3 kid transport opinions

MarcusP12

Hi, I think I may have posted before on a similar topic but looking for people's opinions on what works for them with 3 kids under 5 (will be 6 by the time we purchase). I'm doing research at the moment and since we've no real love for MPVs (we lease one at the moment as ex-pats) and they're great at what they're meant for but we would prefer something more stylish. Since we need something capable of carrying 3 car seats, all roads seem to lead towards the Peugeot 5008 and a well spec'd 1 year old one would certainly be within budget. An older sorento either or maybe a kodiaq.

However, in saying that, I've read that some people go for bubblebums when changing to a 7 seater is not viable. We can get 3 seats across the 5 series beemer we still have when we are home so i'm thinking a bubblebum (or similar rigid) between the 2 standard car seats would be an option. This would open up to other options like the Ateca, 3008, last gen xc60, Koraq, etc.

Are these bubblebums a viable long term solution or are they intended just for short term use. They seem to have all the safety certs and in my head i'm thinking it doesn't matter if they're either short or long term as you can have an accident in either case so they're either safe or they're not.

Appreciate any feedback on bubblebums or any suggestions/recommendations on slim car seats......

willowthewisp

What in Darnation is a bubblebum?

lawred2

willowthewisp wrote: »

What in Darnation is a bubblebum?

This

RocketRaccoon

willowthewisp wrote: »

What in Darnation is a bubblebum?

A small booster seat

willowthewisp

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

A small booster seat

Ok , get ya!

Staplor

I was in a similar situation, Skoda had 0% finance, went in last year. Begging them to sell me a car, superb, kodiaq, anything that would work for 3 seats. Salesman told me that my heart would be broken with anything they had. He told be to buy a VW Touran. I did and I love it. Have a look at the options out there. Really didn't like the Verso, and look out for storage in the rear foot space, car seats with support legs don't like them.

Blazer

S-Max....by far the best handling MPV out there.
I drive a 3 litre 5 series and I was still very impressed with the smax...it was the 180hp version.

mirrorwall14

From a safety perspective I wouldn’t be putting anyone under five on a booster that isn’t a high back booster at the very least but I guess it depends on your children. My 3.5 year old is still harness and rear facing and I wouldn’t trust him a bit to turn him around into a high back booster/belt anytime soon at all. He just wouldn’t be able to keep his seat belt in an appropriate position yet

Depending on the ages of the youngest two they would possibly still be rear facing in isize seats?

Bubblegum seats have no mention of being appropriate for full time use, they talk about taxis, carhire etc so I’d be very nervous of using it in a full time capacity. It’s not the market they were designed for.

My advice would be to talk to the ERF group on Facebook with a view to keeping anyone under age 4/18kg probably harnessed and preferably rear facing. There’s a ton of knowledge about what cars will fit which seats etc

lawred2

A booster seat for what ages?

Under fives?

Not sure about that at all.

lawred2

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

From a safety perspective I wouldn’t be putting anyone under five on a booster that isn’t a high back booster at the very least but I guess it depends on your children. My 3.5 year old is still harness and rear facing and I wouldn’t trust him a bit to turn him around into a high back booster/belt anytime soon at all. He just wouldn’t be able to keep his seat belt in an appropriate position yet

Depending on the ages of the youngest two they would possibly still be rear facing in isize seats?

Bubblegum seats have no mention of being appropriate for full time use, they talk about taxis, carhire etc so I’d be very nervous of using it in a full time capacity. It’s not the market they were designed for.

My advice would be to talk to the ERF group on Facebook with a view to keeping anyone under age 4/18kg probably harnessed and preferably rear facing. There’s a ton of knowledge about what cars will fit which seats etc

Your 3 1/2 year old is still faced backwards? He must be bored senseless.

Didn't realise there were seats beyond infant car seats that faced backwards.

Our young lads were in front facing reclining 7 point harnessed seats when they were 9 months old or so.

grogi

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Hi, I think I may have posted before on a similar topic but looking for people's opinions on what works for them with 3 kids under 5 (will be 6 by the time we purchase). I'm doing research at the moment and since we've no real love for MPVs (we lease one at the moment as ex-pats) and they're great at what they're meant for but we would prefer something more stylish.

Style as perceived by you VS safety of your flesh and blood...
Such a hard choice (unless they are adopted, I completely understand then)... You seriously need to re-evaluate your priorities.

I agree - majority of 7 seaters are boring as a potato, there are a few that do not compromise much on the looks.

