3 children in a “normal” car.

[frugi]

Does anyone have 3 children and successfully fit them into a “normal” car. We currently have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and are considering another child in the next couple of years. This would definitely be our last child. We both currently have cars which would be too small to fit 3 children into, but are both planning to replace them.

I am planning to get an s max or a Touran because I don’t mind about style and just want something comfortable, easy to drive and spacious. I would also be doing almost all of the school runs etc so the vast majority of my trips would be with 3 children, so it’s essential there would be room for them all in there easily.

My husband doesn’t want an MPV and would prefer a normal small family car of some sort. However it needs to be something which we could, if need be, fit 3 children into, in case he needed to take them to nursery /school etc.

So we need a “normal” car which can potentially fit:

• a baby in a rear facing infant carrier
• a toddler (would be 2.5-3 when baby was born)- ideally in a rear facing seat.
• a 4.5 -5 year old. Would probably be tall enough to go into a HBB and would buy the narrowest one possible!

3 isofix would be ideal as it makes it much easier to move the seats around. One in the front is not ideal but would be ok.

Anyone manage to squeeze 3 little ones into a normal car?

Unfortunately not! We have just been through all this and have just bought a Peugeot 5008 (3 isofix points in middle row and also 2 optional third row seats) as it was the most attractive one we could find that would fit us all!
The other option is to buy a Multimac which fit most cars. They are expensive (around £2k) but have good resale value.

We've done it on occasion (only have one child, but have been taking friends) with three across the back, and frankly it's a nightmare. Child one has to get in, be belted in, then child two (both HBB) then the third seat (forward facing stage 1) has to be belted in which is really fiddly, then child three can be harnessed in. It takes ages, and I absolutely wouldn't be doing it every day.

If you're considering putting one in the front, then I think you'll need a seat where isofix is optional - I don't think isofix is usually available in the front, as the actual seat moves.

Thanks for the replies! I've been doing some research and it seems (perhaps this should have been obvious....!) that this depends on the seats as well as the car itself. There are photos on the ERF Mission site of 3 seats in a row in quite a few cars including "normal" ones like a Ford Focus etc. Think it might be tricky to install them and they would need to be belted, but it is definitely possible and safe.

Going to do some more research though. May yet end up with a bigger car like a Discovery Sport or something- they aren't as expensive as I'd thought.

I have 2dc and one on the way and even tho my eldest is 9 it didn't think it fair for him to be squished between two car seats as the other has just turned two so will be in a seat for a while yet..
With the buggy in the boot it made putting shopping anywhere difficult..
We have just purchased a discovery4 as with 3 full size adult seats in the middle row it's perfect.
It has two seats in the boot which are constantly folded down and leave me with a huge boot which I currently have my pushchair, a little stroller, bits and bobs and loads of room for shopping!

We have 3 DCs of exactly the same ages as you propose. Baby is in a rear facing seat (a Joie Stages I think) and toddler is in the same one, but facing forward. Eldest is in a Britax in the middle, and uses the car seatbelt. They all fit in an S Max, but it is a squeeze. No isofix unfortunately though.
We also have a Kuga, and there's no way we'd get three seats in there.
Hope that helps!

We have an smax and I have easily fitted 5 car seats into the back. The car seats should not be touching. Ours does have isofix points in the middle 3 seats. I love it because the children are at a good height to fasten in and I can actually get into the car in front to check all seatbelts are fastened properly.
When there is just the 5 of us and we go on holiday the space in the boot is great

We had a fabia before and it’s a nightmare.

I have the same problem, Volvo make narrow seats that will fit any car. Multimax is very expensive.

I didn't know volvo made car seats. Will have a look. Multimac is SO expensive and also doesn't look the safest since you have to forward face them once they're out of an infant carrier.