I install child seats for a living – these cars make my job easy

Anthony Curran has been professionally installing children’s car seats and capsules since 2012 and he’s seen his fair share of disappointed parents.

“People think just because they have an SUV, three child seats will all automatically fit in the second row, but that’s not the case – a lot of SUVs are just a hatch or sedan with big wheels,” Mr Curran tells Drive. 

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“I had one distraught family with a three-row SUV, two children and grandparents coming to visit at Christmas. They wanted one child seat directly next to another in the second row and that was possible, but then they couldn’t fold down the middle row to get to the third row because the child seat overlapped onto the empty seat. They had to crawl into the third row through the boot.”

Mr Curran, who runs Melbourne's Child Restraint Fitting, says he is asked to fit three child seats across the second row “at least twice a month”.

But while many cars have the appropriate top-tether and ISOFIX points, many are unable to accommodate more than two child seats or capsules at once.

“The idea is you want a flat seat, one without contouring, because that allows you to move the seats out to the edge to fit,” Mr Curran says.

“I tell people look for the width of the middle seat, and if you look for the width and there’s less than a hand span between both child seats, you’ll get an idea of what will and won’t fit.

“You need roughly 42cm of width to fit a car seat, multiply that by three and you get 132cm. If there’s contouring or bolstering on the second row, you need to subtract that from the total space available.”

So which cars make Mr Curran’s job easy?

“I just fit three triplets in rear-facing child seats in a Hyundai Tucson – all using the seatbelt tether method,” he says.

"I’ve done three across in a Holden Cruze, and in early model-year Toyota Camrys, until you get to the hybrid models which are smaller."

 Unsurprisingly, medium SUVs can be a mixed bag.

“The Mazda CX-5 is actually also quite good. I’ve done quite a few of those with three across and it’s a fairly flat seat," he explains.

“The Toyota RAV4 is generally not so good to fit three across – it’s possible but it will come down to the child seats you’re using. The Volkswagen Tiguan can also be tricky – three across can be done, but you need very specific seats to go in there. The Tiguan Allspace is better.”

Of course, larger SUVs with three rows of seating and multiple anchor points are more straightforward. 

“I am a big fan of the Mazda CX-9 because it has anchor points in the third row, which means if grandma and grandpa are coming to visit you can put two seats in the back there – giving you access to that middle seat,” Mr Curran says.

Mr Curran also says his job is a lot easier in cars like the Skoda Kodiaq, Audi Q7, Volvo XC90, Hyundai Palisade, Volkswagen Multivan, Mercedes-Benz V-Class and Kia Sorento.

Even if your car is wide enough to accommodate three child seats, it’s likely you’ll need to use the seatbelt installation method and skip the ISOFIX approach.

Most cars don’t have three ISOFIX-equipped seats in the second row and, even if they do, it’s hard to get the spacing right. 

“It’s extremely hard to use ISOFIX if you want to seat three across,” Mr Curran explains.

“ISOFIX centres the installation, which puts the child seat right in the middle of the seat. When you put three across, you’ve got to move them to the edge of the seat as much as you can.”

And don’t even think about trying to accommodate three capsules in a row – no matter the method you use. “That’s crazy,” Mr Curran laughs. 

Mr Curran also says the idea that ISOFIX is safer than the seatbelt method is a myth, and safety depends more on the age and brand of the child seat being used.

The answer depends on your car, child and particular requirements, but as a general rule, Mr Curran says the Britax brand is popular for a reason. 

“The dominant car seat brand is the Britax brand of seats because they’ve been making them for over 50 years. You talk to any fitter and that’s going to be the most popular brand,” he explains.

“Britax are innovators when it comes to child safety technology – they developed the ISOFIX system with Volkswagen back over 26 years ago – and that makes everything easier when you install them.”

If you need to fit multiple child seats in your car, opt for smaller, slimmer car seats.

“The Britax Graphene and Britax Brava are some of the slimmest ones out there,” Mr Curran says.

“People say the Britax MaxiGuard for older children is also a good fit. Another narrow, small baby car seat is the Infasecure Quattro.”

As for capsules, these tend to take up more room and thus pose a greater challenge when trying to squeeze multiples into a car.

Mr Curran says he likes the popular capsules from MaxiCosi, like the Mica or Mica 6, but they take up a lot of space.

“A capsule that goes up to 12 months is going to be slightly wider again,” he explains.

Ultimately, choosing the right car or child seat for your needs is a bit like a game of Tetris. 

If it’s possible, try before you buy, and don’t assume that just because your vehicle is equipped with the relevant tether points that it will be able to accommodate all of your children.