Grand scenic:


5008:


Even tesla S will accommodate three children without much compromise (it's 7 seater as well).

grogi

lawred2 wrote: »

Your 3 1/2 year old is still faced backwards?

Yes.

lawred2 wrote: »

He must be bored senseless.

Because there is soooooo much more to do while looking forward at your seats than looking backwards through the windows... :P

Didn't realise there were seats beyond infant car seats that faced backwards.

Astronauts land go in back facing seats as well...

Our young lads were in front facing reclining 7 point harnessed seats when they were 9 months old or so.

I have never seen anything like that. 5 point harness does exist, but they are typically limited to the weight to 18kg.

mirrorwall14

lawred2 wrote: »

Your 3 1/2 year old is still faced backwards? He must be bored senseless.

Didn't realise there were seats beyond infant car seats that faced backwards.

Our young lads were in front facing reclining 7 point harnessed seats when they were 9 months old or so.

Of course he’s not bored senseless? He has more windows to look out that forward facing with the back window giving him a great view.

At 9 months old the stress on the neck of a baby in a crash would be horrific. isize regulations (minimum regulation now) is rear facing to 15 months minimum. The issue is not the 7 point harness, the issue is that in a collision the baby is thrown against the harness, the arms and legs fly out and the neck flies forward. Rear facing the baby is thrown back into the cradle of the seat and is far far less likely to have severe injuries

Rear facing is 5 times safer. Look up the Swedish system where rear facing to beyond age 5 is the norm and infant fatalities are nil. Heck we’d all be safer rear facing

lawred2

grogi wrote: »

Astronauts land go in back facing seats as well...

Hawhaw

If only we weren't talking about car seats

lawred2

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Of course he’s not bored senseless? He has more windows to look out that forward facing with the back window giving him a great view.

At 9 months old the stress on the neck of a baby in a crash would be horrific. isize regulations (minimum regulation now) is rear facing to 15 months minimum. The issue is not the 7 point harness, the issue is that in a collision the baby is thrown against the harness, the arms and legs fly out and the neck flies forward. Rear facing the baby is thrown back into the cradle of the seat and is far far less likely to have severe injuries

Rear facing is 5 times safer. Look up the Swedish system where rear facing to beyond age 5 is the norm and infant fatalities are nil. Heck we’d all be safer rear facing

Fair enough.

Got any links to these larger seats? All I ever see sold are forward facing!

Our two eldest are in booster seats now but we've an infant in a rear facing car seat currently. Might look to keep her rear facing.

fits

Once you do any research on rear facing you will stick with it for as long as possible. We have joie spin 360s for our twins. They go to 18 kg but our lads are in small end of centiles range so should last until well past four years old. Lots of rear facing seats but the axkid minikid is very highly regarded. That lasts until 25 kg.

As for cars fitting three. I’d look first at the smax or the Citroen grand Picasso.

mirrorwall14

lawred2 wrote: »

Fair enough.

Got any links to these larger seats? All I ever see sold are forward facing!

Our two eldest are in booster seats now but we've an infant in a rear facing car seat currently. Might look to keep her rear facing.

I have three Seats to 18kg. All can be forward facing earlier than 18kg but I choose to rearface for safety

joie tilt (will be outgrown early on height) approx €90
Joie stages (rearfacing to 18kg then forward facing to 25kg) approx €130 at the time
Joie 360 Spin (rotating car seat) paid about €220

My lad is on the lower end of the height weight spectrums so I didn’t need to look at the bigger seats like the Axkid minikid or the Britax two way elite. If you search Swedish plus tested car seats they are the safest on the market

Edit: what you look for is in the specs generally e.g joie stages
-Rearward facing from birth to 18kg
-Forward facing from 9 to 25kg

MarcusP12

lawred2 wrote: »

A booster seat for what ages?

Under fives?

Not sure about that at all.

The oldest will be 6 by the time the change is made and he's a good sized fella for his age but I take your point....its the reason why i'm posting, to get feedback and opinions.

MarcusP12

grogi wrote: »

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Hi, I think I may have posted before on a similar topic but looking for people's opinions on what works for them with 3 kids under 5 (will be 6 by the time we purchase). I'm doing research at the moment and since we've no real love for MPVs (we lease one at the moment as ex-pats) and they're great at what they're meant for but we would prefer something more stylish.

Style as perceived by you VS safety of your flesh and blood...
Such a hard choice (unless they are adopted, I completely understand then)... You seriously need to re-evaluate your priorities.

