AIBU to think that a skoda estate should fit three child seats???

[Joycey29]

I am fuming! Expecting number 3 in Nov and need to sort out car seats. My others are 1 and 3 and so need car seats (despite law that 3 year old can sit in the middle with an adult belt!!!!)
I asked in Mothercare and John Lewis and both answered you need a 7 Seater! You are joking!!!! I have acar that seats 5 adults but wont seat 3 chidren and 2 adults - this is stupid.
Am having to consider a Multimac which will set me back £1200 but will do all 3 in my car!!
I cannot believe this is the only solution!
SO angry!!!

[zeke]

That's a good point about the squashing and the saftey aspect beepbeep. The two carseats in my car are fitted with Isofix points and there is no way a booster would fit inbetween, or even a small(ish) child for that matter.

[Khara]

The only 5-seater I know of that takes 3 child seats across the back is the Picasso.

[swampster]

Bloody hell! I though of inventing a jobby like the multimac - didn't realise it already existed!

[Joycey29]

Have tried all possible combinations but though dh is skinny even his shouders don't fit in between the other two!
Also am thinking if have to buy three narrow seats then getting close to the cost of a 3 seater multimac which goes from 0 -12. Atleast I wouldn't have to buy another car seat ever again.....

[FatFree]

That multimac looks like a great idea! But would an 8 yr old still wanna be in a 5 point harness?

[charleymouse]

Joycey have you tried all possible configurations?

When we took DS 2 DD 4 and DDs friend 4 to safari park for day we tried the seats in the back and they didn't fit. DH then ended up in back and DS in front. After 5 minutes DH was feeling mardy travel sick so we stopped and tried the seats in a different order and they fitted. You can also get slimline seats from some companies but not sure which are best, have you tried Halfords/Mothercare to ask if they have 3 of the correct size which will fit.

When I was expecting the twins the only car on the market with 3 isofix points was a VW Touareg which we got but it is still tight across the back as one isofix is in the front. A number of cars now have multiple isofix though.

[myredcardigan]

I think it's just the way car seats are made these days. Too much padding. I used to have a BMW X5, so quite a big 4x4 and I couldn't fit 3 seats across the back of that. I had to change to a discovery and put DS in the back row. My friend has a BMW 3series and is expecting her 3rd. She doesn't think she'g going to manage it either.

Mind you, we both have those enormous Britax seats so maybe slimmer ones would be ok.

[amybswansea]

I wonder if they will start making cars slightly wider now the car seat rules are different.

Three fit in the back of my Scenic.

Oh and YANBU

[Joycey29]

Thanks guys - I have a maxi cosio cabrio - a tobi and a rodi and have fiddled around for hours and it aint gonna happen.
The multimac man is coming to see me....... will keep you posted - it's still cheaper than a new car I suppose........

[Jaquelinehyde]

My brother has the same car and it accomodates 2 car seats and a booster in the middle along the back no problems.

They don't need 3 along the back everyday though, just when they pick one of my DC's up, but they definately fit and are perfectly safe.

[Bramshott]

My friend has somehow managed to get 3 in car seats in her Skoda Fabia - I think by putting the smallest one in the middle in the big Stage 1 seat (I can't remember what she did when they had a baby seat, maybe used the front if the airbag turns off?), and then two slimline-ish boosters at each side of it.

[beepbeep]

agree, YANBU, we assumed 3 would fit in ours until we looked at it properly.

[beepbeep]

we have a volvo v50 (estate), have just bought a ford smax for same reason, even some 'proper' 5 seaters won't fit 3 big car seats, but will fit something like 2 car seats and a booster but even that's a squash. Friend has a renault scenic and has 3 tobi car seats in it ok. we have 2 britax car seats and there is no way another would go in the middle, even a booster (they knocked about 10cm off the size of the big infant seats)

our DCs are 1yr and 2.5yr and 3rd also duein NOv so in same dilema as you. Very reluctant to get rid of volvo as also have dog but needs must.

you also need to think about the safety of squashing 3 car seats in the back, just because 3 fit in doesn't mean they fit properly and are safe.

[WoTmania]

YANBU by the way

[WoTmania]

Have you tried some in? We have an astra estate and have a concorde, high back booster and graco in the setting thingy. Tight but they fit.
Maybe go to somewhere like Halfords and get them to try diff combinations? It'll be a lot cheaper to get a couple of new carseats than a new car. (mothercare were useless when we were looking at fitting 3 across the backseat.)
HTH

[wishingchair]

That multimac though is brilliant! Expensive option but maybe cheaper than a new car?

[wishingchair]

Many many cars won't fit 3 car seats across the back. We had an Audi A6 that wouldn't do this. Think many cars are designed for 5 adults but really think that no one would regularly sit in the middle seat. We've now swapped to a 7 seater ...

[zeke]

The multimac does look very cool! They have definately spotted the problem in the market. I can understand why you are at the price though.

[bran]

What would make a huge difference IMO would be if the car manufacturers offered the option to have a bench style seat rather than the raised edges that they usually have. It's the bits at the edge that force the two child seats towards the middle, if both seats were right up against the door then there would be room for another seat in the middle.

[BalloonSlayer]

Just to add that I have now got a seven seater (Toyota Corolla Yaris) but have never used the sixth and seventh seats. With the middle three seats pushed back as far as they can go, there is loads of room for the baby to be in the middle and one of the other two to go past him to get to their seat, having got in at whatever is the "safe" side of the road. I'd never have been able to do that with my Citroen.

Plus I can actually clamber into the car to put the baby in his seat. It was a faff and an expense to change my car, of course but it is so much easier now.

[zeke]

My friend has the exact same frustration a while back witht her skoda estate.

All of the people I know who have 3+ children do have a 4wd or a people carrier. My sister did have mercedes (C class I think) estate when he 3 were little, so the car seats must have fit (2 newborns + 2 yr old though. Since swapped for a 7 seated 4 wd though!

Some of the smaller cars are able to fit three booster seats, not sure about any other combination. I know one of my friends actually takes her smaller car when picking up 4 kids (playdates etc) from school, because it can fit 3 boosters in the back but the bigger one cannot!

There are more slimline seats available though, not sure whether that would help enough though.

I don't know what a multimac is....so I shall google it!

[bran]

I googled it multimac, it looks cool. I must resist the temptation to have 4 children just because I can fit them in the back of the car.

Am I right in thinking it would be a huge faff to take it out temporarily? Occasionally I need to put the backseat down to carry large items but I guess that would be out of the question without a couple of burly men and a lot of huffing and puffing.

Sorry op, I'm not really being any help to you at all, am I?

[SarahL2]

My husband went on the Skoda website once to prove to me that Octavia estates are exactly the same size (length and width) as the normal saloons (he wanted to swap his company car for a pool car for a weekend when we went to Center parcs and I didn't want to drive the "bigger" car)

The only difference is that the back is squared off to give a bigger boot space...

No way you would get three seats across the back of our car

[BettyTurnip]

We have an Octavia hatchbabck (not sure how much narrower it is than the estate). We also have Britax car seats and 3 chidren aged 4.10, 2.11 and 1yr and we cannot fit them all in car seats on the back seat. I checked the legal guidelines a few weeks back, and a child is legally able to travel without a booster if there isn't enough room because of other car seats in place on the back seat.

Agree it's crap, especially when you've got an estate.

[BalloonSlayer]

I had a Citroen C5 (big Family saloon) which I loved, and had to get rid of as I couldn't get three across the back in the way I wanted.

Makes me spit