How big a car do we need...?

I can tell you now a Leon will be more than big enough for a family of three and also a family of four! The boots are spacious enough for all of the baby equipment. I had a small corsa with my two kids at one point as the run around car and i fit everything in absolutely fine. I’ve also had a golf for my own car and that was pretty spacious. I think a small hatchback will be fine for you and the baby. We have an Audi Q3 (compact SUV) now for us four which is just enough x

We have a quite small car. Toyota Yaris and was completely fine with one child. Now we have 2 children and the same car aha now we realise it is quite small especially if we want to travel and put a suitcase there. But for the day to day it still works for us.
Even bulky prams can be dismantled to fit the boot

I’ve got a Ford fiesta and fit the car seat in no problem and when my boy was a baby we fit the pram into the boot with a little bit of space and all the baby stuff fit in the rucksack and that either squished in the boot or on the back seat! I’ve had no problems!

We have a Golf and got everything for baby last weekend and it all fits easily. My sister also managed with a three door Clio. I don’t think an SUV is necessary for one baby.

I have a horse and 2 dogs as well as a 3 yr old and one on the way. I’ve always needed a bigger car to be able to hold all the horse stuff and I literally couldn’t cope with anything smaller than my Dacia Duster with my first. I changed it for a Suzuki Vitara but found it too small 🙈. Now got a Kia Ceed estate ready for no.2 arriving.

But I know plenty that cope with smaller- one of our friends has a Renault Zoe and manages. X

I have 3 kids and a smart forfour. It’s a squeeze but we all fit with pushchair and bag for a day out!

Thank you so much ladies! I'm sure an SUV would be more convenient, but we definitely did not budget an extra 20-30k for new cars so this is really reassuring 🙏

I had an 05 ford focus which didnt have isofix. I managed with it till baby was 9 months and finally upgraded to a Volvo xc60 (2018 plate). My upgrade is a big jump in comparison to the majority but WOW what a difference it makes! No more bending down struggling with the seatbelt, the safety aspects of the car make me feel more at ease when baby is in the car. Getting the pram in and out of the boot and being able to have shopping bags, her bags, my bags plus the pram in the boot make life easy. I have used the boot for changing her once too which was very convenient. You dont have to fork out thousands for a new car but I will say an SUV makes life a little easier. I also wanted a sunroof and my daughter absolutely loves watching the trees above whilst we’re driving. It makes me happier that she is safer and more comfortable

We have kept our hatchback with our baby. For the most part, it’s fine. You’ll prob end up getting a travel pram anyway for holidays/short breaks away and we now use that on days out as it’s much less bulky than our day to day pram so gives us more boot room for other baby things. Once the car seat is in the back though, there’s little room for movement in the passenger seat in front so can feel a little cramped. We also have a dog and she fits in when needed! Overall I’d say don’t rush out and buy a new car as most hatchbacks will be sufficient.

I have an old (15 plate) Vauxhall Astra and it's plenty big enough for the car seat, pushchair, baby bags and shopping. I originally bought it years ago as wanted a smaller car that still had lots of boot space for my dogs. My partner has a new model Ford Fiesta and although we do manage to fit everything in, it's a very tight squeeze and is a little more fiddly to get him in and out of his car seat as the doors are really small. He's looking to swap it for an estate car eventually as it is a bit too small really.

More than big enough! I had a VW golf when I had my second, would fit 2 car seats, double pram, 2 dogs and me and my husband! Only upgraded due to finance and bought a VW Tiguan which I absolutely love now.

I have a seat Leon and there's enough space, my husband used it when our daughter was a newborn and never had any issues. We always kept the change bag in the car not the boot for easy access.

I have a saloon shaped car and it's plenty big enough. The only time we struggled is going on holiday because we have a big pram.

I’d imagine any car seat would be fine as long as it’s compatible with the car. Regarding boot space it would probably depend on what pram you have as some are bulkier than others and some collapse smaller than others.

We had an Audi Q2 if we didn’t find it big enough , it’s the boot space that is most important and we could only fit our pram in there nothing else , no space for shopping or anything .