I agree - majority of 7 seaters are boring as a potato, there are a few that do not compromise much on the looks.

Grand scenic:


5008:


Even tesla S will accommodate three children without much compromise (it's 7 seater as well).

Thanks for your suggestions, less so for the inaccurate suggestion that I would put my kids safety ahead of style. We have a preference for SUV over MPV (like a lot of people here)...its called personal preference. I was asking opinions on bubblebums as it would narrow down our options if they really weren't suitable. I would say we are very likely to go for the 5008 as it is quite good looking, practical and good value as well as being well reviewed. I'm unsure about those bubblebums or as others have suggested, a booster for the youngfella even if he is technically and legally allowed to use it.

Just a point on the bubblebum, they do have their safety certs so are fit for purpose. You could have an accident the first time you used it or the 100th time. However, if you're using it long term, you're exposing yourself to more of a risk of an accident due to frequency but not of there being an accident in the first place (if you know what I mean). My point is that the seat should be fit for purpose regardless of whether it is used short or long term. That said, i'd be iffy using them in anything other than an emergency.....

That grand scenic looks pretty nice though...might look a little more into that but never really been a fan of Renault.....

beauf

You get vastly more interior space in a MPV over a SUV. More useful space.

MarcusP12

beauf wrote: »

You get vastly more interior space in a MPV over a SUV. More useful space.

Probably depends on what you go for? That grand scenic for example isn't great with the 7 seats up....most SUV aren't great either but I assume most people get around that by split folding the backmost seats if they need just the one?

5008 is one of the few cars out there also that has 3 isofix on the Middle row....but then I read in whatcar that you can't get 3 side by side of the seats they tested...anyone with a 5008 manage to get 3 isofixes along side each other?

beauf

You can use a roof box and still have 7 seats. Its the boxy shape gives you more space across the shoulders which you need for baby seats and adults etc. Most SUV unless its massive, just don't have the same interior space.

Blazer

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Of course he’s not bored senseless? He has more windows to look out that forward facing with the back window giving him a great view.

At 9 months old the stress on the neck of a baby in a crash would be horrific. isize regulations (minimum regulation now) is rear facing to 15 months minimum. The issue is not the 7 point harness, the issue is that in a collision the baby is thrown against the harness, the arms and legs fly out and the neck flies forward. Rear facing the baby is thrown back into the cradle of the seat and is far far less likely to have severe injuries

Rear facing is 5 times safer. Look up the Swedish system where rear facing to beyond age 5 is the norm and infant fatalities are nil. Heck we’d all be safer rear facing

It will be law here in another year or two that all child seats are rear facing upto the age of 4 or a certain weight/height.

Also I think the Smax looks very classy from the back..

bee06

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

My advice would be to talk to the ERF group on Facebook with a view to keeping anyone under age 4/18kg probably harnessed and preferably rear facing. There’s a ton of knowledge about what cars will fit which seats etc

I was going to suggest this group as well. They have a thread where people post their 3 car seat combos that you could get some ideas from (you’d be surprised some of the cars that can take 3 seats). The admins are fantastic for advice as well.

I have a 6 month old who will be staying rear facing as long as possible as well. Have a Minikid in order because he’s in the high percentiles for height. To the person who commented that the child would be bored someone actually posted a picture of the view a rearfacing child has (out the back window) v a forward facing (back of a seat) in th group. It’s a no brainier for me to rear face him given the safety implications.

Blazer

Its safer in an impact for a child no doubt about that.
But I hated not seeing my son. I always lived in fear his head was too far down and he would suffocate in the back without me seeing him. I used to always make sure he was strapped tightly in so his airway would be clear.

wexie

Blazer wrote: »

S-Max....by far the best handling MPV out there.
I drive a 3 litre 5 series and I was still very impressed with the smax...it was the 180hp version.

apparently also one of very few cars that will take 3 isofix seats in the back.

Friend is expecting twins and the mrs insisted on isofix so he ended up with an Smax

Blazer

wexie wrote: »

apparently also one of very few cars that will take 3 isofix seats in the back.

Friend is expecting twins and the mrs insisted on isofix so he ended up with an Smax

I've decided on one myself or else a F11 530D msport.
Decisions decisions.

bee06

Blazer wrote: »

Its safer in an impact for a child no doubt about that.
But I hated not seeing my son. I always lived in fear his head was too far down and he would suffocate in the back without me seeing him. I used to always make sure he was strapped tightly in so his airway would be clear.

I have a mirror and can see him perfectly. Head droop is only a concern until 1 anyway. After 1 their airway is strong enough to be ok.

