What kind of car seats more than five? The obvious answer (in my price range, anyway) is a minivan, which we have. It is simultaneously the most emasculating and the most convenient vehicle I have ever owned. There is nothing cool about driving a minivan, no matter how pimped out, no matter what John Travolta’s character said in “Get Shorty” (saying “it’s the Cadillac of minivans” is like saying “it’s the Mercedes of Gremlins” – not an apples to apples comparison). Our minivan can, however, comfortably seat 7, and its seats can be folded into the floor to make it a cargo van. Or you can leave the seats up and use the under-seat storage as a smuggler’s hold, a la the Millennium Falcon.
Which brings me to the geometry problem. As you can see in the photo above, we have gone ahead with my ingenious plan to place the three older kids in the back seat. By so doing, we could keep one seat folded into the floor, providing ample space to crawl in and strap the nippers down as well as much needed cargo room for the weekly “half my paycheck” trips to Costco for pallets of milk, cereal, waffles, and diapers.
Today we tried it out on our first car ride as a family of six. It worked out splendiferously – the two boosters and Maya’s car seat can be crammed into that tiny bench – no room to spare, but it works. One caveat – the receiver end of the seat belts are now 4 inches into the tiny crevasse between car seats. Technically possible to reach, but you can get only one hand in there, and clicking in a seat belt is, oddly enough, difficult with one hand.
Not one to be foiled by something as simple as vehicle design, I have scoured the series of tubes we call the Internets for a solution (thank you, Mr. Gore, for your wonderful invention). I have found one, but I have mixed feelings about the depths to which I have sunk…
I now have a charge on my credit card from an online store called “More of Me To Love.”
Apparently these sorts of devices are not generally aimed at the car seat crowd. But I found exactly what I needed – an 8″ rigid seat belt extender that should put the receiver at exactly the right level – maybe high enough for the girls to buckle themselves. THAT would be a massive step forward!
thank you so much for posting this. i have been on the look for an extension and could never find one that fits on this end of the seat belt. this is so perfect!!! I have two carseats and a booster in my truck. my son has to sit on the right side to go through the carpool line at school and he has such a hard time buckling his seatbelt and with the carseat in the middle i cannot reach over to buckle it myself. this will make my life just a little less stressful!!!!