The Mrs is pregnant - does a 3 door hatch work?
Discussion
toon10 said:
A 3 door hatch works in the same way that some people use an Elise as a daily driver.
I use an Elise as a daily driver and wouldn't have a three-door as a family car. At least not with a baby, I could see it being OK with a toddler. 
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 10th March 08:39
I use my BMW 640d Coupe as a family car and it's fine, yes a small hassle to put her in but no real issue. Easier now she's 2-3 years old, but even when she was a baby I had a C63 Coupe and it was fine then too.
3 door hatch will struggle with the boot more than anything, but a car like an S3 would be fine.
3 door hatch will struggle with the boot more than anything, but a car like an S3 would be fine.
When my wife fell pregnant with our first child, she helpfully suggested that I change my Clio 172 for something bigger and more practical. I came back with a Focus ST, a 3 door. Yes, it can be a faff getting the kids in and out of the back of the car, but its never caused any issues, plus they can't open any doors/windows either.
I've been running around in a fiesta ST as my only car since last September to now.
My little'un was a year old at the time and is now coming up to 18 months and whilst cramped, it's never been a huge issue. The door opens ridiculously wide so getting him in and out isn't a huge deal, and also any car can become a tardis if you're any good at tetris!
For our christmas run to the family, I fit the dog, a pram, a travel cot, 3 bags of clothes, a bag of presents, coats, pillows and a number of other things in including myself, my wife and the boy.
Obviously it would be easier to have a bigger car but that would be cheating, never mind the fact that I'm trading up to a 5 door focus ST come June!
My little'un was a year old at the time and is now coming up to 18 months and whilst cramped, it's never been a huge issue. The door opens ridiculously wide so getting him in and out isn't a huge deal, and also any car can become a tardis if you're any good at tetris!
For our christmas run to the family, I fit the dog, a pram, a travel cot, 3 bags of clothes, a bag of presents, coats, pillows and a number of other things in including myself, my wife and the boy.
Obviously it would be easier to have a bigger car but that would be cheating, never mind the fact that I'm trading up to a 5 door focus ST come June!
It's doable, but will be a PITA until the baby can go in a stroller, rather than a proper pushchair.
Especially when the baby gets a bit heavier, hoisting a baby in a car seat through the gap behind the front seats becomes quite a struggle.
We managed with an 18month old in a Puma, but I wouldn't have liked to have done it with a newborn.
When we have baby no2, I'll be buying an SUV, with wide opening rear doors, high seats and a big boot. In reality a Focus sized car would be more than adequate.
Especially when the baby gets a bit heavier, hoisting a baby in a car seat through the gap behind the front seats becomes quite a struggle.
We managed with an 18month old in a Puma, but I wouldn't have liked to have done it with a newborn.
When we have baby no2, I'll be buying an SUV, with wide opening rear doors, high seats and a big boot. In reality a Focus sized car would be more than adequate.
Goodsteed said:
Got the news last week. Naturally the first thing that comes to mind is I may have to sell my beloved Clio 197 in favour of something dull with 5 doors and a boot capable of swallowing prams et al.
The better part of me thinks it's rather silly buying a bigger car for the sake of a 9lb person. Be good to hear from those of you who have kept the 3rd hot hatch as a family wagon and those who didn't...
Buy a 5 door. There's so much ballache involved with transporting a small child around, you really do not want to make your job any harder or stressful.The better part of me thinks it's rather silly buying a bigger car for the sake of a 9lb person. Be good to hear from those of you who have kept the 3rd hot hatch as a family wagon and those who didn't...
A Clio is nowhere near big enough for all the s
t you'll want to transport around. Note I didn't say 'need', I said 'want'. If you visit parents or friends far away there's so much stuff you'll want to bring to make life easier. Also, you'll probably want a 'travel system', the main advantage of which being you can transfer a sleeping baby from the car by removing the car seat and clicking it onto the pram bit. These are bigger than push chairs, so with all the other s
t you'll need a big boot.Unless you are a fan of tetris I'd get bigger than you'll think you need. It's much easier chucking stuff in than having to be some kind of ordered packing ninja whilst holding a screaming child!
For info I've got a 5 series estate which I have filled up in the early days for weekends away (don't forget you and your mrs' stuff too) but I certainly think you'll be wanting at least something Focus sized, maybe a smaller estate (3 series or similar size).
