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Car Seat for Twins

18 replies

J6odie · 02/11/2022 12:09

Hello, We have a 2 year old and now expecting Twins.
We currently have a standard car (Kadjar) which I don't think will fit 3 car seats in the back.
I have seen the Multimac seat which fits into the back of you normal back seats and then give you 3 proper seat to allow the space to have 3 car seat.

Has anyone used this before? it seems a little expensive but worth it if it works well and saves us buying a new bigger car?

Thanks in advance
Jodie

Car Seat for Twins
OP posts:
Anytimeiseeit · 02/11/2022 12:11

You wouldn’t be able to use that for ages anyway though as it’s not for babies surely?

Dinoteeth · 02/11/2022 12:30

Op realistically I think you'd be better looking for a bigger car. That looks OK for bigger children but not for babies.
Sorry.

J6odie · 02/11/2022 12:32

You can add there baby car seats to these then u still have 1 space in for a 3 year old. just wondering if they easy to use and if anyone has had one b4

Car Seat for Twins
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MOR19 · 02/11/2022 12:35

The safety rating on the MM isn’t meant to be great. If you ask on ‘Car Seat Advice UK’ group on Facebook they’ll have loads of helpful advice on what may work in your car as they have loads of knowledge about narrow seats etc.

Mommabear20 · 02/11/2022 13:08

We have a 2y/o and a 1y/o and expecting another this month, we have 2 maxi cosi seats with isofix bases (for baby and 1y/o) and then a much narrower (due to no isofix base) seat in the middle for our 2y/o in the middle seat, which has the extra stability from being wedged between the two fixed bases.

Eliza28 · 02/11/2022 14:00

I have a Mulitmac and love it, it was a game changer for us!
They're really helpful and give loads of guidance on safety so I'd recommend giving them a ring or email

DuckMeFed · 02/11/2022 14:02

Very low rear facing limit on the multimac so not at all safe by modern, evidence based (and common sense….) car seat safety standards.

Petrolheadmom · 02/11/2022 14:25

I love my Multimac! My youngest two were both able to rear face until 2 in their minimacs and then once they grew out of them it was really easy to put them forward facing.
Saved me buying a big 7 seater that I didn’t particularly want to be driving

Redambergreenforgo · 02/11/2022 14:40

I know nothing about the mm (my dt are teens). One thing to consider though is that twin pushchairs are bigger so even if you can fit 3 car seats in the back is ghe boot big enough for a double pushchair plus all that comes with having 3 dc? I did have to buy a bigger car in order to fit 3 carseats in the back a big expense but was worthwhile.

ChimneyPot · 02/11/2022 14:43

I had twins before my eldest turned 2. I went to a good car seat shop and they came out and tried various combinations and got 3 that worked.

YellowTreeHouse · 02/11/2022 14:44

Your 3 year old will still need to be rear facing; until 4 minimum.

Livingthebream · 02/11/2022 14:49

YellowTreeHouse · 02/11/2022 14:44

Your 3 year old will still need to be rear facing; until 4 minimum.

Rear facing until 4? They wouldn’t be able to safely sit in their car seat at all by that age.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 02/11/2022 14:51

Livingthebream · 02/11/2022 14:49

Rear facing until 4? They wouldn’t be able to safely sit in their car seat at all by that age.

Lots of seats are extended rear facing and can go beyond 4yos. They are designed for this, so have space for legs.

YellowTreeHouse · 02/11/2022 14:53

Livingthebream · 02/11/2022 14:49

Rear facing until 4? They wouldn’t be able to safely sit in their car seat at all by that age.

That’s simply not true.

ERF seats are the safest on the market and generally last until 6 or 7 years old.

Rear facing is 5 times safer than forward facing.

Hugasauras · 02/11/2022 14:55

@Livingthebream Not true. Extended rearfacing is the norm in quite a few countries and becoming more common here. DD is 3.5yo and still comfortably rearfacing.

incarsafetycentre.co.uk/safety-centre/what-is-rear-facing#:~:text=In%20a%20forward%2Dfacing%20car,the%20side%20and%20rear%20windows.

Anyway, some 25kg seats like the Britax Maxway Plus and a Axkid Move are compact and can be fitted in the middle seat (Move can, not sure about Maxway) but you need a fairly large back seat to physically fit two infant carriers and an older child's seat.

@BertieBotts might have an idea of some combos that could work but it may be a bigger car makes more sense!

Livingthebream · 02/11/2022 14:59

YellowTreeHouse · 02/11/2022 14:53

That’s simply not true.

ERF seats are the safest on the market and generally last until 6 or 7 years old.

Rear facing is 5 times safer than forward facing.

But that all depends on the size of the car you have, for extended rear facing the front seats generally have to be moved forward to o give the child in the back more leg room.
it really isn’t going to work with 3 dc in the back.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 02/11/2022 16:12

Livingthebream · 02/11/2022 14:59

But that all depends on the size of the car you have, for extended rear facing the front seats generally have to be moved forward to o give the child in the back more leg room.
it really isn’t going to work with 3 dc in the back.

We used the Britax Two Way Elite in our really old Nissan Micra for years and non driving dh always managed to fit fine in the seat in front of it.

BertieBotts · 04/11/2022 07:48

You might fit three across in a Kadjar - it's worth going to a biggish car seat shop and seeing what they have. Depending on what seat your 3yo is in it might be that you can get away with just changing her seat rather than buying the Multimac.

I don't think the Multimac is terrible - the side impact protection isn't fantastic, and it's quite an old design at this point so it is based more in technology/safety from around 15 years ago than today, the biggest issue being the low rear facing limit, but it was ahead of its time with extended harness up to 12 years and the support leg helps prevent forward movement. It also does what it's designed to do which is avoid children sitting in the crumple zone in a 7-seater. Whether that's still an issue in modern cars, I must admit I don't know, but in terms of cost effective solutions compared with changing a car, it is an option worth weighing up, especially considering many people are comparing with the option of having the eldest child in the middle seat with no car seat and/or if changing the car are needing to change to an older model with less crash prevention/protection features.

It can be a good solution for multiples, especially with a smaller age gap to another child, because of needing several seats of a similar stage for an extended period of time. The main issue is the rear facing limit which is 13kg, that's low these days, many people use rear facing seats up to 18kg or even 25kg.

In terms of fitting three separate seats across, the 25kg rear facing seats are actually among the most compact and flexible because you can fit them further forward or further back on the seats. It doesn't look to me like you'd struggle with front seat space in a Kadjar - possibly in a smaller car. (But you'd struggle for space with 3 kids in a small car whatever the direction of the seats). Remember that the baby seats and some of the cheaper 18kg rear facing seats can only be fitted reclined, so they take up a lot more space. The Swedish type seats are really upright so they don't take up a lot of room at all.

erfmission.com/you-cant-rear-face-in-small-cars-debunking-myths-4/

In terms of 3 across, the most important thing is the shape of the seats and geometry of the seatbelts/isofix points so unfortunately it's just a game of trial and error and there's no real database to consult or anything - just too many possible variations. You could try joining one of the larger UK car seat groups and asking whether anybody has got 3 across in a medium sized car like this, but there are so many combinations of car model/version, children's ages, seat availability/budget/sales etc that it's unlikely you'll find somebody who has the exact same needs as you.

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