Consider me educated

Congratulations!

Congratulations to you both!

I don’t like being a passenger so wasn’t a problem when the kids were small. It’s more of an issue now, with 2 tall boys, my nearly 16 year old is 6’1.

Keep resisting!!

I suspect that car seats are like pushchairs, in that what used to work perfectly has been replaced by something way too chunky but which allows parents a bit of one-upmanship as well as the feeling that junior is being (over)protected.

I hope that you enjoy being a dad - I loved (most of) it! Makes you a better person overall, I think, in learning to put another first with no ifs or buts.

Congratulations!

What you need is a proper estate car, which the 3 Series isn't to be fair. Just get a 5 Series, an XF or a V90 and you're sorted.

My parents took my brother home in a Moses basket in a Spitfire. Sometimes progress is a good thing. I don’t think you need to spend £300 on a car seat but I wouldn’t want mine in a loosely attached plastic bucket.

Congratulations Ed - I am surprised at the lack of space in a 3. We had a Fiesta when ours was a couple of months old and I could sit in the passenger seat. I’d never get one behind the driver’s seat. The stage 0 seats are the biggest you will have, and the first 18 months have the most shit to cart around, so you might be able to get something you want quite soon. I could get a stage 1 in a Mustang and the Phil and Ted’s buggy, so there is hope.

Basically- get an SUV, the bigger the better, or a used S-Max 2.0 240ps auto petrol Titanium Sport with X pack and loads of options.

RS6 Avant is probably the answer.

Congrats, on the car front, no idea having seen friends struggle with a Cavalier years ago.

I bet that was exciting, with the roar of the Merlin engine and everything. 

Ateca Cupra is out in the spring ....

Congratulations Ed. We survived just fine with a mk3 Golf when our first was born and had a Focus estate when second came along. Granted I’m not as tall as you but I’ve always found estate cars to be fine, perhaps the problem is that the 3 is a sports wagon not a proper estate. A loaded Superb L&K does sound a great alternative and I think you’ll be surprised by how well they hold their value.

New parents often fall into the trap of buying more shit than they really need, especially with their first born. We bought a travel system thing when Phoebe was born, but we bought savvy and cheap, making sure it fitted both of our cars (Clio and Vectra hatch) and didn't have any unnecessary tat: Just a stroller/pram thing that the main body popped out of and formed the car seat, with a separate base for each car. (Thanks eBay!).

We managed a week in the Highlands with the travel system, toys and milk accessories, plus clothing in the Vectra.

The only benefit to buying a massive and expensive travel system thing is that you can easily sell it on to another naive new parent when you longer have use for it.

And kids clothes are a bloody gold mine at car boot sales. We've made hundreds over the past few years flogging stuff that no longer fits our kids.

It's not the car: it's the travel system at fault! Try it with three at once....

Beware swapping the car (not a cheap business) because it's all bit busy with the rear facing seat: they're out of that before you know it. Same for the carry-cot / Moses basket: they'll be in the loft before 6 months is out. You'll also find that despite what you've told yourselves you WILL be effectively house-bound for most of that first 6 months: it's just too much fucking about to get ready to leave the house where everything is organised and to hand when baby shits / pukes / sleeps / needs to eat (that is the sum total of their existence: don't waste money on toys unless you like playing with them yourself. Buy a vibrating baby bouncer chair with toys on a bar over their head and watch a lot of TV).

Don't forget (and many do) that the chassis wheels come off if you need to make it more compact for a trip away in the car and leave space for luggage and then figure out if you like your car and driving it can you keep it and put up with the compromise of travelling in a tighter space on the few occasions baby is dragged out. Most family and friends will come to yours to see baby when she/he is young and if they don't they're miserable (unless they're infirm).

Probably not really sold the whole family experience very well there but I'm sure there are some enjoyable parts that don't involve pulling the TV over / being surrounded by toys in every room / the incessant pling-plong of baby music / the nappy disposal system reeking when you unload it / drinking cold tea for a year because baby is more important / not going to sports venues / driving like a granny / coitus interupptus when baby wakes up / not drinking at home so you can tend to baby / coming home from a long day at work and being handed baby and told "it's your turn!" / finally getting a date when you have a babysitter but your wife checking her phone every ten seconds........

Congratulations by the way. Forgot that bit.....

BB summed it up perfectly. I managed to keep my Clio for 2 years after Phoebe was born and only sold it to pay for our wedding.

She did deserve shooting for that remark alone. I am not readily sympathetic to Theresa May, but in an instant she had my very fullest sympathy!