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Ford Mondeo 3 car seats

8 replies

Kiteidesu · 01/03/2025 13:25

Hi,

Sorry I imagined this is asked a lot, I did google and research for a while but couldn’t find answers.

We have a Ford Mondeo and we are expecting twins, we already have a 3 years old.

Can anyone recommend car seats arrangement that would work please?

Thank you

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
FamilyAreEverything · 01/03/2025 14:20

Congratulations!
Have you checked your car manual to see if you are allowed a child’s car seat in the middle seat?

Nooa · 01/03/2025 14:30

A ford Mondeo is not on the (very short) list of the cars that fit three car seats across the back seats. There are only about ten cars that do IIRC.

Having said that anything is possible in theory. Would the toddler be 4yo when the twins arrive? A forward facing HBB is more likely to fit in the middle than a 360 toddler seat. Also you would probably have to use seatbelt fitting instead of isofix for the two baby seats, so you can shuffle them further out towards the doors. Depending on what the Mondeo's seat shape is like, this may push them off centre and be unsafe.

Can you get to one of these stores? https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/ They will help you try a variety of car seats in your car.

Nooa · 01/03/2025 14:31

Another option is putting the toddler in the front and relegating the second adult to the back, if you are really determined to keep the Mondeo. Best look up safety stats on this though as I'm not aware of how safe this is.

Kiteidesu · 01/03/2025 16:16

FamilyAreEverything · 01/03/2025 14:20

Congratulations!
Have you checked your car manual to see if you are allowed a child’s car seat in the middle seat?

Thank you! It was a big surprise!

That would be a good starting point, thank you, I will have a look this afternoon.

OP posts:
Kiteidesu · 01/03/2025 16:22

Nooa · 01/03/2025 14:31

Another option is putting the toddler in the front and relegating the second adult to the back, if you are really determined to keep the Mondeo. Best look up safety stats on this though as I'm not aware of how safe this is.

Thank you for your long reply. We would be happy to change our cars, we only got it last year and thought we were future proofed.. until we found out we were expecting twins!

Yes, our little one will be close to 4 then.

Unfortunately not near them, but I will see if I could find somewhere that lets you try different carseats, that’s a good shout.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 01/03/2025 20:40

It's not true that only 10 cars fit three across the back. It all depends on the seats and the combination. The seats look fairly flat on the Mondeo but the middle seat isn't wide - that's where you'll potentially struggle. Can you measure the width between where the middle seatbelt is attached and the buckle?

For twins and a 3yo you could potentially look at Multimac, it's one of the options, though it will really limit how long the twins can be rear facing which might not be what you want. I would not hold my breath on their "longer" rear facing seat as they have been saying that for ages. And the baby seat insert things aren't compatible with prams.

Other than that yes you need to check what you can have in the middle seat, and then a good idea is to make an appointment at a local baby store and take every car seat you currently own (including seats your 3yo has outgrown) to essentially play "tetris" with the seats and see what will fit.

What seat does your 3yo currently have?

For the babies you might be able to look at belt fitted bases for infant carriers like this is currently on clearance at Halfords and takes the Joie i-Gemm or i-Snug seats, which are compatible with many prams.

https://www.halfords.com/baby-and-child/car-seats/car-seat-bases/joie-i-base-isofix-car-seat-base-186308.html?stockInventory=undefined&plpPlacement=9

Long term, ERF seats like Axkid Minikid are helpful for fitting three across, because they are narrow at the base and the tethers let you move it forward or back which can help with fitting in around other seats. If your 3yo would sit rear facing, which a lot of them would find that exciting if you present it as something new and "special" - then she could go into this now which would be a safe option for her and then when the babies are growing out of their infant carriers, your eldest could change to a slim high back booster, one baby could have the Minikid and then you could either get a second ERF seat or something like Graco Extend R129 for the middle seat.

Or Graco Extend might work now for your eldest in the middle, if you don't think rear facing would work for her. A high back booster might be suitable at nearly 4 but some children won't be heavy/tall/sensible enough to manage it quite then.

All of the possibilities need checking before you buy because it's more about the shapes of the car seats and which bits stick out where than looking at widths etc. Where roughly are you in the country if you are comfortable saying?

Counter intuitively, it's actually safer to have a rear facing child in the front as long as you can disable the airbag. If you do put a child in the front IME it's more comfortable to use the centre rear seat for a child seat anyway and let the adult sit at the side.

abc223 · 12/05/2025 20:14

Hi, 👋
I really hope you see this as your post is recent ish.

PLEASE tell me you found a combination that worked. I am in a similar situation with a mondeo too and can’t seem to get any clear advice from all the car seat fb pages on what are slimline seats and what would fit across the back. However I don’t need 2 infant seats like yourself as my kids will be 6,3 and newborn at the time but still need 3 car seats.
keeping everything crossed you may have some answers. X

Ihaveaskedyouthrice · 12/05/2025 20:18

We have a ford Mondeo and I can't imagine how you'd fit 3 car seats into the back. We have 2 children in booster seats and even at that it's a tight squeeze to fit a 3rd person in the middle, no way would 2 infant car seats and a 4 year olds car seat fit.

Only option I can think of would be to put the two babies in the back, the four-year-old in the front and the second adult in the back between the two car seats but I honestly can't see how it would fit.

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