Car / Car seat advice - twins and toddler

[Twinsincoming23]

Hi,

Looking for some detailed car and car seat advice -

We are due twins early next year and have 1 child who will is around 2.5 stone and about 95cm tall.

Eldest is currently in a Joie 360 spin FF but assuming will outgrow this fairly soon.

Currently have an Audi Q3 - so aware will need to change the car.
Have considered a Peugeot 5008, Audi Q7 pre 2014, Citroen C5 aircross - Not keen on a family wagon/huge car.

However, I'm so lost about what seats to actually get?
My eldest will probably need a new seat, and need 2 infant carriers for the twins. I'd like all 3 across the rear seat.

Does anyone have this set up and any of these cars or any car that is not a huge MPV, with 3 across and can let me know which car seats they used?

Safety is a priority and will only consider extremely highly rated car seats.

Or where do you go to find out this sort of information? We don't live near any car safety centers and will not consider Halfords as previously have given terrible advice.

We have a Volvo XC90- I don’t know if you would class it as huge. The middle seat of the middle row is a built in booster seat that my then 3year old was heavy enough for. The twins (now 2) are either side of her, currently RF in Joie spin 360s, both seats have isofix points. They started in Silver Cross simplicity seats. Plenty of boot space for the double buggy in the back if seats 6 & 7 lay flat.

We also looked at the Audi Q7, the VW Touran and a Land Rover (can’t remember exact model). We took car seats to dealers and tried them out in the back of various cars- hardly any fitted 3 in the back/middle row.

The In Car Safety Centre used to do telephone/remote appointments - it would be worth trying them and seeing whether you can get some telephone advice.

Avionaut pixel Pro is meant to be great for all sizes of baby and twins can be on the smaller side.
Your joie is unlikely to spin with three seats in a row and you have until 18kg then it's a high back booster seat unless you buy the joie bold I can't find the adac score for it so not sure how safe it is. Unless you can switch back to rear facing and you would have a few harness seat's available.
Join some Facebook car seat group as they often have pinned post about three across cars which work or people have asked the question before.
If your front airbag can go off on infant seat could go in the front until you manage to get a new car sorted (many countries with better car seat safety than us use the front seat just seems to be the UK that worry about it - but I would never put a forward facing child in the front as that's not safe).
When buying car check you can have a child seat in the middle as some "family cars" do not allow cars seats in the middle or front in the manual.

Thank you everyone.
My next call will be to the In car safety center and just booked to test drive a Peugeot 5008.
I've managed to find someone in a similar situation who has the 5008 with two maxi cosi carriers and a joie 360 in the rear so going to see if this combo will work as well as the Joie bold which was recommended on the car seat safety Facebook group.
Will update if this is all successful for anyone else who might need the advice!

Just watch some of the maxi cosi infant seats as they have put a short height limit of 75cm on some when you can buy infant seat's with a 85cm+ ones so would last much longer.

If safety is a priority please don't forward face your children until they are at least 5 and ready to sit in a booster. Being harnessed forward facing is so dangerous, it pins the body to the seat and all the force is on the neck, which at that age can't withstand the force and can break, causing death even in low speed crashes.

Look at Axkid Minikid or Avionaut Sky for your older child. They are slim fitting, have great legroom and can be used until 25/36kg or 125cm, what ever comes first.
Avionaut pixel pro is a great seat for all babies, particularly if they are on the smaller side. All are Swedish plus tested.

Join 'Car Seat Safety UK' on Facebook for some great advice on car seats and cars for fitting 3 across.

What ever you do, please don't let anyone convince you to get the death trap that is the multimac.

I have twins who were born when my eldest was 3 years old. We have 2 cars which both fit 3 car seats across the back. Firstly a S Max which will fit any seats you want as all 3 seats are full size seats. In the older models you get isofix in the outside seats only. But in the newer models all 3 seats have isofix. As this is a people carrier the boot is huge (to take a double pram). But also useful to have extra seats as when my eldest has playdates we can fit friend in the car too.

Our other car is a skoda karoq. This is a much tighter squeeze. But have the twins in maxicosi pebble seats on isofix in the outside seats. Then my daughter in the slimmest car seat possible with a harness fitting in the middle seat. This JUST fits. And the car just about fitted our double pram too. But both were a squeeze

@Donimo thanks. I'm warming to the S Max actually, been recommended it a lot. Can you actually fit any combo of 3 seats in the back? I'm wondering if this would be the same in the Peugeot 5008 as they are 3 full size seats too

@Twinsincoming23 you can easily fit any car seat on all 3 seats in the s max. They are all full size seats. Also all 3 seats move individually. So you can off set them if needed. We normally have the seat behind mu husband back as far as possible (as he has long legs so has the driver seat fully back). Then have the middle seat which my eldest sits all the way forward, I can then easily pass her things and what passes them onto the twins!

We tried the 5008 too and you can fit 3 car seats in easily. But I think the s max is slightly wider in the back. Also I don't think the seats move individually in the 5008. That was why we choose the s max.

If safety is a priority, your 2.5yo should be rear facing. That's an option with the car seat you have so use it.

In car safety centre will be able to advise about the best combination of seats for 3 across. You might need to put your toddler in the middle (you will need a narrow harnessed seat, they won't be old enough to go into a HBB until at least 4 but preferably older) with an infant carrier on either side.

Sorry just saw that you said 2.5 stone not 2.5yo! At that weight your oldest must be 3???

Tricky to get 3 in a row and have space for a double pram unless you do go for a large car.... I mean it does depend how much you travel by car, but picture staying somewhere for a couple of days and what you will have t bring