really reallt thin child seats...

[cmackay81]

talk to me about child seats...

Have got an e36 328 touring, and another kid on the way to take the count to 3.
will have a new born, a 3 year old and a 5 year old.
the new born will have to be in one of those huge things, and the other two will be booster seat size/age.

Does anyone know of a way to squeeze two booster seats in as well? The standard ones you get seem far too wide, and not sure how safe it would be taking a saw to them!

[cmackay81]

bump for info?

[Zod]

I haven't found anything suitable, which is why I'm sadly moving up to an X5 with the third row of seats.

There's the multimac that always comes up on these threads, but it's not really removable and not practical with rear-facing seats for babies.

[cmackay81]

Zod said:

I haven't found anything suitable, which is why I'm sadly moving up to an X5 with the third row of seats.

There's the multimac that always comes up on these threads, but it's not really removable and not practical with rear-facing seats for babies.

did see this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHILD-BOOSTER-CAR-SEAT-SAFE-...

might take a punt at one and see if it goes in.

Also saw an inflatable one on ebay. omg no. really? inflatable!

[Zod]

Would you put the three year old on a booster? Even a five year old will need a device to lower the belt to shoulder level to avoid strangulation.

[cmackay81]

Zod said:

Would you put the three year old on a booster? Even a five year old will need a device to lower the belt to shoulder level to avoid strangulation.

My eldest was in a booster at 3. My kids are quite tall though, she looked 4 at 3, and have always made sure the belt is low enough not to be at throat level.

Really can't afford to sell up the car at the moment, though worst comes to worst, could get a cheap discovery or something else 7 seater.

[marctwo]

One of these?

http://www.multimac.co.uk/3_child_car_seat

[DBSV8]

cmackay81 said:

talk to me about child seats...

Have got an e36 328 touring, and another kid on the way to take the count to 3.
will have a new born, a 3 year old and a 5 year old.
the new born will have to be in one of those huge things, and the other two will be booster seat size/age.

Does anyone know of a way to squeeze two booster seats in as well? The standard ones you get seem far too wide, and not sure how safe it would be taking a saw to them!

I would not advise the booster seat for your 3 year old as a minimum they will need a dedicated car seat to offer side impact protection , the one advertised on ebay has no information on certification compliance to EU CE mark,Etc and will not offer adequate protection in a crash

probably not what you want to hear ? UK legislation and advise on car seats for babies /infants / toddlers is woefully inadequate , babies rear facing up to 13kg then forward facing !! is an example ,
http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/facts.php

compare the two
http://www.hts.no/en/safety/Crashtest_acing_forwar...

http://www.hts.no/en/safety/crashtestrearfacing.ph...
There is a reason why in Sweden its mandatory to be rearword facing in a dedicated child seat till 4 years of age .

Besafe are probably the most compact rear facing child seat on the market

http://www.hts.no/en/products/izicombi.php

and for suppliers http://www.securatot.co.uk/rear-facing-car-seats

[davidjpowell]

We had an issue for a week, with 2 strapping teenagers a near 5 year old in the back. Her normal seat was too bulky to go in the middle.

This was the answer. http://www.babyboodle.com/car-seats/group-2-3/bubb... It's been tested properly and is more comfy than some of the others. Only thing she misses is lateral support when she is in the seat with no biguns to lean against.

[Rodimus]

DBSV8 said:

cmackay81 said:

talk to me about child seats...

Have got an e36 328 touring, and another kid on the way to take the count to 3.
will have a new born, a 3 year old and a 5 year old.
the new born will have to be in one of those huge things, and the other two will be booster seat size/age.

Does anyone know of a way to squeeze two booster seats in as well? The standard ones you get seem far too wide, and not sure how safe it would be taking a saw to them!

I would not advise the booster seat for your 3 year old as a minimum they will need a dedicated car seat to offer side impact protection , the one advertised on ebay has no information on certification compliance to EU CE mark,Etc and will not offer adequate protection in a crash

probably not what you want to hear ? UK legislation and advise on car seats for babies /infants / toddlers is woefully inadequate , babies rear facing up to 13kg then forward facing !! is an example ,
http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/facts.php

compare the two
http://www.hts.no/en/safety/Crashtest_acing_forwar...

http://www.hts.no/en/safety/crashtestrearfacing.ph...
There is a reason why in Sweden its mandatory to be rearword facing in a dedicated child seat till 4 years of age .

Besafe are probably the most compact rear facing child seat on the market

http://www.hts.no/en/products/izicombi.php

and for suppliers http://www.securatot.co.uk/rear-facing-car-seats

Wow, very helpful links, thank you. Like the OP, I too am currently looking for a baby seat for the newborn (3 months from now).

[Silver940]

I have managed to get 3 in the back of my MK4 golf, 2 in booster and one rear facing. Have to pack them in from one side rear facing last. Bloody tight fit and not recommended. I know folks that get 3 seats across a V70, so 5 series or A6 probably similar, still gonna be a tight fit though.

