SUV or Carseat Ideas

[BigDog]

So need a really good deal.

All of my kids will be in carseats when our new one is born.

To all those thinking we are looking at having our 4th child. We are having our fifth.

5 kids, 5 and under when this one is born.

I tried putting my 2 kids that are in booster seats with the smallest car seat we have in the back of the minivan.

We have problems. We are looking at the smallest (and yet safe) car seat the Sunshine Kids Radian. But, it averages about $200.

1. the smallest car seat we have is for the youngest child we have now. The next youngest can at least get in the seat himself. So I would have to climb up with our littlest one now, and place her in the middle of the 2 booster seats in her car seat. (If you have kids in a middle of a minivan in car seats. You know how hard it is to fit back there when their little legs are hanging out. Or when the infant carrier touches the back of the front seats.

2. it barely, barely, barely fits. It is so squished that my oldest in the non-highbacked booster has to lean over.

3. The one in the highbacked booster can't buckle herself up when the carseat is in between her and her brother. It traps the seat buckle so far down she can't reach it. I can barely reach it.

4. The carseat (our smallest now) has a base width of 17.5 inches (this is about as small as they go). So getting the new one is only going to save us .5 inches. Not much help.

So getting the Sunshine Kids Radian carseat is like playing the lottery to us. It might work and it would save us a ton of money. Yes we refuse to get the carseat vest things out there. Also getting this carseat isn't going to help problem 2.

Here is our thoughts on getting an SUV that is about 4 to 4.5 inches wider in the backseat.

1. The only SUV that we have compromised on, is the Chevy Suburban 2008 or older model (standard rear curtain airbags). It's also the one that gives us a bigger width in the back.

2. The cheapest 2009 Chevy Suburban we can find now is $33,000 (roughly).

That makes us triple our car loan (we owe about what the van is worth). So, I rather buy 5 of the aforementioned carseats and spend $1000. That is a $32,000 savings to me.

Need ideas PLEASE from those who have had this "issue" before. We have already placed musical carseat trying every way to redo the seats to make it work. I don't want to buy another carseat just to find out it doesn't help.

[Saving30+]

So you have a mini-van now with middle seating and a back bench seat? Or is there just one middle seat?

[computerguy923]

Did you say what type of minivan you have ? We have a Honda Odyssey and it will comfortably hold 2 high back card sets or anchored seats as well as two booster seats with room for someone without a seat as well. This is all in the back. I would think with a minivan that you would be able to make it work. I think answering the seat layout might help us better understand.

[BigDog]

It is a 2006 Honda Odyssey also. 7 passanger not the extra seat (meant for a stick figure). I have 2 boosters in the back. I can't fit an extra non-booster toddler carseat between them. I mean it "technically" fits. But, not enough room to buckle.

And I see you say you have a Odyssey also. But, just try and have somebody "fit" back there and see what they say. We have the 40/60 seat. So the middle buckle is closer into the seat then it would be if it was a non 40/60 seat. Completely covered up. So the car seat keep scooching over. We did fit 3 for one trip to town and back. And it isn't going to work long term (1-2 years).

Maybe I'll be able to take pictures and show you guys what I mean tomorrow. Big maybe there.

[Saving30+]

Do you have other people sitting in the other middle seats? I don't understand why you have to put three across the back seat.

[pedspeech]

I'm assuming she has older children as well. I am interested to hear if anyone has a solution for you. I took two other kids to Bible School this summer- added to my three it made for a tough trip. We finally gave up on getting the three seats in the back and the six year old just sat buckled between the two booster seats. I prayed and trusted God not to let me crash in the fifteen minutes to church and back home that afternoon. There is no way that would be a feasible long term solution. I was laughing with the dad when he came to pick them up and we were saying that we didn't know how people did it when they had five smaller children.

[LoveSunshine]

I have three carseats in a 02 Honda CR-V. I totally hear your frustration! We have two Britax Boulevards (MONSTERS of carseats) and one BabyTrend FlexLoc infant carrier. The infant carrier is 17" across and the Boulevards are 19.5" across. It's not comfortable by any means to get the infant carrier in and out, since she's in the middle, but it's safe and the carseats are independent of each other. We are planning on getting three Radian 65s come the time when she has to move into a convertible carseat, probably not until September or October of 09. My car is paid for and will easily last another 5-7 years, so I'm going to use it till it's last breath.

[Dengineer]

I would definitely try the $200 car seat before I spent $33,000 on a NEW vehicle.

What about buying a used vehicle? Until gas prices went down people were practically giving Suburbans away, so you could probably get a good deal on a used one.

[Michar]

I agree car seats are a PITA but much better then not having your child come home with you. I am a huge Britax fan we bought 3 of them this year for dd ( talk about expensive.. hello mac and cheese each week :) ...

Buy the carseat and test it out in the parking lot to make sure it does actually fit and then every single day that you get super frustrated with buckling them in the car because of such little space... take a deep breath and think this is so much better then not having these gifts in my life ( and some days that may be hard ... :) ... when they are all in their 30's and above and you have a super quite house and feel alone you will miss these ages even if right now they come with drawbacks.

I say no way would I buy a SUV. Given the facts that you gave it does not seem like a good choice. First the gas prices are expected to go back up.... possibly up to $7 a gallon in the next 3-5 years do you really want to be paying that with a current SUV that does not have very good/green technology.
Second if you have to take a car loan then don't buy a car esp. if you still owe money on another car. I am a HUGE HUGE anti-car loan person. I refuse to have a car loan. I buy all my cars with cash. Also buying new cars is money suicide.. any reputable money book you read ( Dave Ramsey is a fave of mine he's a big big money guru I love his talk radio show) will tell you that if you buy a new car you are just throwing your money away on the first two years of deprication.
I buy all my cars used and only a few years old shopping by safety rating and consumer reports. The last car we bought was few months ago.. the car I was driving was hit by a deer and totally banged up really bad but still drivable.. it looked horrid..and yes people laughed at my car... but we got in the accident 2 years before the planned replacement time of that car. So I just drove it that way for 14 months and worked some extra OT to add to the planned replacement money. We were then able to walk onto a lot after researching online for several weeks and find a good deal and pay cash for a 2 year old very nicely rated family sedan. Boy did it feel nice to drive off the lot and not owe anyone money.
Save your money instead of letting someone else make money using your money and burning it up in intrest payments on a car. If you save religiously every week for 3 years and deal with the daily inconvience you will have much older kids and prob. fewer carseat issues to deal with and you can most likely buy pretty much any "everyday" car with cash. Plus you will be much much better off in your future because you will be saving gobs and gobs and gobs of money long term by not having to pay interst on a car loan and having your money tied up when it could be used for something else. It would take long term commitment to saving and budgeting and not spending a lot of extra money ( like eating out etc.) which a lot of Americans REALLY struggle with. Good luck with your choices.

[kmcody0522]

You stated that
3. The one in the highbacked booster can't buckle herself up when the carseat is in between her and her brother. It traps the seat buckle so far down she can't reach it. I can barely reach it.
Have you thought of getting one of those clear zip ties and fastening the seat belt buckle to the side of the booster. My 4 year old is in a high-back booster and although right now there are only 2 kids in the back seat I opted for the zip tie so she can be independent and buckle herself in.
Just a thought -- Good Luck