Triplets!?!?

Really appreciate all the replies everyone. I've been busy putting the house on the market and looking for a bigger one, so my wife has been trying to find a solution for the car. Her research suggests that the 2016 Prius is more than capable of hauling three baby/child seats, the trick will be trying to find a stockist of the chairs/pram/stroller combination that will let us try for size before we buy. The only unknown at this point is whether the model we're considering will fold into the boot - we have dimensions of both the pram and the boot, but it's tight and only if we can get our hands on one will we know for sure. Hopefully someone will take pity on us

It's a good point about all the baby-related stuff we'll need to cart around, but if the pram does fit into the boot - diagonally - there should be plenty (some?) room for supplies. We have the lower boot due to not having a spare tyre so fingers crossed we'll be okay.

We considered a minivan but we're trying to avoid having to make another large purchase just now. We've also had experience of one in the past and there wasn't much room in the back, but I suppose that depends on the make/model.

Regards the crash, the pre-crash system didn't activate because it was a truck/lorry that crashed into us from the rear. The proximity alarm went off at the same time as I saw the truck in my right-hand mirror, but it was a split second before the actual impact so no time to try and get out of the way. There was nowhere to go in any case except forward, but flooring the accelerator for 3-4 seconds might have made all the difference. Our insurer says we were 1 point away from being a write-off meaning a full refund of the purchase price, but it was repairable and so we've had to wait. We've been driving an Auris Hybrid in the mean time and it's a nice car, though very few comforts in comparison to the Prius. We've had to do two long trips abroad using the Auris and I cannot wait to get my Prius back for the next one.

 

The Toyota Highlander is available in Europe but not in Belgium. I had a good look at the Proace Verso because it can be internally configured in a number of ways, which would likely allow us to be able to fit 3 child seats, have a couple of seats to spare and leave plenty of room for a 3-seater pram/stroller without having to fold it flat. It's just the cost of switching from one to the other atm that means it's unlikely. If - and it's a big IF - our insurer agrees to pay out in full for the Prius due to the delays in having it repaired, we might re-consider another vehicle.

Toyota PROACE VERSO Overview | The versatile people carrier. (jic it's not known in North America).

 

Re-visiting this thread for the benefit of anyone who might search in the future.

After an exchange of email with Toyota, it's been confirmed that the European version of the current Prius cannot fit three child seats in the rear of the vehicle. The Toyota Europe customer service rep initially told me it could:

...but I asked her to check as there didn't seem room to fit a belt-fastened seat if two Isofix seats were fitted. She checked with the 'product department' who said you could fit three, and later the technical department who confirmed it wasn't possible in the European model.

This left me with two options:

(1) Replace the car for something more suitable.
(2) Fit two seats in the rear and one in the front.

Neither sounded a good option, (1) due to cost, and (2) because that would mean having to leave the wife behind every time! Just when I was about to bite the bullet and look for a new car, I decided to do one last Google search for a solution.

And I found, via an image search of all things:

Child Car Seats - 4 Child Car Seat, 3 Child Car Seat & Accessories

This is a system that sits atop the rear seats of the car and allows you to fit three bespoke baby or booster seats. It exceeds all current EU legislation so is legal, and more importantly, safe, and although it costs upwards of a couple of grand, it's ultimately a lot cheaper than having to replace my new(ish) Prius.

At this stage I'm not in a position to recommend the system as I haven't yet had use of it - I will report back in due course - but thought I'd add my find for the benefit of anyone else who finds themselves in the same position.

Incidentally, we decided to go with a double and a single pram/stroller, and both comfortably fit in the boot with loads of room to spare. We'll look again at a triple pram in 12-months or so, and the one we have our eye on can be attached to a standard rear bicycle rack so that should be possible if we go that route.

 

Yeah, it would only be for our convenience if at all. At some point we'll need a solution for one of us to be able to manage all three kids by ourselves, but as you say maybe they'll be walking by the time we reach that point.

 

There's a similar law here but by weight I think. Without checking I think the child must be rear-facing until 8kg but many seat manufacturers recommend the same until 15kg. I have no idea how that corresponds to age

 

Okay, one last thread necro! We finally brought the triplets home from hospital a couple of weeks ago and we've now had a couple of journeys in the Multimac. It turns out to be a great system, easily installed, solidly attached to the rear seatbelt bolts on the chassis, and with the additional 'minimacs' is safe for children from birth.

Overall I'm happy to recommend the Multimac for any parents in our position. It comes at a hefty cost (from £1,499) but - as in my case - might be the only solution you have short of purchasing a new vehicle. There are a couple of niggles which I won't go into here, but I'm sure that's also true of the mass-market seats.

The Prius is surprisingly roomy. The boot/trunk fits two prams (one normal, one double), two 'nappy bags' (those bags that parents use which have a few dozen pockets inside) and plenty of other supplies. So happy we didn't have to trade down to a minivan!