The Five Carseats in One Vehicle Dilemma

I have this little problem. With getting ready to have 5 children 6 and under, all of the kids will need to be in car seats when riding in the car. It seems like a simple thing- a 7 passenger van should fit 5 car seats, right?

Well, it is possible to get them to fit side-by-side in one row.


However, there isn't enough space in-between seats for a child to buckle up with a booster seat.

With the booster seat in (which requires a shoulder strap) , you can hardly reach the seat belt plug in at all. An adult can do it, but it takes A LOT of work. It's doable for a one time outing, but there is no way I could go through the stress of trying to get the seat belt through the tight space between seats every day.

Perhaps you're wondering:

Can't you just rearrange the seats in a different way to get them to fit?
I haven't found any other arrangement of our current car seats to work for fitting 5. The boosters HAVE to go on the sides because they require a shoulder strap. The other convertible seat we use for our 4th. child is even wider than the convertible seat in the photo, so it would not help at all for getting 3 seats in the back.

Why don't you buy a larger van and sell your old one?
That would be a great option, that is if we had enough cash to do it! However, we don't have enough money saved up for a new vehicle right now, nor will we take out a loan (think: Dave Ramsey).


Okay, what about putting the baby and younger two children in the back row using 3 convertible seats?
Do you know how difficult it is to get children buckled up in the backseat, especially when it's below freezing outside? It's enough just buckling up two babies in the middle seats (which is what we usually do). Trying to get all 3 little ones buckled in and out of the back seats, including an infant, while leaning over the boys in their booster seats in the middle does not sound like something I want to do every day.

What about those car seat things that you actually harness to your child and just use a regular seat belt with?
Those may work great, however I don't know enough about them to feel comfortable having my kids use them. I may change my mind, but for the moment I feel like an actual car seat would be an easier and safer option with our kids.

So now what are you going to do?
I'm considering purchasing a Sunshine Kids Radian Car Seat. It's supposed to work with fitting 3 of them in one row. However, I'd like to try just one. The harness fits children up to 80lbs, plus it's supposed to keep children safer than many of the other seats on the market. With the Radian, I could try to get it plus the two boosters to fit in the backseat. If that didn't work, I could then try the two convertible seats on the sides in the back for my girls, plus the Radian in the middle for my 5 year old son. I will also have to purchase a new car seat for the baby as my 2 and 3 year olds are using the only convertible seats that we currently own.

Think it will all work? I'm still not looking forward to shelling out the money the Radian car seat would cost, but it sounds like a better alternative to having to taking a loan out for a new vehicle.

By the way, if you've tried one of those car seat harness things with your kids, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.