Car seats for 3 - adult sitting in the back

[acquiescence]

Car seats for 3 children. DCs are 2 and 7, another on the way. From research it looks like there is a very limited number of cars that fit 3 car seats in the back. Our current family car is a Skoda fabia estate which has a great boot but the car size is small. I can fit between the two car seats in the back when needed as I’m petite, but won’t be for a few months post birth. Has anyone done this a permanent solution? We would put the 7 year old on the front. I’m wondering about slimline car seats. What age do kids switch to just a booster without the high back?

We have a larger vehicle we can borrow for long trips so it’s just local trips really. I really don’t want to buy a bigger car as our current one is fairly new and we are happy with it, plus we just don’t have the spare cash currently.

Look at getting a multi Mac. They are not cheap but cheaper than a new car! Not got one myself but know a couple of families who have one and think they're great.

won't you have to disable the airbag to have 7 year old in front seat ?
i thought they had to be either 4 foot six or age 12, to sit in front seat.

Don't buy a multi Mac. They put child far too close to the door and offer no side protection.
The front isn't really safe for children who are forward facing due to the force of the airbag. The airbag off with the baby in the front is the safest or the 2 year old as hopefully they are still rear facing.
A high back booster seat offers side impact protection that you don't get in a just a booster seat so best to keep it as long as possible. Some part of Europe have a better car seat law then us and you have to use a seat until 150cm.

Depends on your car. I have narrow hips (which squidge) and could get between both of mine rear facing, less when one went to a HBB because shoulders. Both forward facing would be very uncomfortable in the middle.

Can't remember how heavy they need to be for a backless booster, it's pretty big.

Minimum for a backless booster is 125cm and 22kg, that is absolute minimum. It is much safer to be in a high backed booster till 12/135cm.

One of the narrowest high backed boosters is the britax adventure. Your infant carrier may well be the widest of your 3 seats so might be best putting it in the front with airbag off.

www.madeformums.com/reviews/best-car-seats-that-fit-3-in-the-back-of-most-cars/ some narrow car seat ideas

If you research each stage car seat, you can find many that are much narrower than others. If you have narrow option for all three seats, you could fit three in the back and you stay in the front.

if you look up your car and model you should be able to get the maximum back seat dimensions and work out a combo.

I think the maxi cosi pebble and joie juva are both narrow baby seats

As PP have said you'd actually be safer putting either the 2 year old or newborn in the front rear facing with the airbag off rather than the 7 year old. There's a Facebook group called car seat advice uk that I found helpful

At 7 look at the booster options, most only use a low one by that sort of age, some don't use them if tall - 125cm is the minimum

Thanks all, that is helpful advice to consider putting the baby in front. I would rather keep the 7 year old in a high backed booster for as long as possible. I had looked at the multimac but discounted it because of concerns about the safety standards without the side impact and the age it can be used until.

The toddler seat is the most bulky, we currently have an older cybex sirona which is massive! I’d rather keep him rear facing for as long as possible but I imagine a forward only seat would be slimmer.

If you use seatbelts not isofix usually can fit 3 car seats in back of car. Sometimes bit uncomfortable clipping one in if bit under another.
Try it out.
Other than that baby seat in front.
Depending on size of your 7yo ( height/weight) you may not need disable airbag if booster seat in front.

I'd put newborn in the front with airbag off - by far safer than the 7yr old in the front 😀

@acquiescence - the cybex Sirona is actually pretty narrow at only 43cm compared to most.

Maxi cosi kore - 44cm . For 7 year old
cybex sirona - 43cm . For 2 year old
maxi cosi pebble -44cm. Baby.

The isofix is only 35cm so if you use that the arm of the high back booster in the middle would probably squeeze under seat of the pebble and sirona either side

The Avionaut Sky is a compact rear facing seat that will last until 25kg or 125cm which ever is reached first, it can also be used from birth. It might be narrower than the Sirona as it's not isofix.
Axkid and besafe, britax make 25kg or more weight limited rear facing seats and it might be worth you trying to find your local independent retailer as they are more specialist seats.
Avoid Halford and symths toys as they give rubbish unsafe advice.

often it’s the combination of specific car seats and how they fit together that can make three in the back work. Eg we had a maxi cosi rodi that fitted with a brtiax two way elite and a maxi cosi pebble for a while. It’s worth going to a shop and trying different combinations. We went to the in car safety centre in milton keynes and they helped us loads. We drove about 100 miles to get there but it was worth it.

If you're happy keeping the 2 year old rear facing, tethered extended rear facing seats can go in the front with the airbags off. We've had ours in an axkid minikid in the front. Or as PP said, put the baby in the front with the airbags off.

Rear facing is much easier to sit next to in my experience - shoulders are wider than hips and you're a lot less twisted between rear facing seats. I could fit between a cybex sirona and a britax infant carrier. You might well get a narrow HBB between the RF car seats.

If you put the 7 yo in the middle with the younger ones rear facing either side you won't have head rests (often widest part) next to each other.

Actually the larger rear facing seats are much slimmer and easier to get 3 across than the isofix ones. Look at Axkid Move, Britax Max Way Plus, Avionaut Sky. Because they are belt fitted you get a bit of leeway to move them side to side, and because they use tethers you get another bonus of being able to position them further forward or back on the seat, which helps a lot with being able to fit next to other seats. Often the width is a bit of a red herring, as it's actually more about the shape of the seat, especially at the base.

For the baby you could look at seats with a belted base or belt fit the infant carrier for the same flexibility benefits. Cybex, Graco and Joie do some belt fitted bases. They are rarer these days but they do still exist. I was able to put our Cybex infant carrier in the middle with the belted base, because the shape of the base fitted nicely next to my toddler's car seat.

Narrow high backed boosters are Joie Trillo, Britax Adventure, Maxi Cosi Rodi. Also the newer i-size boosters such as Britax Kidfix i-size, Besafe izi Flex fit etc are slimline, i-size seats have to be slimline. Backless boosters are no narrower at the base, which tends to be where it matters for fitting next to other seats.

2 adults in front. 3 children in the back.
Seems odd to have adult in the back and a young child in front. Personally, I would not put a 7yr old in the front but I know people do. Do you have 2 cars? You may find as 7 year old gets older you will need to take 2 cars places

I agree