How to fit 3 x car seats in a car

[Ameteurmum]

So I drive a Hyundai Tucson and have no idea how I will fit three children in to it!
I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old - they are currently in britax romer evolva seats - I am not precious about these and they could be upgraded

What are people with similar aged kids doing? When baby comes she will be in a maxi cosi with an isofix base

My 6 year old is far from the weight limit for a booster seat, he’s v little!

Plan b is buying a c max and just looking like I’m doing airport transfers for the rest of my life

Aww OP, I just got rid of my c-max and I quite miss it!

It didn’t really fit 3 seats though, unless you want to put one person in the back row which is very tight on legroom. Plus you won’t have enough of a boot if you’re using the back row all the time. Certainly can’t have 3 across the middle row. You need a Galaxy for that or maybe an s-max, not sure.

Btw I’m talking about a 7-seater c-max, I’m sure that’s obvious!

We bought an S-Max. Only solution we could find.

Vw Sharan has three isofix points in middle row, two in boot. Have had 3 across middle and massive boot for dogs and buggies.

The evolva is quite a bulky seat.
I would move the older two into a seat with a slimmer profile. Think the eclipse is slimmer.
Then your maxi Cosi infant carrier should fit

Get yourself a grand c4. Picked mine up yesterday and its really nice. Get the one with all the bells and whistles if you can afford it as it feels a bit more luxurious and less bus like. Although it is still a mum bus really but you can't escape that with any car with 3 full back seats unfortunately.

@umbrellaonesie - yes they are! Need to get my tape measure out and look for something slimmer

Evolva is 51 cm wide where as the eclipse is 45cm
We managed 3 car seats without needing to resort to a people carrier. But it was particular seats for the particular car and in a particular configuration. 😁

@umberellaonesie

Evolva is 51 cm wide where as the eclipse is 45cm We managed 3 car seats without needing to resort to a people carrier. But it was particular seats for the particular car and in a particular configuration. 😁

There are loads of car makes and models where you are actually not supposed to use the middle “seat” even with a belt fitted only car seat as it’s not actually a seat more two thirds of one

Honestly, if its an option then just buy a bigger car. You're going to be wrestling with this for several years still and when your baby goes into a next stage seat they are bulkier than the infant carrier.

We are currently going through the exact same and have bought this for my eldest which is 44cm wide

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08X6VV5ZK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_GGE2X4T9AXKQPT3VA4X6?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Vw caravelle, three kids, bought three year old one in 2000...... It's still going strong and seen us on many European holidays. The three rows of seats ideal for separating squabbling children on long journeys so they can't reach each other!! Despite no longer needing to transport said children it has proved very handy for moving house, uni drop offs, tip runs and I love the high driving position. No intention of giving it up unless it collapses!

@ThatIsQuiteACrane

We are currently going through the exact same and have bought this for my eldest which is 44cm wide

]]

You won’t get two of those on isofix setting plus a belted baby carrier in a lot of the rears of cars especially with the carry handle of the infant carrier which has to be up in the car

Not even with the rivemove isofix spacing devices available through in car safety centre

I couldn’t

We’ve got three isofix car seats in our Renault Scenic. It doesn’t look like a huge car but it’s quite wide inside.
2x Rodi fix and one Maxi Cosi Pearl.

Get a multimac

No we've not got the middle one on an isofix. The two outside seats are on isofix though.

C4 Picasso or Grand Picasso, three separate isofix seats.

@ThatIsQuiteACrane

No we've not got the middle one on an isofix. The two outside seats are on isofix though.

What car do you have? Is it a full rear seat in the middle?

Sorry to say, but we had to buy an S Max

S Max but definitely useful for us that 2 if the dcs were just about old enough to have the backed booster seats. Then things become more comfortable when they can have backless boosters!

It's a Mercedes GLE so quite big but not a full seat. No isofix or anything. Don't think it would be any bigger than a Tuscon though, isn't that a 4x4 as well?

The group 1/2/3 for the 3 year old is quite slim as well (CozyNSafe Excalibur think it's about 46cm from memory) but we couldn't get 3 across with the cybex group 2/3 we had that was 51cm so replaced it with the Britax and that has worked.

It's still very, very tight for space so I'd rather change car but we'd only just bought the current one and DH is rather attached...

I was recently reading the official UK car seat laws (I know how to have fun!), and the page about when children don't have to be in a car seat really surprised me.

This is taken directly from the government website:

^No room for a third child car seat
Children under 3 must be in a child car seat. If there’s no room for a third child car seat in the back of the vehicle, the child must travel in the front seat with the correct child car seat.^

Children aged 3 or older can sit in the back using an adult belt.

So legally op, your older child doesn't need to be in a car seat!

(I'm not advocating this btw!)

www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/when-a-child-can-travel-without-a-car-seat

@MrsSchrute my husband read the exact same thing and told me about it earlier! I honestly thought it was a legal requirement for them to be in some sort of car seat until they are 12 or an equivalent weight limit!

You need a car where the rear seats are all individual seats and can be moved back and forward individually. You can then stagger them to fit in the seats. We had a scenic and it was fine but not sure what you get nowadays, my DC are in their 20s now.