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Okay so how does everyone fit three carseats in their cars? We have a Subaru Outback & have no idea how we're going to do it. What seats do you have? We will have a five year old, a two year old & a newborn. Currently we have a Maxi Rider & a convertable Safe N Sound, I think it's called Royale.
Any advice would be much appreciated :D
I'm kind of in this prediciment (sp?) as well. I'm trying to convince dh to upgrade our rav to a territory or kluger. They fit 3 seats easy, the rav not so easy. We have a maxi rider & safe & sound as well.
DH and I were discussing this the other day when reading all the advertisments in the paper for the new laws. In some cars it will not be possible to safely have 3 car seats because of the size of the seats in the car. In our commodore sedan we could just get two s'n's boosters plus a s'n's comvertible car seat across the back, but you did have to slide the boosters out a bit to access the buckle to do the seat belt up and then slide them back into place. It wasn't much you had to move them though, maybe and inch or two. I assume the royale will be used for the baby? Maybe have a look at what smaller, compact seats you can get for J as I know they do make some for use in small cars and they have a smaller base width.
ok, so we have an outback too but obviously not 3 kids :)
I do however know that DH's boss has the same car as us and currently has 3 car seats. I'm not exactly sure of which ones they have but i can find out if you like. They have a 4yo and 2yo twins.
They had the same car when the twins were born so i know they all fit in there somehow.
Also might be time to get one of theose hard top roof storage thingys for all the boot space is going to be chockers when you go away anywhere.
We have three car seats across our backseat. We have a maxi rider (for DS) and two other cheaper car seats, one is a fisher price one I think, the other is a red and black sporty type one - can't remember the brand. They all fit easily across our backseat, BUT, we have a 7 seater Mazda MPV. Plus its awesome since its a van, easier to get the kids in and out of their seats cos I don't have to bend over putting them in, I just lift them into their seats.
We have a Kluger and I had 2 car seats and a booster in it the other week and it wasn't easy to fit them in.I don't think they were ideally secured, I was glad I was only going a short distance. I don't know what cars are bug enough..prob land crusiers etc. Sarah maybe speak to one of the RTA's recommended fiting experts they would come across it a lot. I think Littles (who rent car seats) is one.
Maz thinks it time for Sarah to buy anew car :lol:
I had a ford explorer and we tried and only just got the 3 car seats in (one was a capsule at the time). We also had to look and move the seats around for the buckles which is the last thing you want to do when you have 3 kids screaming to get in the car.
We upgraded to a kia carnival and love it. Im with mel....van's are so much easier with little kids with getting them in and out, no sore back from bending over. We've taken the passenger side seat out so the kids and I can get in and out comfortably.
atm we have a nissian x-trail n its a tight sqeeze!!!
we have a safe n sound convertible carseat for ds2, a maxi rider for ds1 and a babylove capsule for dd.
we're going to have to get a new car before dd goes into another carseat though there just isnt the room.
so we're going to look at holden commodore wagon and a ford wagon.
I think you can get 'slim' booster seats... not sure on brands or anything tho.
I have a mothers choice car seat forward facing and 2 high back boosters. It is possible. Our car is a magna which aren't known for their space ;)
You just have to change what seats you have. The MR is quite a wide seat. Maybe look at something similar that is smaller. The Infa Vario Max is not as wide and I can fit 2 of those and the MC car seat in the back easily.
At the moment we're thinking of putting the Maxi Rider into Aaron's car for trips with just one of the bigger ones & then getting two slim line seats & have the Royale for bub.
Now the question is in bigger cars, the Carnival etc, are there three anchor points? Most of the bigger cars we have been looking at have anchor points only on the second row. Zander is very small, 16kg at almost five, so he will be in a seat for a long time yet.
Hey Maz, any inkling about whethere we're having twins :lol:
And MrsB26, that would be great if you could find out what seats they have in the outback :)
My Grand Carnival has ancor points on all (seats except the front row of course...)
Good luck :)
xx
Our Chrysler Voyager has 5 anchor points.....2 in first row, 3 in last row.
We had a Honday Odyssey last year with just 3 kids (1 on way), but had to sell, as anchor points on 1st passenger row, were above 2nd passengers head - roof anchor points. Not ideal for 4 children.
