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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be totally pissed off at not knowing how to solve our 'three car seats in the back seat' dilemma?

53 replies

spad · 12/05/2015 20:59

Can someone please help???!!!

My DH has an older BMW. Is it possible to get three car seats, (for a two year old, soon to be one year old and newborn) in a row in the back seat WITHOUT having to buy that crazy expensive multimac thing?

We have a few weeks before I am due to come up with a solution but we really are running out of time, and don't want to have to spent a heap of money on solving the problem.

tia

OP posts:
lougle · 12/05/2015 23:16

In fact at one stage we had 3 in a row, all without buckle crunch.

Happfeet2911 · 12/05/2015 23:31

Just put one in the boot, failing that the footwell, they'll be fine! Not joking, I survived a bad crash as a child by being shot into the footwell of my mums car. We are all totally obsessed with child seats these days, they are great but not having one was not a death sentence 30 years ago! Amazing how many of us are still alive!

gessami · 12/05/2015 23:37

we also had to get a new car when DC3 arrived. it's really annoying. people carriers tend to work. or if you've got the budget an Audi Q7 or Land Rover discovery will work

gessami · 12/05/2015 23:39

happ there were far fewer cars on the road 30 years ago. and they were all going much slower.

Lucked · 12/05/2015 23:42

I think you only disable the passenger airbag for rear facing seats, so not if you put the two year old in the front but please check this out carefully as I am not 100%.

TracyBarlow · 12/05/2015 23:47

We had to get a new car too. We also had three under 4s so needed proper car seats and we just couldn't fit them in. We were told not to use seatbelt extenders as they are not properly tested for safety.
Peeve bought a Touran now. It does the job.

And happ my H is a fireman. The only RTC child fatalities he's ever been to were where the children weren't in the car seats. I won't describe the scenes. They still haunt him now, but at one of the crashes they didn't even find one of the child's bodies for half an hour.

TracyBarlow · 12/05/2015 23:48

we've bought a Touran

Jessica2point0 · 13/05/2015 00:01

lucked, I'm pretty sure that you have to disable the front passenger airbag up to approx age 12 - they're designed for adult heights so can suffocate a child. For rear-facing they can cause whiplash, which is a separate issue. Some cars you can turn them off yourself with your ignition key, so it doesn't gave to be a hassle.

NRomanoff · 13/05/2015 06:58

We are all totally obsessed with child seats these days, they are great but not having one was not a death sentence 30 years ago! Amazing how many of us are still alive!

I hate this argument. Firstly, its a legal requirement. So it doesn't matter whether anyone thinks they are pointless. Secondly, yes were are still alive. But many aren't.

I am horrified when I think about us going on days out when I was a kid. My Auntie had a estate car. We used to get 2 adults in the front 4 (sometimes 5) kids on the back seat and then me and my younger cousins in the boot for day trips. At the time I loved it as I always got to go in the boot. So much fun. Now I am horrified at it and certainly wouldn't let my kids do it.

And thats nothing to the amount of people grandad used to squeeze into his car when mum was young, in the 60s. Two of them used to have to stand with their heads through the sunroof, to get them all in.

Doesn't mean you should do it now.

NRomanoff · 13/05/2015 06:59

Sorry OP forgot to answer. Halfords is you best bet. They also did this at Toys r us for my mum, she ended up going to halfords as they could find any that would fit.

NRomanoff · 13/05/2015 07:04

I'm pretty sure that you have to disable the front passenger airbag up to approx age 12 - they're designed for adult heights so can suffocate a child. For rear-facing they can cause whiplash, which is a separate issue. Some cars you can turn them off yourself with your ignition key, so it doesn't gave to be a hassle.

I don't think you do. I think id a child is in a forward facing one you need to put the chair back as far as possible to stop the child taking the full impact and to ensure they are as far away from the dashboard as possible. The advice, I believe, is don't do it unless there is no other way round it but don't turn the airbag off.

