Car seat and travel system for twins

[sanni12]

Hi all

I’m currently 23 weeks pregnant with twin girls and I’m struggling to find a car seat that’s small enough to fit into my very small car ( ford ka) and husbands is an 3dr Audi A3. Yes I know we will struggle both our cars being 3dr 🙈

Initially we were focusing on s travel system but as we’d not hAd any luck I thought we’d focus on the car seat as it’s a must when leaving the hospital.

Any recommendation are most welcome x

[Lovefood1984]

I know my friend who had twins instead of looking for a traditional travel system with a flat carry cot and then a normal seat she bought a mountain buggy where the seats went flat and fitted through a normal household door to last them from birth to walking. She said she’d never thought about the hassle of getting twins out of the seats and folding it every time she went out etc. Also because it wasn’t a travel system I think it folded smaller than a travel system pram. You also aren’t supposed to leave small babies in their seats for long so ideas of just unclipping them and attaching them to a pram to make life easier might not work out. At 4 months I’ve only just started leaving my daughter in hers for shopping etc. I used to always get her out and put her in her flat pram. As for space I have a VW polo and even I can’t fit the travel system I have with cot attachment into my boot fully leaving me to wedge it on the back seat next to my daughter with the base in the boot with one wheel off so I feel your pain! 🙁 I think when I move to the seat part everything should just about fit 🤔 (Husbands car is a massive ford mondeo estate so no issues there!)

As for car seats my friend had two car seats she left in the car. Her car was bigger and I don’t know what she had but perhaps someone else can help on that one, you might also find a car seat with isofix easier as you just push and click rather than have to thread a seatbelt through etc. Although the isofix base will add to the cost. We only bought 1 base and move it between cars the rare times we have to, i’ll be off the majority of the first car seats use so we decided getting two was just an expense we didn’t need. Hopefully you can find something that fits and is suitable for both cars 😀 oh and a colleague of mine had twins and was still driving round in the smallest Pergeot car you can buy for a good couple of years after his were born so it must be doable!

Hope you manage to find something that works, buying a pram and car seats etc is a minefield as it is without needing to find ones twin suitable x

[sanni12 in reply to Lovefood1984]

Thanks for the reply. It was very informative. I think we’d just take both our cars when we next visit mothercare and try both seats. I’m sure its doable but I guess it will be a case of the twins outgrowing my own ford ka sooner than perhaps DH. oh yes we’ll deffo be buying isofix bases for convenience. Never been particularly fond of looping seatbelts lol x

[Lovefood1984 in reply to sanni12]

Sounds like a great plan 😊 I know people have said get a bigger car but I’m sure you’ll be able to make it work somehow, the colleague with the pergeot had his at least 3-4 years after they were born and it was his only car, just might be a bit more of a hassle than for others that’s all. Also I tried looping seat belt too as apparently the isofix for the car seat we have can’t be guaranteed compatible with my car but is with my husbands, the seat moved awfully with the seatbelt (this was before baby arrived and I know in a crash it would go tense but still I wasn’t happy) and I cant see what’s wrong with the isofix after checking online once I’d put it in my car 🤔 (fairly new Polo less than 2 years old at the time of buying the seat and was a newer design so perhaps they hadn’t checked it yet which is a possibility!)

Happy shopping and hoping it works out x

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

I’d massively recommend swapping your car to be honest. You’re really going to struggle to fit all the stuff you need for two babies into a Ford ka and it’s going to cause you unnecessary stress. I can’t imagine how on earth you’d even fit the wheels for a single pram into the boot of a little car like that. I don’t find it easy with one baby and I’ve got a five door Golf, though it has got easier with practice! It’s particularly tricky if it’s me and their dad and a load of shopping in the car!

[sanni12 in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Thanks for replying Lizzie. My car isn’t the most ideal but I think it will be s case of when the twins arrive will see if it’s too much of an inconvenience then change. As I had only bought it 2 years ago I wish I had got a 5door Instead x think with 2 everything will be a lot trickier but I’m hopeful x

[Joey89]

I would honestly trade in one of the cars for a bigger one as I don’t think there is any infant car seats that will be small enough to work in the cars also once they outgrow the infant car seats the rear facing/ forward facing car seats get more bulky which definitely will not fit two into the car. We had to trade our vehicle in to get a bigger one we got a used vehicle to save money

[Mali-jay]

Definitely get a mountain buggy! I was a nanny for twin girls years ago and they had a mountain buggy and it was the best buggy ever. I could push it with one hand whilst carrying shopping in the other. It stears like a dream which is a must when you have two babies in it!

[Kata89]

I had a vw up, 3 door, until Christmas. I found it tight getting my daughter in, her travel system barely fitted in the boot. Before she was born I had a couple of comments about getting a bigger car which I wasn’t able do as couldn’t afford to get one. I got the Joie 360 spin car seat which was a lot easier to get her in and out off than trying to get an infant carrier behind the back seat every time I went out. It was really useful although had to adjust the tilt to get it to spin and it doesn’t fit in all car types, also it’s bulky to transfer from one car to another.

Despite making the most of what I had I now have a Prius which is so much easier the pram fits and I’ve got space. I can honestly say that I’ve had no regrets getting a bigger, although much older, car. It has made my life so much easier. Although only you know whether that’s something that you can consider.

What I decided I needed a bigger car for was for those days out and holidays where you need more than just a changing bag we wouldn’t have been able to go away with everything we needed in my previous car.

I appreciate being told that you need a bigger car isn’t helpful at this point, but I agree with the others, from my own experience. Having said that go to Mothercare or Mammas and Pappas have a look and get some advice from them.

One last thing. New borns shouldn’t be left in a car seat for more than half an hour at a time and slightly older babies 2 hours. So don’t worry about getting car seats which attach to the park chassis.

Hope you get this worked out. It’s a nightmare, I struggled over it for ages!