3 door cars

[LittleMiss7]

Hi all - bear with me on this one 😂

I just wanted to ask of those of you with children already, although it may be a bit more of a faff, is a 3 door car do-able to get a baby and car seat in/out the back?

To a lot of people this may sound ridiculous but I’m a bit of a petrolhead and have always had 3 door cars. I’m having to sell mine for something slightly bigger which is already breaking my heart (I will honestly cry when I sell mine) but DH (dear husband) is telling me we need a 5 door when then breaks my heart even more 😂💔

I’m only little (5ft3) and don’t see why we couldn’t manage with a 3 door. It’ll be mostly me driving and I won’t be planning on selling the car for several years (I kept my last car for 7yrs) so I’m also thinking ahead in the sense that I will feel more relaxed when they become 2/3yr olds and are at the fiddly age as they won’t be able to play about with the doors/windows. It’s just obviously getting to that point first though.

I have in my head how I’d do it and I have no doubt it’ll be more of a faff with a 3 door rather than a 5dr BUT... is it do-able? X

Get a 5 door. When you're wrestling 12kg of fighting toddler into their car seat you need as much space as you can get.

5 door!

I have a 3 door and its no problem for me. I am also short (5ft4) and i just stand in the back of the car and lean over the seat to put my child in and strap them up. I also had a 3 door for my first child years ago so im completely used to it lol.
The only problem i foresee is the emphasis on keeping children rear facing is advisable for longer now and it is slightly more problematic putting a wriggly toddler into a rear facing seat than it is a baby. My child is 15 months and still in the first size car seat and i don't have any issues getting them in/out as of yet, but time will tell!

I found a 3 door car easier. ....just move the front car seat forward and tip it back.

Oh I'm 5ft 2!

It's just easier with 5 doors.

It's quicker so you don't have to leave the car door wide open for longer when you've had to park on a busy road.

You don't need as much room so it's easier in tight car parks.

It's so much easier once they have grown and are heavier (and stroppier) to be able to lift them straight in.

If you plan on keeping it for 7 years, are you planning for a second child within that time span? Trying to get a toddler and a baby into the back of a 3 door is not something I would relish on a regular basis.

Child locks on the doors (and most modern cars have driver window controls so that you can stop the rear ones from being opened) but I never found it an issue.

I have ds6 and dd is 7months with a 3 door vw polo. I find putting her car seat in soo much easier in mine. I drop the seat back and perch on it and it takes me seconds to clip her in/out. I can see what im doing and not leaning over the car seat fumbling for the seatbelt.

Thanks all! Certainly given me some food for thought! 😘

I have a 3 door car with a 4 year old & a 2 year old (had the car before both kids were born) I love it.
We do also have a large people carrier, largely for taking the kid's bikes with us on days out.

As I lay here in bed with a bad back from trying to wrestle two kids into a Corsa, please, get a 5 door!!! X

It's definitely doable if you have to (or just want to!) but it can be quite annoying.

Go and get your car seat(s) tried in the car before you buy them (this is good advice anyway!) - one issue with 3 doors is that they tend to be limited in space front to back which will stuff you when you're trying to fit a rear facing seat in. The first (baby) stage is always rear facing, and they can either strap in with the car's seatbelt which is a bit of an arse to do from behind or you can get a base for the seat which either clicks into isofix (feel down in your seat crack to see if you have this - bars or loops of metal) or straps in with the seatbelt but crucially, stays in place once it's fitted. Then you can just click the baby seat on and off the base, which is handy.

But the problem is the baby seats take up loads of room (even more so on the base) so you have to push the front seat really far forwards.

For the next stage you can go rear facing or forward facing. Forward facing is probably easier for access, but rear facing is safer. What you can get nowadays though is an isofix seat which spins around! So you can put the toddler in forward facing and then spin it towards the back again.