Mistigri · 13/05/2015 07:04

Baby rear facing in front, and the smaller of the two adults in the rear middle seat? We've done this in a little Toyota Yaris, although it was with group 2-3 seats not infant seats.

It depends how often you will need to have all five of you in the car at once.

paddypants13 · 13/05/2015 09:44

I only found out recently that BMW make their own brand car seats. ( I work in the car industry.) It might be worth looking them up although I imagine they're expensive.

Good luck with the new baby!

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 13/05/2015 09:55

We are all totally obsessed with child seats these days, they are great but not having one was not a death sentence 30 years ago! Amazing how many of us are still alive!

True to some extent but roads were a lot narrower, motorways fewer and cars less powerful. Moot point regardless unless you want points on your licence/disqualification.

Only two children but we put the newborn rear facing in the front seat if we were stuck and needed to carry 3 adults. No way could we get three seats across the back. Halfords have a great reputation for this though - seems to be a challenge they enjoy ! Most mobile child in the middle seems to be the rule.

paddypants13 · 13/05/2015 10:14

I should have added that it is not recommended to have a child seat in the front even with the air bag turned off. Apparently they can still sometimes deploy in an accident.

Chchchchanging · 13/05/2015 13:09

I have 3 friends with 1 then twins
2 bought smax
1 bought q5 (!)
The smaller family car is 1 in front and 2 in back
Problem is they will need to rear face for longer and next seats are bigger at top then base...Shock

Fresh01 · 13/05/2015 13:20

We have had this issue. We did get it to work through a lot of trial and error at a shop. You need to have the base for the rear facing infant seat that stays in the car all the time. There is not sufficient space to comfortably be always securing it with the seat belt only.
We found the Britax Eclipse was the narrowest forward facing car seat. For the next stage the Maxi Cosi Rodi high back booster was narrowest but your eldest is too young for that at the moment. At the time it is a very frustrating problem.

grannytomine · 13/05/2015 13:22

I was told you shouldn't put a baby or toddler in the front with an adult in the rear. They told me you put the heaviest people in the front as if they are thrown forward they can injure little ones in the front.

Tanith · 13/05/2015 15:06

Do they still sell Multimacs? Has anyone ever bought one?

www.multimac.co.uk

MagicAlwaysLeadsToTrouble · 15/05/2015 07:22

Any thoughts on having a child in the back/boot seat of a Zarifa on permanent basis? Obviously in a car seat.

BattlestarSpectacular · 15/05/2015 07:32

Is like to know too Magic I can't believe how complicated it all is. I was told that 3 seats across the back was dangerous because of side impact 'shearing' the buckles as they are pressing against one another.
now I've learnt that putting one on the front and me in the back is dangerous because of the chance of my weight crushing them in the event of rear impact.
we have a VW Touran and put one dc in the boot seat (with booster)...but is this dangerous in case of reduced crumple zone ?

In dragons den years and years ago, someone invented a clip that was crash tested that attached to an adult seatbelt and lowered it to the correct position for a child. There must be a more elegant solution than all these group 0-3 car seats and constant reorganization

LotusLight · 15/05/2015 07:38

Our almost 4 year old had to manage with a bolster seat in the middle between the two car seats for the baby and toddler. Probably illegal though..... Or as someone said force the adult into the middle seat at back (might need to lose weight!) and put the 3rd child seat in front car.
When we had 5 (yes 5) children - twins were 4/5 we got a Volvo estate and had 2 seats in the boot of that which took the youngest two when they were a bit bigger. I think that was beyond car seat age.

poocatcherchampion · 15/05/2015 07:43

Zafira manuals say that the middle seat of the middle row is not safe for child seats.
This appears to be a little known fact.

So the back back is your only option.
(We tried it and it seems fine to me but I couldn't get erf there so it wouldn't work for our family)

Jackieharris · 15/05/2015 07:46

I'd put the eldest in a group 1 seat in the front.

Partyringer · 15/05/2015 07:59

Change your car. Honestly, don't fight it, just do it.