[cmackay81]

cheers guys very helpful info.

have 184 days to go said my wife this morning!
may just have to have a play around with different combinations first off and see how short on room we are.

[DBSV8]

davidjpowell said:

We had an issue for a week, with 2 strapping teenagers a near 5 year old in the back. Her normal seat was too bulky to go in the middle.

This was the answer. http://www.babyboodle.com/car-seats/group-2-3/bubb... It's been tested properly and is more comfy than some of the others. Only thing she misses is lateral support when she is in the seat with no biguns to lean against.

its been tested properly ? to what standards where they tested , ?
you realise its essentialy a blow up booster cushion

removing a dedicated child seat and substituting for booster style cushions just to fit extra passengers is simply rolling a dice with child safety.
sorry for the rant ive been to too many crash sites which involved infant fatalities

[Zod]

DBSV8 said:

http://www.hts.no/en/safety/crashtestrearfacing.ph...
There is a reason why in Sweden its mandatory to be rearword facing in a dedicated child seat till 4 years of age .

It is not mandatory. It is just that in Sweden, the vast majority of people use rear-facing seats.

It is, in fact, illegal to use a rear-facing seat in the front in Sweden, unless the airbag is deactivated (as common sense would dictate).

[cmackay81]

Zod said:

DBSV8 said:

http://www.hts.no/en/safety/crashtestrearfacing.ph...
There is a reason why in Sweden its mandatory to be rearword facing in a dedicated child seat till 4 years of age .

It is not mandatory. It is just that in Sweden, the vast majority of people use rear-facing seats.

It is, in fact, illegal to use a rear-facing seat in the front in Sweden, unless the airbag is deactivated (as common sense would dictate).

Thing is, I really don't see how my 4 year old would ever fit in a rear facing seat.

[Zod]

Silver940 said:

I have managed to get 3 in the back of my MK4 golf, 2 in booster and one rear facing. Have to pack them in from one side rear facing last. Bloody tight fit and not recommended. I know folks that get 3 seats across a V70, so 5 series or A6 probably similar, still gonna be a tight fit though.

No room in a 5 Series or A6 unless you don't use ISOFIX and you install the two outer seats badly against the side bolsters of the rear seat. Even in a Range Rover, you have the seats stuffed so tightly that you can't access the buckles. I have done a lot of research on this subject since learning in June that I was going to need to install a thrid child seat next January.

[Silver940]

The rear facing thing is to prevent serious neck injuries/decapitation from whip lash. The up to 4 year old rear facing seats are very hard to get hold of in this country, chap next to me at work has one for his 2 year old ( took hime ages to find )- it's huge and needs a A6/5 series type size car to fit properly.

These seem like a good alternative, the lack of harness means the whole body moves forward helping prevent whiplash - wish I had know about them before we bought the last one..

http://www.olivers-baby-care.co.uk/car-seats/child...

[DBSV8]

Zod said:

DBSV8 said:

http://www.hts.no/en/safety/crashtestrearfacing.ph...
There is a reason why in Sweden its mandatory to be rearword facing in a dedicated child seat till 4 years of age .

It is not mandatory. It is just that in Sweden, the vast majority of people use rear-facing seats.

It is, in fact, illegal to use a rear-facing seat in the front in Sweden, unless the airbag is deactivated (as common sense would dictate).

there are some very interesting statistics on child RTA rates in Sweden taken from 1998 -2006. forward facing v rearward facing on average the morbidity rate in most cases was halved

[Bluebarge]

I doubt that you will get 3 child seats in the back of a 3-series. If you or your wife are quite slim, you might just be able to squeeze between the 2 booster seats in the back if baby rides up-front, but I doubt this will be either v.comfortable or v.practical (plus you will get covered in Farley's rusks).

I really think you will need to change car - Zafiras, multiplas etc can be got quite cheaply and, if you can't face either of those, your kids are still young enough to travel in a boot-mounted rear-facing seat. Some Volvo V70s have these fitted, or you can have them retro-fitted by the dealer to a 5-seat v70 (you may even find that you can get 3 seats across the back of a v70, although it would be tight).

[DBSV8]

Silver940 said:

The rear facing thing is to prevent serious neck injuries/decapitation from whip lash. The up to 4 year old rear facing seats are very hard to get hold of in this country, chap next to me at work has one for his 2 year old ( took hime ages to find )- it's huge and needs a A6/5 series type size car to fit properly.

These seem like a good alternative, the lack of harness means the whole body moves forward helping prevent whiplash - wish I had know about them before we bought the last one..

http://www.olivers-baby-care.co.uk/car-seats/child...

http://www.rearfacing.co.uk/buyersguide.php

suppliers can be found at the bottom of the link , most would reccommend taking your car to the Vendor for them to check that the seats are installed correctly