Help!! from anyone with twins and a toddler, i think i just bought the wrong car!

[DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas]

I'm 25 weeks with twins, my dd will be 18-hopefully nearly 19 months when they're born. I wanted all 3 in a row in the car so enough space for a monster buggy in the boot. I was told an MPV, individual seats not bench seats, jobs a good 'un. Today we traded in my mini for a minibus Seat Alhambra as it seemed to fit all the criteria. 3 isofix point across middle row, individually moving seats, loads of room in boot once rear seats removed.

Dh has just looked in the handbook and it says you can only fit 2 isofix seats in, and only one if its in the middle... This is a disaster for me, dd is in an extended rearfacer, isofix, huge (the BeSafe iZi Combi). Is this true, or is there any way I can squeeze 3 isofix seats in? Dh says the handbook is very pedantic, but its the handbook!

Having a massive panic....

(And think I will go and post this is car seats too...)

I have 3 isofix seats in my Honda FRV at the same time. Does it HAVE 3 Isofix anchor points...?? It might be that it simply isn't wide enough to have 3 securely fitted in 1 line...(my FRV has 2 in the back and 1 in the middle of the front which is pushed back, so its not really a front seat)

Oh dear! Well, you could try putting the Besafe on one end, an isofix base on the other side and belt in the third isofix base. This is sort of what my husband did in his Jeep.

I have a citroën c4, and my DS was 19 months when I hady twins. His besafe izi combi is on one end and the twins both have maxi cosi cabrio seats and isofix bases on the other two seats.

The car thing drove me crackers. At 30 weeks pregnant we drove for 2 hours to see a Renault which the dealer promised me had 3 isofix seats, and when we got there he said he'd made a mistake, it only had two. I had to be led away, sobbing, before I started screaming!

Have you got your pram sorted? We ended up with a triple and I wish we'd got that to start with.

Good luck!

Hi,

bagofholly I did a festive name change, i was dreamfeeder, and bought the same buggy as you from your recommendation, the ABC everest triple. And my dd is having months and never-ending months of awful sleep, sounding a bit like you!!! (It was you who said your ds had months of bad sleep til your twins were 3 months wasn't it?)

Someone on the car seat thread has cheered me up by saying they have 3 isofix seats in a seat alhambra, 2006. The one we've just bought is 2007 so all hope is not lost. It has 3 isofix seats and 2 with integrated child seats. All the seats can be moved into any position in the car (as those with integrated child seats don't have isofix points I've discovered)

I'm just feeling like a fool as I thought id researched this thoroughly before making the purchase, so if it doesn't work out how I want as think it'll work best like that I'll be gutted!!!

What did you decide to do? Great news about the pram! How are you finding it?

The pram is great! Obviously we haven't been out with it yet, still got 10 weeks to go before the twins are born. Dd loves sitting in the top seat in the hall though. Just need to think of how to make the other seats a bit disuse for newborn twins- thinking maybe sheepskin liners as they'll be needing something for summer time.

Have got our 2 hand-me-down seats from friends now- a britax with base and maxi cosi for which the base has just arrived so the moment of truth about the car is approaching!!! As a full size MPV it better blooming well fit them all across the middle! I am further encouraged that the family we bought the pram from are driving an Alhambra too and always had the children in a row so must all fit...

Disuse?! Auto-correct... I meant cosier.

How exciting! Mine came with the ABC foot muffs but they were like mini sleeping bags! I swapped them for the ones we got with our (crap) iCandy and they fitted fine. I also swapped all the children around sometimes so that I had a baby in the top seat - they look so cute snuggled up there!

Hope all goes well with the car! It's a nightmare sorting all this stuff!

Yes, I've got the ABC footmuffs (which the family clearly hadn't washed and stink!), but as they'll be beginning of April babies I thought they might overheat.

I still can't believe how much more there is to think about with twins and a toddler in terms of amount of stuff... My next worry to move onto is the birth. I was kind of hoping for twin one to be breech but they're both head down at 28 weeks, with twin one so low they can't even measure head circumference so I doubt he'll turn and the consultant is clearly trying to encourage me to have a vb (after third degree tear) and the thought terrifies me!

I have twins (nearly one) and a four year old and have just changed cars, previously we had a Vauxhall Zafira with the babies in isofix maxicosi seats and DD1 in the boot - I wasn't very happy with this, as the very back seats of a MPV are basically the crumple zone in the event of a rear end crash.
Now we have the three of them across the middle of the Toyota Verso. I have had to put DD1 at one side since she often has to get in/out with the babies in situ e.g. for nursery. This means that I have had to put one baby in the middle, no isofix but I have these bases so I used the belt routing for the base.
Another factor that had to be thought about was fastening DD1 every time she got in. With the bases in, its hard to reach over her and plug in the adult seatbelt, so she is now in a group 1-2-3 carseat - it fits he body size but has a fastening on her tummy which is easy to reach
I'm pretty confident that it is a safe arrangement, and it works for us. But it does take a lot of time , care and disappointment before you get it right - one of those things you never thought of as being a problem - I mean loads of people have three kids?

Well the new NICE guidelines mean that you can request a CS and so long as you're happy to talk it through with a consultant midwife and show you know what you're asking for, you get one. End of. And given that it's twins and your previous history, whilst I'm sure that if everything was equal, an uncomplicated vb would be great, there's no reason not to ask for CS and expect to get it. It's all on the NICE website.
Are you a member of a local twins club? I wish you were near us, we'd mind you!

Thanks thingamajig, both the bases for the group 0 seats can be belted in if necessary. Maybe I'll try tomorrow. I keep putting it off just in case they won't go-, well, the base arrived on Friday and we haven't tried over the weekend.

bagofholly, I wish i was near you! I have said I will not be induced at 38 weeks after my induction experience last time which the consultant has agreed is fine and they'll give me a date for elcs at 38 weeks, but I'm worrying about what happens if i go into spontaneous labour beforehand- push for a CS then, or accept vb May be best for me and the babies. They said they'd do an episiotomy to prevent me re-tearing- err, no thanks, its peroneal healing I suffered with so mucch last time! I'm really struggling to decide what's best.

There is a fortnightly twins group in the childrens centre most inconvenient for me, and i went last week but of the two twin mums there both had EMCS in the end and neither managed to breast feed post 3 and 10 days respectively so wasn't much help with my queries!!! Lovely welcoming.mums mind, (also both first time mums) but i wish there was a bigger group I could talk to more mums at. Plus its university hospitals of morecambe bay....

Will pm you.

Have you joined TAMBA? their web forum is very good, as is here, for support. Twin birth experiences are very varied but there's no substitute fit actually talking to people who have done it!

Hi
Just to add I have 6 week old twins plus a toddler and have a Seat Alhambra and we fit 3 across the back just fine - 2 isofix baby seat bases middle and behind passenger and dd1 behind driver - rear facing britax. Means she can stay rear facing and can easily buckle her in.
Good luck

Hooray lalaDipsey, I'm feeling encouraged we'll get them in, even with dd's enormous BeSafe rear facer. I think the Alhambra handbook must just be very pedantic in saying its an isofix seat in the middle or two at each side not 3 together. Phew. I will try in dd's nap today...if i don't end up walking her in the buggy for it!