We had Ford with 3 car seats in the back for a while. 2 x MRs and 1 x rear facing SNS. Worked for 6 months....but didnt work when DD#3 needed to be turned around (13mths old).
Also gotta think past baby stage...ie when children older, they will no longer use carseat belt, they will require a lapsash??? having 3 car seats squeezed and wedged intogether, makes it almost impossible for mummy to get her hand down the side of the car seat to do the seat belt up for the older children....hope that just made sense LOL....
LOL we currently have a VZ wagon... but now 33 is coming i am gonna be getting my Territory that i have been wanting for years!!! YAY! lol
Gonna go a 7 seater that way there is plenty of room for my crazy tribe!
:D
Goodluck Sarah... he he he
OK, so i just got this email from dh's boss
2 x Safe-n-Sound Compaq Deluxe
1 x Safe-n-Sound Meridian (I think)
Compaqs on the outside, Meridian in the middle. They seem to ‘nest’ in together. 3 x Compaqs didn’t work as although most of the seat is smaller than most, wherever the widest spot is what matters.
I took the car to Babies Galore, after calling ahead, and just tried all of their seats to see what works. It is likely that 2 Compaqs and some other seat will be the best combination.
I hope this helps. Atleast new carseats are cheaper to buy then a new car :)
Awesome, thank you :D
We can fit three car seats in DH's Kluger and three in my Yaris (you'd never believe it LOL). In my Yaris I have two Maxi Rider I's (the first version without the arm rests) and a Safe N Sound Unity capsule. In DH's car we have a Maxi Rider II, a Safe N Sound Explorer (it's kind of like a Maxi Rider I) and DD's Unity capsule. When DD grows out of the capsule I will be using a Safe N Sound Compaq Deluxe in my car.
Good luck!
When C was born I had to get him a S&S compaq deluxe to fit in with 2 pegasus boosters for the older boys. It was a royal PIA trying to get the seatbelts done up with the boosters but I managed OK. Oh we had a commodore sedan too.
I was just going to day it's not always the car size that helps - it has to be the back seat that's big enough for seats. We have (or had up until 2 weeks ago) a Suburu Forerster and even though it's a decent size car the backseat is quite deceiving - we could fit our 2 seats in (a S & S premier and Unity capsual) but both our seats were right up to the dash.
We have sold the car and are buying a Holden commodore wagon - only for the room! We figure we can have the wagon for next 5-6 years while kids are in seats and we have prams etc then get something a bit cooler/nicer when we don't have to worry about the seats.
My friend has 3 seats in her BMW (very small) and they are all slimline but no idea of brand. To me though it would be just too squishy and annoying trying to get them all in as well as all the stuff you have with kids!
We have an outback as well, and I can fit a Maxirider, a convertible safe n sound and a cheap target booster in the back. The are literally jammed in but as long as the bases are sitting correctly is is okay, try towells underneath if you need to raise parts of the chair.
The pain in the bum bit is getting to the buckles, we attached long straps to the buckles so we could easily find and pull on them them, still you have to get your hands in the actually clip them up.
We have a Kia carnival and I love it. 2 sliding doors so DD and DS each are in bucket seats with car seats and then new bubba on its way.. will be plenty of space in the back for pram etc.
Friend of mine went to Baby Bunting and tried out all the seats in her Subaru Forester, however once she got them home and fitted she was concerned by how jammed in they were, so ended up selling the car (was only 12mths old) and getting a Territory. Even with the Territory doing up the seat belt for the eldest is difficult.
We have a 7 seater Kluger and I think it would be hard to get 3 seats in, plus the dealer told us it's illegal in Vic to have baby/child seats in the 3rd row.
Good Luck, I think whatever car you have it's a tight fit :D
We had to buy a new car as i have a 3 yr old, 1yr old and baby due in 3wks. We bought a Toyota Prado, it fits my 2 maxi riders and a safe n sound convertible in there. its a squeeze but a safe squeeze. its all been checked and its fine.
We have a Hyundai Santa Fe 7 Seater and can fit three seats in the second row, the third row has 2 anchor points too. I don't think its illegal to have them in the third row as their are so many cars that have them now.
We have 2 Safe and sounds that go side by side an their is room for a third one or a booster.