Blazer

bee06 wrote: »

I have a mirror and can see him perfectly. Head droop is only a concern until 1 anyway. After 1 their airway is strong enough to be ok.

yep..its a long year though

grogi

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestions, less so for the inaccurate suggestion that I would put my kids safety ahead of style.

I misread your idea of inflatable booster seat then.

As an alternative to a booster (which I wholeheartedly hate - ours will use Concord Transformers as long as required), you can also explore:
- mifold (www.mifold.com)
- smartkidbelt (smartkidbelt.co.uk)

They will not be less safe than a booster, which can easily slide out...

MarcusP12

grogi wrote: »

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestions, less so for the inaccurate suggestion that I would put my kids safety ahead of style.

I misread your idea of inflatable booster seat then.

As an alternative to a booster (which I wholeheartedly hate - ours will use Concord Transformers as long as required), you can also explore:
- mifold (www.mifold.com)
- smartkidbelt (smartkidbelt.co.uk)

They will not be less safe than a booster, which can easily slide out...

Yes you did.....

But anyway, neither of those look that safe to be honest....I'm more interested in a slim seat with back support....surely there's a recognised one that doesn't have these cup holders and stuff that seems to bulk out the width unnecessarily if you're tight on width....

grogi

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Yes you did.....

But anyway, neither of those look that safe to be honest....I'm more interested in a slim seat with back support....surely there's a recognised one that doesn't have these cup holders and stuff that seems to bulk out the width unnecessarily if you're tight on width....

The issue is the belt guidance around the hips. The seat must be wide enough to guide properly.

trickybicky

We have a VW Tiguan and have 3 kids 6months, 2 and 6.

We have a high back booster for oldest which we use in the front passenger seat when only kids are in the car which is 90% of the time.

When all 5 are in the car we use the BubbleBum seat in middle seat.

this works out well for us.

MarcusP12

trickybicky wrote: »

We have a VW Tiguan and have 3 kids 6months, 2 and 6.

We have a high back booster for oldest which we use in the front passenger seat when only kids are in the car which is 90% of the time.

When all 5 are in the car we use the BubbleBum seat in middle seat.

this works out well for us.

That's interesting......I didn't think you could have kids in the front seat below a certain age......how do you find the bubblebum for the oldest?

J.pilkington

bee06 wrote: »

To the person who commented that the child would be bored someone actually posted a picture of the view a rearfacing child has (out the back window) v a forward facing (back of a seat) in th group. It’s a no brainier for me to rear face him given the safety implications.

Can a child see out the rear window while in a car seat? In my opinion they can’t as they are restricted to looking at a back seat / headrest / window blind, and in the rare cases they can there is very little going on of interest to them.

My experience is that kids don’t like rear facing because they are missing out on what’s going on up front with the driver and passenger. They can hear taking and they want to be part of it. Scenery is boring, add in a sun blind then a long journey is a pain for them.

mirrorwall14

J.pilkington wrote: »

Can a child see out the rear window while in a car seat? In my opinion they can’t as they are restricted to looking at a back seat / headrest / window blind, and in the rare cases they can there is very little going on of interest to them.

My experience is that kids don’t like rear facing because they are missing out on what’s going on up front with the driver and passenger. They can hear taking and they want to be part of it. Scenery is boring, add in a sun blind then a long journey is a pain for them.

My little lad has zero problems with boredom still rearfacing at 3.5years. His best friend in the childminders forward faces and my lad couldn't care less. He has excellent speech but has never once asked to be the other way around. He can see out the back window in two of the three car seats I own. He still gets involved in the conversation, I've no idea why you would think he wouldn't? He's a nosy beggar, and has hearing like a hawk-no getting away with eating bold things in the front whether he can see me or not

Hackers

Very interested in this question as well. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 3 seats are individual seats and can be staggered slightly to fit 3 seats in. That is, you could push the 2 side seats back slightly so that all 3 are then not in a straight line across

MarcusP12 wrote: »

5008 is one of the few cars out there also that has 3 isofix on the Middle row....but then I read in whatcar that you can't get 3 side by side of the seats they tested...anyone with a 5008 manage to get 3 isofixes along side each other?

grogi

Hackers wrote: »

Very interested in this question as well. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 3 seats are individual seats and can be staggered slightly to fit 3 seats in. That is, you could push the 2 side seats back slightly so that all 3 are then not in a straight line across

Yes they can. Plus completely flat floor makes fitting seats an easy task...