Given that babies need to lie flat for the first few months, you'll need a proper pram rather than a stroller for a while. These are HUGE. Whilst it may be possible to buy smaller, we got an iCandy Strawberry which takes up the entire boot of a Tiguan. Things get a little better when they can move onto the seat based part of the travel system and at this point, you no longer need to remove the parcel shelf (or stow the pram top in the remaining back seat). Changing bag, spare clothes, handbags etc can stow in the footwell by babies seat.
That's just what you need for a 2 hour trip out to town. Factor in a longer stay, say overnight and you need a cot. They may be in a moses basket at first but ours soon outgrew hers and they're flimsy contraptions but come with a stand which is again as wide as most cars boots. Alternatively, a travel cot, and the one which everyone seems to own is a collapsable unit with a folding hard mattress which occupies the same space as a small golf bag. Add bedding, baby monitor, changing mat, bath mat, more clothes, feeding accoutrements (bottles, pumps, formula, sterilising kit etc).
You can see how it soon escalates. Ours is now 1 and we'll look to getting a McLarren stroller to save space and things are a lot less hassle now but for the first year, I'd say you'd be mad to try. My wife took the Tiguan as the main vehicle for the last year and her 3 door Fiesta became my run around. We'd never have even attempted to use it to carry the daughter about in and now we've shopped it for a 5 door C class so either of us can pick her up without worrying who's got which car today.
Congrats though. It's a thoroughly awesome experience. There will be tough, stressful times with the sleep deprivation but you get used to it or the situation improves.
That's just what you need for a 2 hour trip out to town. Factor in a longer stay, say overnight and you need a cot. They may be in a moses basket at first but ours soon outgrew hers and they're flimsy contraptions but come with a stand which is again as wide as most cars boots. Alternatively, a travel cot, and the one which everyone seems to own is a collapsable unit with a folding hard mattress which occupies the same space as a small golf bag. Add bedding, baby monitor, changing mat, bath mat, more clothes, feeding accoutrements (bottles, pumps, formula, sterilising kit etc).
You can see how it soon escalates. Ours is now 1 and we'll look to getting a McLarren stroller to save space and things are a lot less hassle now but for the first year, I'd say you'd be mad to try. My wife took the Tiguan as the main vehicle for the last year and her 3 door Fiesta became my run around. We'd never have even attempted to use it to carry the daughter about in and now we've shopped it for a 5 door C class so either of us can pick her up without worrying who's got which car today.
Congrats though. It's a thoroughly awesome experience. There will be tough, stressful times with the sleep deprivation but you get used to it or the situation improves.
Hmm it is possible wife has a 3 door civic son is 2 and a half when he was in a baby seat not much of an issue just pop an isofix base in and take him in and out in the seat , only issues were long doors make car parks very tight to get in and out with the seat which is also heavy with a 9 pound baby in wife struggled a bit especially after setting off an old shoulder injury again.
We didn`t do the mega pram thing and found a maclaren stroller brilliant and not too bulky but they are quite long.
The issue we had was when son moved to front facing seat with its own harness we both found this a nightmare to do especially with an active boy! I couldn`t get in the car to do the seat and the seat sits back quite a long way so it as a struggle we ended up popping him in the front with airbag turned off but not ideal , it was only for infrequent use though and we all survived .
My car has been a 4 door estate hack so no issues much easier all round as the main transport for us when going out or away .
In summary it could be done but is so much easier with 4 doors.
We didn`t do the mega pram thing and found a maclaren stroller brilliant and not too bulky but they are quite long.
The issue we had was when son moved to front facing seat with its own harness we both found this a nightmare to do especially with an active boy! I couldn`t get in the car to do the seat and the seat sits back quite a long way so it as a struggle we ended up popping him in the front with airbag turned off but not ideal , it was only for infrequent use though and we all survived .
My car has been a 4 door estate hack so no issues much easier all round as the main transport for us when going out or away .
In summary it could be done but is so much easier with 4 doors.
csd19 said:
How long do you need to cart the big prams around for?
fk me, does no-one buy those Maclaren folding buggies anymore? The ones that fold down to basically hee-haw?
Or do they not score enough scene points at the nursery when compared to the massive disc-brake equipped monstrosities on offer these days?
Oh and congrats to you and your missus OP
I think we binned the travel system from use (upstairs in the loft now awaiting number two) somewhere between 18 months and two years.f
k me, does no-one buy those Maclaren folding buggies anymore? The ones that fold down to basically hee-haw? Or do they not score enough scene points at the nursery when compared to the massive disc-brake equipped monstrosities on offer these days?
