Bit of a rant about cars....

[Wisknit]

I doon't really have a "larger" family. I'm just expecting baby no 3 and got thinking about cars and carseats.
My irritations a 2 fold:

1. You have to get a bigger car cos 2 carseats and a booster won't fit along the back and we have non-turn-offable air bags in the front. We already have an estate.
2. You get penalised for having a bigger 'gas-guzzler' car by roadtax but because of the carseat rules you have no choice.

I'm not saying that I think here shouldn't be strict carseat rules in aide of safety (although I do think children having to be in them til 12 is silly) but I'm just getting nnoyed with the whole thing. Can't face the idea of changing cars AGAIN. (we had to only a year ago whehn DS2 was born)

[evenhope]

Expat DH's truck only has a lapbelt in the middle and the Britax Eclipse and the Renaissance both fit in with just the lapbelt. They go up to 4.

[Psychomum5]

we had a vauxhaul cavalier (sp?) until we had DS1 (DC4), and would have had to continue with it after he came along too had the car not been written off with me inside while we were expecting him, and we managed with three full-sized car seats......so it is possible with many cars.

we had britax freeway, britax excell, and a britax teeny seat (part of a travel system), and all fitted with room to get hands down the side to fit them too.

you do not need a people carrier until/unless you have 4+, IMO........it really is not worth it in terms of fuel consumption and the extra tax/insurance etc.

we have a chrysler voyager now, and it 12miles to the gallon, , very very pricy!

[moshie]

you can get a booster-type seat with a 5 point harness so you don't have to struggle with the seat belt buckle every time. The straps on the britax elite can be used up to 25kg, age about 6, as opposed to 18kg on most others. this has been a real find for me (cm).

[Wisknit]

What a pain.
Must be really irritating.
My parents live in the middle of nowhere so had to drive or cycle. The only bus stop was 20 minute walk away (which the present one is but more reg buses) and it was an every 4 hours if you are lucky type bus service so I was lucky enough not to have to deal with public transport since DS1 as hubby needs car to get to work and I don't want to be running 2 cars.

A rude awakening.

[Wisknit]

It's not just the first bus...it's usually the 2nd and poss. 3rd too!

Usually the 1st is early and flies past me and the bus stop, then the 2nd will be 10 minutes late and have a wheel chair or pram on and I get told the next one is only 15 minutes but it'll be late too.
Result: I spen 45 mins - 1 hr standing either freezing in the rain or burning in the sun depending on the weather.
Then pay £6 return to go to the nearest town that isn't Chatham.
I'm not keen on buses.

[misscutandstick]

we have an old beat up transit mini-bus with lots of rust and character (not to mention remnants of McD's!)

Five boys - 2 in carseats, 2 on boosters.

Actually it does brill milage and the parts are fabbo cheap! can also get in plenty of shopping (tho usually do it online to save the hassle) and 2 prams.

[Nighbynight]

I have got 4 children and a Ford Fiesta, it fits 3 booster seats in the back.

Pisses me off how all the people round where I live rush out and buy a huge car the moment they have a larger family (2 children).

[PInkyminkyohnooo]

we've got a Fiat Doblo and the seats will all fit fine, and the car costs as much to run as our old Astra saloon, including the insurance. No need for a 4x4, they are shockingly wasteful cars. We have two in group 1 seats and will have a baby seat, too, and plenty of room in the boot for the tent and double buggy!

[DanJARMouse]

well it fitted for me LOL

its the bog standard silver in car base like this here

we have a booster cushion one side and a high back booster the other

worked for us!

[Gobbledigook]

When we had the 2 Britax Eclipse and the rock-a-tot (rear facing baby one) we could only do it with teh baby one at the side. It would not work with that in the middle adn the 2 big ones either side.

[misdee]

hooray someone agrees with me!

[Gobbledigook]

I agree with misdee - the rear facing babyseats won't fit in the middle, you need your 2nd stage in the middle and the baby seat at the side.

It's a while ago now but we just about fit 2 Britax Eclipses and one high backed booster in our Mondeo. It was a nightmare though - you could hardly fasten the seatbelt on the booster cos you'd be fumbling around trying to find the bit to click the belt into which was wedged between 2 seats that didn't really fit in!

[Gobbledigook]

'I have 3 DC's and I own a Fiat Punto. The passenger air-bag can be turned off and 2 full seat belts in the rear. It takes very little petrol and tax is cheap, next year will be even cheaper. It is a Sport model and is a lot of fun as well as very practical.'

LOL! A fiat punto for 5 people?! What do you do when all 5 of you are going somewhere?! Plus, many cars do not have the option of turning airbags off. Anyway, I don't like my children to sit in the front of the car - they are safer in the back.

Not sure about a car costing £105 to fill up?! What is it, a tank?! I've got a Grand Voyager and it's about £60 to fill up (petrol though, not diesel).

[Wisknit]

oh, and Riven don't even get me started on the bses and bus drivers round here.....

[Wisknit]

DanJARMouse
We have an astra but as I said before we will have two proper carseats and a hgh back booster - although as DS1 will be 3 by the time dc3 arrives I suppose we could get rid of the high back but we still can't fit the booster, DS2's carseat and the graco in.
Did you ever manage that? I really like my astra (although I only use it once in the wekek and at weekends) and would like to keep it for a little while longer.

[Twelvelegs]

expat, I think I fill up for everyone in the petrol station!! It's a Grand Espace 2l, but up to a month ago it was £80, that would show as giving me 450 miles.

[sweetkitty]

Right so if I got a Britax high back booster and put it in one side, put DD2 in her Renaissance in the middle (will it work it's big) then put baby seat in other side?

What about when DD3 needs the bigger seat at 9 months plus can I get two 9m-4ys in the back with the booster in the middle?

Also could I put one of them in the front during the week, which one?

Sorry for the questions am starting to panic now.

[expatinscotland]

dh says the astra estate is the same width.

looks like we need to play around with it.

we qualify for sure start grant and were planning to use it to get a car seat with a fixed base because we gave the girls' infant one to a pal.

[misdee]

expat, please try my way as well.

we used it in a astra estate (no idea if this is wider)

[expatinscotland]

'graco in car base in middle secure with lap belt. car seat clicked on and off'

JARM, help! We've got the same shape Astra as you, but a P-reg.

Like you, two girls, one in booster seat with back on one side and one in older child car seat (she's 2.5) on other side.

Exactly what type of Grace in car base have you got if you don't mind my asking?

Because that's exactly the type of set up we we were hoping to achieve with that middle seat only being a lap belt.

[DanJARMouse]

We had 3 seats across my L reg astra.

high back booster with full seatbelt one side
booster cushion with full seatbelt other side
graco in car base in middle secure with lap belt. car seat clicked on and off

same set up in our mondeo estate except graco base is secure with full seatbelt now as have luxery of 3 full belts.

DS will be moving into a forward facing seat soon and so will move him to one of the sides and put one of the DD's in the middle