[Closed] Two kids...baby on the way, do I need to change my car?

not sure if this helps but i can get two boosters and a big baby seat in the back of my cmax and im guessing the mondy is even wider!!

Vectra fits our three in easily enough which about the same size as your car....

Would have thought the Mongdeo would have more than enough room.

From a legat point of view, you don't have to change your car. The oldest child would be exempt from using a car seat if 3 won't fit. How safe this is depends on how big your 7yr old is. My daughter was 8 when she reached 135cm, at which point they are ok to not use one in all circumstances, so I just managed to avoid the problem.

sounds like you need the snip.......
we have a vw touran and that fits three across but it is a wide car. get yourself down to the local baby centre they'll be happy to try different seats and i'm sure they'll be able to advise. personally speaking as i have a glass back if i were in your situation then i'd place the baby on the outside of the car therefore the two older kids would be middle and the other side this will make a difference.
good luck!

Touran here to for carrying 3 grandkids around, 2x 4, 1x 12, soon to be +1 🙄
Magic kiddie carrier imo, like nickhart Gran and I have a dodgy backs

sounds like you need the snip.......

I don't think that will make much difference now? 😯

Just change your birth control.

If you have the car now, go into Halfords and ask to just place the extra seats in to see if it will fit.

Ask the manager on a non busy day.

You're secretly hankering after a people carrier aren't you and just want the STW collective to justify your desire? You do, don't you? 😉

Well I like people carriers 🙂

Have had a hard time fitting more than two seats in cars in the past, but I suppose it depends on the seats and how they mesh together..

two boosters and a fat arsed aunty sat across our mk3 mondeo hatch.
So you should have many problems.
You're not going to find many things wider than a mondeo, so you'd be looking at another row of seats. Then you've got to get the pram in!

You might fit the seats in but getting them buckled in can be a nightmare.
Bite the bullet and get an MPV!
They make great bike carriers..... 😉

i can get two baby seats in the back and a booster in the middle on my mondeo hatch. Its tight tho. As said above legally you can skip the eldests booster if your comfortable with that. Its defo better when we use my mrs zafira but i wouldnt change if i were you

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The Multivan is the ultimate people carrier IMO. I've got one and I can comfortably carry my three kids, two dogs, accompanying bikes and two grandparents!

We had the same thing - it was really tight with a volvo 850 and buckling up was terrible (ended up with extensions to the seatbelt clip which helped a bit).
We then moved to something with 3 seats at the back - first s-max then galaxy - and it was a whole different world.
I would suggest that you might be OK if you can find relatively narrow baby seats - once they are installed you shouldn't have to undo them much as they'll have a five point harness. Many of the seats are relatively bulky though so shop around.
Good luck.

We found that it all comes done to the seat shape and where the belts fit inrelation to them. Our old car which was a laguna estate you couldn't fit 2 boosters and a baby seat as with the doors shut there just wasn't the physical room between the door arm rests. We now have a Volvo xc90 which has a built in booster seat in the middle so no problems.

You will find life a lot easier with a people carrier, not just for the seperate seats in the back but also for all of the luggage that comes with three kids!

We got an s-max. Excellent car, a really good drive, three kiddie seats in no problem and a HUGE boot.

roter stern^^^^^that is on my wish list 😆

Mrs TC and I had 3 kids under the age of five never had cars any bigger than a Escort/Mondeo. They are all grown up know and I have a Peugeot 306 and we all fit in for the odd familiy trip out

It is a complete myth that 3 kids = van with windows

Thanks for all the suggestions, Kona TC, dunno how old your kids are, but things appear to have got pretty highly regulated in the past 7-8 years. It sounds like we might be able to manage with the mondeo, but a Smax (or similar) might be better long term?

If you can get the seats in then stick with what you have and before you buy a mpg then make sure you take one for a long drive as we didn't get on with how they feel when you are iside of them.

It sounds like we might be able to manage with the mondeo, but a Smax (or similar) might be better long term?

Correct.

We always liked biggish cars anyway so when our three came along we had a Volvo V70 and a Saab 900. They were both OK with three seats. Then the 900 turned into a 9-3 which was also fine but when Mrs Higs wrote off the Volvo we went for a Ford Galaxy. It won't come as a surprise that it is simply better at carrying three kids (and three kids stuff) than a big car.

We don't have any issue doing long drives in it either - this year we've been skiing in it (French Alps) twice and will take it for hols in Holland and France in the summer.

Anyone got 4 kids?
We have 3 under 4 and expecting number 4 in November, eldest will still only be 4 so we need 4 child seats.
At the moment we have an XC90 but I haven't been able to find a suitable seat for the rear seats and or combo that would work getting them all in and out of the car, without leavig small kids on side of road to get rest out!
Looking at a Grand Espace, but husband is so not keen idea of downgrade, anyone got any ideas that are sensible?!?

The mondeo will be fine

4 here, used to have a mondeo when we had 3 (2 boosters + big kids seat should fit, it was just a bit tricky doing up the seat belts as you had to reach into the gap(!?) between the two seats.

Now we've a vw sharan, good car that the seats come out of and it turns into a van for tip runs (15ft fir tree + 2 flatpack wardroboes) tho watch out for expensive air con. But hankering after a new shape galaxy.

3 kids here, 12, 4 and 2... As much as I'd "love" an estate, I had to get a 7-seater Touran. Something to consider is that once they get older, they have[b] an entourage of mates whenever you go out in the car. Mines frequently full of noisy kids 👿
Face it, you need an MPV 😳

What do you think about the Touran? I don't really need a big car but got a kid coming and think I could get the bike, baby and all related gear inside OK. They're not long cars I think - similar to a Focus?

You don't need one but after a week of trying to buckle in 3 seats you'll want one. Tried a Accord and embraced my inner Dad instead and got a Verso.
Mine are all under 5 and the car seats really make it a massive PITA even in a Corolla Verso.. considering changing so the wife can sit up front again, as we don't like putting the youngests rear facing seat in the middle.
Biggest issue, if you are in anyway an active family is where to put all the other stuff - we usually end up with 2 pushchairs and a rucksack carrier in the boot (for a bit of choice) and there's not much luggage room left after that... bikes on roof, walking bbots in floor cubby holes, tent in roofbox.. arse, it's full of bikes already 😀

buster76, you want a Landy Disco if you can handle the barely disguised hatred, they can seat 7 and would be in line with your current fuel economy 😉

Tiger Roach - I love my Touran... TDI 140 Sport so still lets you have some fun when the kids aren't in it. Loads of seat positions too so very practical IMO