three small children and a Model S

[bjornsimm]

hi,
I'm strongly considering buying a Model S. Except; I already have a little girl of around 2 and we expect a twin this summer; so a real family man as from this summer . But a family man with the need to have a decent car!
So for a period of time I think we have to be able to have 3 child-seats on the rear-seat or in the back. I've seen the pictures on this forum with the 3 child seats on the rear seat, but would really like to hear the experiences from someone that uses a Model S with 3 small children... anybody here that would like to share his / her experiences?

Any other advice on how to use a Model S with two baby's and a 2 year old are also welcome.. Is there a possibility to install a child seat in the back (on top of the rear facing seats), does anybody know?
thx for all reply's in advance
Björn

 

[jomo25]

No experience yet, but will be adding a second child soon. The issue you would have is the 2yo is likely still too small to use the rear seat in any config. I don't believe a booster or child seat can be placed on those. So you're needing to use the normal rear passenger seats.

I've seen the pics also of 3 rear facing seats there. I think it can only work with certain brand/models if you want 3 all side by side. So, you'd have to find ones that work. I think they may have been maxi cosi ones. MW if you have 2 of those, can you still squeeze in a normal forward facing child seat? Again, maybe some brand's, but I don't know of any there.

If you don't take delivery til your first child is 3 then its much simpler. Or if she is taller/bigger for her age maybe earlier. Cuz you can have her sit in the jump seats. I've seen someone recently post that they can put there child who was smaller than the min back there. I'm sure it can be done. It's up to you if you would be willing to do so.

 

[ElSupreme]

Also note that you can only use one set of LATCH points on each side of the split seats. So your third seat would have to utilize the seatbelt to be latched in.

I would think you could fit 3 small kids back there. Just a matter of finding booster seats, child seats, that work with one another.

 

[Ardie]

I think that Combi may make a kiddie seat that you can squeeze three across, depending on the vehicle. Don't know if the Model S can handle it, though.

But putting three children in such close proximity of each other is just *begging* for trouble


-- Ardie
"She started it!"

 

[jomo25]

The Combi's I was referring to we're infant seats, not toddler. Infants less prone to play the she started it game yet

I don't have a MS yet so I can't check, but I thought the MS had 3 proper sets of LATCHes, so it wasn't just they could fit width wise, but that they could actually all be latched in. I could be wrong, but that is what I recall. Actually, I remember it also being pointed because you could set them up in such a way that you use the side and a middle for 2 seats, again sing LATCHes for the 2, implying the middle has its own set of LATCHes. Is the MS rear bench not a 60/40 split?

 

[rolosrevenge]

Just get the jump seats and put the two year old in there with the twins in car seats in the second row.

 

[orlando]

One problem you may run into is that the seat belt buckles are placed close to each other and very hard to use with child seats as they are in the crack of the seat. You cant use latch anchors for all 3 positions simultaneously - I think you could do latch for the two outboard locations and belt for the center.

 

[FlasherZ]

I have 4 boys -- ages 12, 6, 4, and 4 months -- and my wife and I regularly use the Model S for any day trips with all the kids. The 4- and 6- year olds ride in the back, and the other two ride in the "middle" seats.

There have been times where the 6- and 4-year-olds have ridden on booster seats in the middle seats, with the baby between them. We use the rigid seat belt extenders noted in another thread to make it easier for them to buckle.

As mentioned, the car's manual states that only two seats may be attached using LATCH points, so pay attention to that.

 

[dbfish]

From the Beta reveal:

And an exhaustive review of child seating options from this review:

Tesla Model S Review: The Only Emissions Come from the Kids

 

[jomo25]

Awesome. thanks for finding the pic and adding the link to the review. How relevant, esp for me with a 2.5 YO and another due any day now!

 

[ddenboer]

We have 5 kids in the S, and the best seats I could find were from Diono (Amazon.com: Diono Radian RXT Convertible Car Seat, Shadow: Baby). They will fit 3 wide, and support latch or seatbelt restraint.

 

[mnx]

Yup, I've got a pair of Diono's (with a backless booster in the middle for our 5 year old). It's tight, and I needed a seat belt extender for the booster. But our minivan is now collecting dust.

We have 5 kids in the S, and the best seats I could find were from Diono (Amazon.com: Diono Radian RXT Convertible Car Seat, Shadow: Baby). They will fit 3 wide, and support latch or seatbelt restraint.

 

[bjornsimm]

thanks for all your info / advice! Here in The Netherlands / Europe we have Isofix, a very convenient system that makes it possible and very easy to get your child seat in and out of the car (see for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbK6HmvATMo ), especially with a twin you need to make sure packing in and out is as easy as possible . In Europe the Model S will be delivered with Isofix and according to the tesla website three child seats will fit (2 times Isofix, 1 times with seatbelts).

Next Saturday we will visit Tesla and bring all our gear to test if 3 child-seats (with Isofox) will really fit, I'll let you know the results!

 

[Paulmaz]

thanks for all your info / advice! Here in The Netherlands / Europe we have Isofix, a very convenient system that makes it possible and very easy to get your child seat in and out of the car (see for example:

), especially with a twin you need to make sure packing in and out is as easy as possible . In Europe the Model S will be delivered with Isofix and according to the tesla website three child seats will fit (2 times Isofix, 1 times with seatbelts).

Next Saturday we will visit Tesla and bring all our gear to test if 3 child-seats (with Isofox) will really fit, I'll let you know the results!

thanks for all your info / advice! Here in The Netherlands / Europe we have Isofix, a very convenient system that makes it possible and very easy to get your child seat in and out of the car (see for example:

), especially with a twin you need to make sure packing in and out is as easy as possible . In Europe the Model S will be delivered with Isofix and according to the tesla website three child seats will fit (2 times Isofix, 1 times with seatbelts).

Next Saturday we will visit Tesla and bring all our gear to test if 3 child-seats (with Isofox) will really fit, I'll let you know the results!

thanks for all your info / advice! Here in The Netherlands / Europe we have Isofix, a very convenient system that makes it possible and very easy to get your child seat in and out of the car (see for example:

), especially with a twin you need to make sure packing in and out is as easy as possible . In Europe the Model S will be delivered with Isofix and according to the tesla website three child seats will fit (2 times Isofix, 1 times with seatbelts).

Next Saturday we will visit Tesla and bring all our gear to test if 3 child-seats (with Isofox) will really fit, I'll let you know the results!

thanks for all your info / advice! Here in The Netherlands / Europe we have Isofix, a very convenient system that makes it possible and very easy to get your child seat in and out of the car (see for example:

), especially with a twin you need to make sure packing in and out is as easy as possible . In Europe the Model S will be delivered with Isofix and according to the tesla website three child seats will fit (2 times Isofix, 1 times with seatbelts).

Next Saturday we will visit Tesla and bring all our gear to test if 3 child-seats (with Isofox) will really fit, I'll let you know the results!

Hi, could you please tell me which kidsseats you used for your MS. I have 3 kids myself (0, 2 and 4). I believe that two seats with isofix and and a booster (a safer one with back and sides) fit.