Silly question, really, but....

My husband and I, while subscribing to the QF philosophy, also wish to adopt. We have a large house and yard, and lots of love to give, so we've started the adoption process.

We would like to adopt a sibling group, and this may mean that we suddenly have three or more children all needing car seats at once, as the province mandates child seats for children 7 and under, or those under 4'9", or those under 80 pounds.

We've looked at our car vs. our potential need for car seat space, and are now in the process of considering minivans. As we will have no idea of the size and age (except that they will be car-seat age) of the family we are waiting for, and could, at any time, also have our own, we have concluded that an 8 seat minivan is the way to go. (Currently considering a Honda Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna, leaning toward the Honda). I'm trying to imagine as I look at minivans how easy it will be to put four or more little ones into car seats in a minivan while keeping the others waiting to be strapped in in good order, out of bad weather.

So...my silly question: What works best for anyone who has been in our position of multiple car seats needed? On the face of it it should be easy...but you can't recline a seat with a car seat in it, so all three rear seats would need car seats, plus one second row seat, possibly two depending on family size. Anyone put more than four car seats in a van? If so, how? If you've had to take a car seat out, and put it back in each time, what's the best way to handle that?

It's not practical to use two cars, as my husband travels for work two nights a week, so I'd have to do the grocery shopping, or the doctor's appointments mostly on my own, with however many little ones there may be. Also, it's going to be an "all-or-nothing" sort of deal for a while, as until the children are legally adopted (finalization is six months to a year after the children are placed with us), we may not be allowed to leave them with a sitter who is not court-approved, so no leaving napping children with a sitter while I run out to the grocery store).

Any advice on what worked best for you (youngest in the second row of seats, or in the back?) or positive/negative experiences with some minivans you've tried would be most welcome.

Re: the Toyota Sienna...We looked at Consumer Reports and fully expected we'd go for the Sienna, as we're Toyota owners now, but then we saw the Odyssey, and liked it more, AND discovered that to get the Sienna with 8 seats, we'd sacrifice the higher fuel efficiency, so the Honda's actually looking like our favourite for now. We need a trip back to the library to check Consumer Reports again to remind us why the Sienna was rated higher.

Also, we spent the afternoon measuring car seats to see if we can fit three into our Toyota Corolla, just in case we only get three children in the first sibling group we adopt.

Many thanks for all your replies, especially those with seating configurations. It still somewhat complicates matters that our province requires some form of booster seat until 8 years, 80 pounds, or 4'9", so it's great to hear how people work out their seating plans!