Three kids - car seat conundrum! Advice/suggestions please

[nixter42]

Hi there,

Am looking for some advice on car seats. We now have 3 children and trying to avoid buying a new car!

We can't fit 3 isofix in the back of our BMW 5 series estate.

Our kids are: 5yrs, 3yrs and 1 month.

What solutions have you had? Do you know particularly narrow car seat brands?

Thanks in advance!

Nikki

[hellosailor]

when they're older this might work (expensive!) but not sure what you can do in the meantime unless you put the 5 year old in the front and the adult passenger goes in the back for a few months.....?

https://multimac.co.uk/home

[alex_b]

Give Rear Facing Toddlers a ring (http://www.rearfacingtoddlers.com/, 0775 2253499). Margaret is super knowledgeable and has a number of kids herself so she's faced the multiple seat conundrum.

She came out to us with a bunch of different seats to try in our car (and with our son). I'm sure she'd be able to work out a combination that will fit in your BMW.

[goldilocks]

Was going to suggest Rear Facing toddlers too.

Generally its possible to do some puzzle of rear facing and fwd facing that gets 3 in the back though - Suspect that if you have the baby in an infant carrier, the 3 year old in an extended rear facing seat like the Britax Two Way Elite or similar and then have a slim high backed booster in the middle you'll be good - belting them in could be more of a challenge but the rear facing seat for your 3 year old will probably give you enough space to reach round (or if you can put the infant carrier on a base, you can clip that in after).

Would also suggest the car seat group on facebook- Car Seat Advice UK

[carebear]

We can just fit three across (without isofix on two) at a squeeze but seatbelts tricky so we only do on long journeys. For day to day, we put 5yo in car seat in front seat and squeeze a parent (somewhat uncomfortably) in the middle back. My other half did lots of research on safety of child in front, no isofix etc so if you have any questions, I can ask!

[Specklemum]

We looked into this very briefly when we were considering buying the same car. I was surprised how tricky it is given how roomy the car is! I?d second the advice above to go to an expert on this. We had a good experience with the In Car Safety Centre in Essex, I?m sure if there is a seat combo that works, they will find it!

We looked into the Multimac too as it seemed like a great idea in theory, but we were a bit disappointed with it in the flesh. We didn?t like that the infant carrier was more upright than our Maxi Cosi and I don?t think it allows for rear facing beyond 15 months either.

Good luck, hope you find a solution!

[Digbina]

I think the narrowest child car seat you can buy is the Britax Prince, if it's smaller than the 5 year old's current seat you might squeeze three across. I wouldn't think a five yo could go in the front unless taller than 135cm and even then I wouldn't do it.

[rachel4]

carebear Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We can just fit three across (without isofix on

> two) at a squeeze but seatbelts tricky so we only

> do on long journeys. For day to day, we put 5yo in

> car seat in front seat and squeeze a parent

> (somewhat uncomfortably) in the middle back. My

> other half did lots of research on safety of child

> in front, no isofix etc so if you have any

> questions, I can ask!

We also manage it by having one in the front and two in the back as we can?t get 3 car seats in the back. The in car safety centre recommended the Britax adventure to me as the narrowest high backed booster that they recommend (from 15kg approx 3.5 yrs). I put my middle child in the front and my youngest and oldest on the two outer seats.

[alex_b]

Digbina Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I wouldn't think a five yo could go in the

> front unless taller than 135cm and even then I

> wouldn't do it.

Provided they're in an approved carseat (appropriate for their height and weight) and you are following the airbag instructions for your vehicle then this is legal and safe at any age. Also just to mention ISOFIX, your five year old is probably getting too heavy for ISOFIX except for keeping a high backed booster in place (depending on the chair 15-18kgs seems to be the cut off).

I've had friends say great things about the Car Seat Centre in Essex, in the end we chose Rear Facing Toddlers because it was easier to have someone come to us.

[goldilocks]

Second the advice above re front seats - theres a big difference between being in the adult seat without a child seat (for which they would absolutely need to be over the minimum height AND the adult seat belt would need to fit them well and rest on the right bits of their bodies)and fitted in an appropriate seat having followed the instructions for that specific car re airbag and seat positioning.

The point above about isofix is also a good one - there is a weight limit when using them as the only means of restraint for the seat, but if you do use a non isofix high backed booster, do remember to strap it in when there is no child sitting in it! There is definitely a significant width difference in HBB too so worth looking at different ones. We have the Britax side impact protection ones now both my kids are older and fwd facing and they're huge, whereas the Britax Advansfix is much slimmer.

We used the In Car safety Centre for our extended rear facing seats and found them to be great. Whilst we were there they were trying to puzzle in twins and an older child across the back 3 seats in someone else's car, so its definitely something they are used to.

[rover]

My brother has 3 children,slightly older (6, 4 and 2), but they use 1 or 2 of the inflatable car seats (bubble bum). They have an attachment to make sure belt is in the right place. Might be possible for you eldest?

Weve got 3 kids in the back using one of these. With a toddler seat, high back booster also.

[nixter42]

Thank you so much for all the advice!

[nixter42]

Problem solved! Went to the in car safety centre in Essex. They were great and found a solution. It's a bit fiddly, but fine and 3 new seats cost ?300. And all three fit in the back row. So thanks again for the recommendation! Nikki