse]

I guess it depends how much and what you use it for.
We do holidays in the car. I think with a 5 seater now we would barely get half an hour before they started killing each other, or looking at another child wrong, or breathing their air. A seven seater is essential to give people space

[katykins85]

I agree tinsel, my Audi has 3 full seats, little ones are in car seats and eldest has a full seat between them plus plenty of boot space. No need whatsoever for a 7 seater.

[MrsFamily]

Agree that you can get away without a 7-seater nor does it have to cost more for a larger car.

I have 4 DC and our main family car (which fits us all in) is a ford galaxy - chuggy bus but an absolutely fantastic car. We have recently bought a Mazda 6 estate for local journeys (petrol rather than diesel) and it's fantastic.
Fits me and 4 DC in and a massive boot. We have two full car seats in back and middle seat without high backed booster, just a booster cushion, but fairly sure you could
fit three.

I'd have a look at estate cars - they have fallen out of fashion with the move to 4x4s
but remain great value and very versatile.

[sickmumma]

We had a Mini Countryman with three car seats in!

Maxi cosi tobi, maxi cosi pebble and a skinny booster seat in the middle was a squeeze but worked for a while
However when middle Child went into a booster they didn't fit and ultimately we brought a bigger 7 seater which is much better.

You could however have a car seat in the front, when DH wasn't with us I would put eldest with booster seat in front and slide the seat as far back as it would go. You can turn the airbags off also if needed.

[3out]

We had a Scenic, but the middle seat wasn’t a full seat. At first glance it looked like a full seat, but it wasn’t. We got three car seats across the back, but it was tight. Mum has a more modern Scenic, and it’s not got three full seats in the back either. I’m not saying pp is wrong, not at all, just warning that not all Scenics have three full seats in the back (only the outer seats had isofix on our car and Mum’s)

We have an Espace now, love it!

From the sounds of it, you like nicer cars, so you’d prob be more suited to an S Max. Watch out with the Ford Kuga and some other Fords though, they have quite short seatbelts (it wouldn’t go round my friend’s infant seat, so she had to get an isofix base)

[fourthusernamebutwhoscounting]

Ford Galaxy. You can take out individual seats to space out the arguing children create more boot space. We can even fit kids bikes in ours.