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Car seats and four kids logistics

12 replies

ClairesTravellingCircus · 19/01/2013 07:37

I need help please as I can't make up my mind how to sort this out!

We have 4dc: 11, 8, and one year old twins and we drive a vw touran.

So far, we have been using the baby car seats which go in and out of the car, I tend to have one twin in the front passenger seat and one at the back when dh is not with us. If it's all of us, dd1 goes in the boot, dd2 in the middle seat with the twins either side.
Now I have started looking at stage 1 car seats and don't know what yo do re seating plan! Will dd2 be sble to access the middle seat if the dts are on the sides? Should I fit the dts seatsnext to esch other??

What do other people do?
I don't live in the uk and the range of seats available herd not that great so I can't really go and try lots of ones...

Many thanks

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notfarmingatthemo · 19/01/2013 11:01

If your pushchair fits in the boot with all the seats up. I would put bigs ones in the 3rd row and twins in the middle row with the middle seat flatened to allow easy excess to 3rd row.
If not then you should still be able to put dd2 in the middle and dd1 in the boot.

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Arithmeticulous · 19/01/2013 11:25

What not said. Unless you want to be messing around with the seats every time your DH gets in the car! I have two seats in the boot, the middle middle row seat down and seats in the two door seats. Oldest DC generally sits in the front except when DH is around.

Initially I had 1 in front and 3 in middle row but had to move them around every weekend/play date.

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OwlCatMouse · 19/01/2013 11:29

We have a Touran - its fine to access the middle seat if there are 2 big car seats in there. I've had 2 4yos and adults in all the other seats in ours. Bits squashed, but with kids it will be fine.

Better to have the twins in the middld row, and the 11yo in the front seat if DH is not with you too.

If there's only one of them in the back row, you can leave one of the seats down to allow easier access as well.

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ClairesTravellingCircus · 19/01/2013 12:40

Thanks all, pushchair doesn't fit in boot when all 7 seats are used, and even if it did we wouldn't have any boot space left, so having both third row seats in use wouldn't work.

We'll have to have dd2 climb over from the boot then.

Now need to find seats as narrow as poss so she is not too squashed!Smile

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Codan · 21/01/2013 00:52

Hi,
Expecting DC4 soon but don't want to change car to 7 seater. Anyone selling or know where to source a 2nd hand multimac &/or minimac??

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Mosman · 21/01/2013 05:01

Do you really want one of those ? The seats look very narrow and limiting and not to mention expensive.
We got 4 kids into a Toyota Avis without any trouble, DH had to walk lol
Seriously for the amount of time you go out as a 6 it's cheaper to buy one normal family car and a cheap little car.
And everyone gets a proper comfy seat.

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NAR4 · 21/01/2013 15:38

I have three big children and will soon have two little ones. I am planning on having the two car seats next to each other on the middle row, so the end seat can be tipped up for the bigger ones to access the back row, without having to remove the pushchair for them to get in through the boot.

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NAR4 · 21/01/2013 15:39

What is a multimac or a minimac?

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Thinkingof4 · 21/01/2013 17:47

It's a kind of bench with 3 or 4 carseats in a row that can fit in a normal car. I have a 4 seater in the back of my car though I only have 3 kids at the moment (no4 on the way) and I have my 2 youngest rearfacing in minimacs which is baby seat which can be used with multimac. My middle one still fits rearfacing age 3.4 which was important for us. Plan to have him forward facing once baby arrives in summer.
I'd only consider it if your kids are relatively close in age (our oldest is 6) and we tend to use it mainly for short journeys. This may change when baby arrives unless we change dh car for 7 seater

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Fresh01 · 21/01/2013 20:18

Can you swap it round so DD2 is in the boot? I am assuming at 11 she would be talk enough to no longer require a booster.

Then in the middle row have DD1 on the seat so she can reach the seat belt plug. Then a twin on each side in a front facing seat.

When trying to fit 4 in my car I went to one of the in car safety centres and we spent over an hour working on combinations. The narrowest high back booster seat was the Maxi Cosi Rodi. And the narrowest forward facing seat was the Britax Eclipse. Both were only about an inch narrower at the base but that made all the difference.

I am dreading having to work it all out in next few months as my 13 month old still rear facing as she is only 10kg and her seat goes to 13kg. All mine are under 7 so need to fit in 2 on high back booster and 2 front facing car seats.

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NAR4 · 22/01/2013 08:43

Thanks Thinking of 4. I had a look online. What a clever idea they are. No good for my children but a great idea for lots of people, like yourself. A regular car is so much cheaper to run than a people carrier.

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LongStory · 22/01/2013 10:28

Clarestravelling circus - I coped with 7 of us in a Sedona with no boot to speak of. The compromise we made was to use an umbrella buggy - got the Cossatto one - it's creaking a bit now the twins are about to turn four, but handy on the school run if one of them falls asleep in the car. Far better to compromise on the buggy size/style than to go faffing about with changing seats every time, or facing the dreaded 'buckle crunch'.

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