Oh and congrats to you and your missus OP
The reason we binned it then was because we no longer needed to transfer her out of the car whilst she was still asleep and also she outgrew the Stage 0 car seat which clicked onto the isofix base. So we then had a choice - stick with the isofix base and a maxi-cosi that would click onto it, or get another seat to permanently fix to the car and switch to a pushchair (we would have needed a pushchair anyway as Stage 1 and above seats don't generally click onto travel systems as you don't need them to).
Butter Face said:
We've bought one of these..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaRIcUZT80
Boot space is saved!
And shopping is done online anyway!
sorry for the thread hijack... with Sprog 2 on the way... I love that...https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaRIcUZT80
Boot space is saved!
And shopping is done online anyway!
Depends on the car, but in general I've always found 3dr cars easier when the children are really small as you can actually step into the car to put them in.
I've used an old, 1980s Saab T16s, BMW 635csi, TVR Cerbera and Jag XJS as 'family' cars. The Saab and BMW were great, the Jag and TVR useless, but that was just down to the lack of legroom as I'm quite tall, not access to the back seats.
I've used an old, 1980s Saab T16s, BMW 635csi, TVR Cerbera and Jag XJS as 'family' cars. The Saab and BMW were great, the Jag and TVR useless, but that was just down to the lack of legroom as I'm quite tall, not access to the back seats.
We had a BRABUS forfour and a Pug 107 when we were expecting. I did a trial run in the Smart with the baby seat, isofix, buggy in boot etc.... Even with clever sliding seats it was a squeeze! At the last minute I traded the Smart for an 06 plate Leon FR. Its plenty big enough for daily duties and family trips to centre parks and weekends away visiting relatives. You still need to pack carefully tho.
The 107 was swapped a few months ago for a Cooper S R53. Now that he is in a forward facing car seat makes life in the smaller car much easier. Whenever I take him out in the Mini I leave the buggy at home and use a back pack style baby carrier. It fits in the boot with room to spare and he loves riding on daddy's back. Travel systems are a necessary evil but McLaren style buggies are just horrible! Top heavy with poor handling.
As much as I love cars/motoring it all becomes insignificant when the little one arrives. When its raining and cold. The little one has st themselves and suffering from teething pain. Some knob has parked 3" from your car and you still got to load that bin you picked up from Argos, trust me you won't care about scoring PH cudos points! You will be dreaming about a family wagon with sliding doors and plenty of cup holders.
The 107 was swapped a few months ago for a Cooper S R53. Now that he is in a forward facing car seat makes life in the smaller car much easier. Whenever I take him out in the Mini I leave the buggy at home and use a back pack style baby carrier. It fits in the boot with room to spare and he loves riding on daddy's back. Travel systems are a necessary evil but McLaren style buggies are just horrible! Top heavy with poor handling.
As much as I love cars/motoring it all becomes insignificant when the little one arrives. When its raining and cold. The little one has s
t themselves and suffering from teething pain. Some knob has parked 3" from your car and you still got to load that bin you picked up from Argos, trust me you won't care about scoring PH cudos points! You will be dreaming about a family wagon with sliding doors and plenty of cup holders. hornetrider said:
Also, you'll probably want a 'travel system', the main advantage of which being you can transfer a sleeping baby from the car by removing the car seat and clicking it onto the pram bit. These are bigger than push chairs, so with all the other st you'll need a big boot.
Yeah the ISOFIX base + car seat is a godsend. No faff with seatbelts.t you'll need a big boot.Unfold travel system, pull handle to release car seat from car, put seat on base. Go shopping, baby still asleep.
You can only keep them in the car seat for a couple of hours especially when they are very little, so you need a proper lie flat cot / seat for longer trips out.
You might get away with this in a 3dr but I don't know if the seat+baby (which together will be around 10kg's at 3 months) will be easy to manoeuvre through the door/seat gap. As mentioned above, the lie flat seat and travel system wheels take up half the boot space in our Leon.
Congrats. You don't need to buy a tank, but you do need 4 doors, as the lower back problems you/your missus will get from manoeuvring wriggling child into the back seat will be tremendous (they don't stay 9lb for very long). There are plenty of sporty cars around with 4/5 doors and a decent boot.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff