3 kids in the back of car?

Bobmunkhouse

Bobmunkhouse

Bobmunkhouse

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Hi all

I just wanted to know what the guys with 3 kids are doing regarding jamming them in the back of the Car...new baby due in August and current two will be 5 and 4 when the new one turns up...

I have Seat Ateca so not a tiny car....I think I might be able to get a small baby carrier in middle and two slim none iso high back boosters at sides.... maybe... but very hard to judge without buying lots to test...

Anyone done anything that won't involve me buying a new car or going full 80's mode and sitting oldest one on a cushion in middle?

Thanks
 
According to your manual you should be good with all three in the back in any position

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It's a difficult one! The baby carrier is the one most likely to have to use ISOFIX I guess. Do you have ISOFIX in the middle seat? That might make a difference.

When I was a kid, there was no such thing as child seats, so the issue was always just the big argument about which of the three of us had to sit in the middle.

And when I was a teenager, my mum had an MG Midget, and she delivered my sister to work who sat in the passenger seat, while I perched on the transmission tunnel behind the seats, with my head a good two feet above the level of the windscreen to get me to school. It was a different age!
 
Thanks for replies, yep car manual says it's fine but actual space on back seats is limited as car seats are so big.... middle seat looks tiny when you have 2 iso fitted car seats on either side. The middle seat has no iso fix so that would just be using belt....

Anyone else with ideas or would like to say what they did? (Got a feeling people are just driving slowly and hoping for best)
 
I think its Multimac which does child seats which take up less room and lots of other combinations so you can fit 4 across etc, not sure if any would actually sort your issue though but might be worth a look. Probably cheaper than a new car no matter what!
 
There was a guy at work with this problem. He said he had tried practically every 'semi desirable' car and landed on the Ford Edge, which he was then swapping for a Nissan (I guess X-Trail? - I tried to look but Nissan's website sucks. The Micra appears the biggest car in their range on the select vehicle menu lol). This allowed three seats side by side.
 
Is the middle seat a lap belt or a full three pointer (do you even get lap belts on new cars now?)

4 and 5 seems plenty old enough for just a booster seat and then get an isofix for the baby. It is a long time ago as my daughter is 13 now but she was in a booster seat by the time she was going to primary. We have just bought a Recaro Hero for our 18 month old and whilst it is a brilliant comfortable seat and will last him the years it is pretty wide due to the side impact stuff they come with.

Best bet would be to go into Halfords or something like that. They always have seats on display and I am sure if speak to them they will let you take the samples outside to try and measure up in your car.
 
Full 80s mode lol memories and I'm a late 90s baby!

I think you're either going to have to put the baby back where it came from, put the baby in the front and hope your wife is quite... slim. Or upgrade to a new car!
 
Just get a Multimac and sell it on once it's no longer needed. Sure the initial outlay will be £2k (which is far less than a new car), but your TCO should be pretty low as they seem to resell at decent prices used.
 
Do they retain value for resale? That's interesting as - theoretically - you're not supposed to reuse them after an accident, and therefore not supposed to buy second hand as you don't know if they have. Much the same as crash helmets.

Because of this, back when our kid was younger and I was aware of these things, resale values on car seats were pretty poor.

Maybe they've got so expensive now that people are willing to buy second hand to save money, and ironically the second hand prices have shot up.
 
So seems it's Multimac for expensive but maybe safer or cheap small booster....I'm not even going to consider a new car...

I did also see a high back booster called hifold that looks really slim so that might work.. baby in middle in carrier with lap belt and 2 hifold boosters on either side...does not seem to be a way to use the iso fix points as you lose too much wiggle room on both sides...
 
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I changed my 4 year old from a group2/3 seat to just a backed booster and the space saving/ease of access is massive. On an aside why should forward facing kids have the airbag on upfront? I can understand why with rear facing but not forward.
 
Bobmunkhouse said:
But could you fit 3 of the high back boosters?

Not sure why airbags need to be turned off for front facing it's odd...
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That's the tricky bit I bet, although if you were so inclined (which op can't do with a baby) you could use a none high backed booster seat in the middle and just wedge the child in. I think the sides are just to stop heads hitting windows so in the middle they'll be fine:D.
 
theone8181 said:
That's the tricky bit I bet, although if you were so inclined (which op can't do with a baby) you could use a none high backed booster seat in the middle and just wedge the child in. I think the sides are just to stop heads hitting windows so in the middle they'll be fine:D.
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That the spirit...I reckon the oldest one can go in the middle on a slim booster...I just want you all to say it will be fine really!
 
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