if you are good at car seat config. come in

[soexcited317]

Hi Ladies, so I have seen many of you give good advice in the past and I have a couple questions about our car seats.  We just purchased a used 2010 honda odessy with two rows (8 passneger).  We are trading in our small Mazda 3 hatchback as even after buying car seats to fit three kids its just not comfortable.  So here are the stats:

5 year old- 41 pounds 42.5 inches tall
3.5 year old- 33 pounds 37.5 inches tall

3 month old rear-facing infant seat

here are the seats we have: 

two of these us.diono.com/convertible-to-booster/radianrxt

and this for the baby www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0107CZ5U0?keywords=britax%20b%20safe&qid=1456934079&ref_=sr_1_1_s_it&s=baby-products&sr=1-1

How would you recommend I arrange these? I would love to have the 5yo in the third row, and would really love to not use the 5pt. harness so that he is able to buckle himself for the most part.  would you put the baby in the middle of the the middle row? and the three yo in the back with his brother? Obviously he needs to keep the 5 pt harness. what about having both the baby and the 3yo in the middle with just 5yo in the back?  if it matters the latch is only on the top of the seats in the third row, the middle row just has the latch in the seats.  Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks!

[nicolewi]

We have a 2014 Odyssey. When we had three kids, we put our kids ALL in the middle row. It worked out great to still have the back open for cargo, and it was easy to get everyone in and out. Now that we have four, I have one kid in back and three in the middle. We intended to do two and two, but it just really works for us to have that back space open for gear for longer trips. Also, I don't often have all four at once. So, it's nice not buckling anyone in back when we just run around for preschool and activities without all four kids.

I put the baby on the driver's side. My kids are now just turned 7, 5, 3 and 1.

[soexcited317]

Mar 2, 2016 11:53:01 GMT -5 nicolewi said:

We have a 2014 Odyssey. When we had three kids, we put our kids ALL in the middle row. It worked out great to still have the back open for cargo, and it was easy to get everyone in and out. Now that we have four, I have one kid in back and three in the middle. We intended to do two and two, but it just really works for us to have that back space open for gear for longer trips. Also, I don't often have all four at once. So, it's nice not buckling anyone in back when we just run around for preschool and activities without all four kids.

I put the baby on the driver's side. My kids are now just turned 7, 5, 3 and 1.

Thanks! Unfortunately my older two bicker when the three are all in the same row. So I definitely want them separated by at least an empty seat so that the baby isn't in the middle of their bickering;)

[lala]

We have a 2011 Odyssey & 3 kids. We only put them all in the middle for road trips when we need more cargo room.

We've played around w/ various combinations but my favorite & what we use now is this:

Baby (he's now almost 2) rear facing behind the driver. Jumpseat (middle of the middle row) left next to him flipped down to use the cupholders. The captains chair behind the passenger is left in the garage. Then the 2 big girls are in the third row. The oldest is in a HBB and is furthest from the passenger side door; behind the baby. Then the 4 year old who is still in a 5pt harness is right there on the passenger side. Since the captains chair isn't there, I can easily buckle & unbuckle her and if needed I could easily do the same for another child in the third row. There is plenty of room in the empty area for changing diapers, our bags/coats, etc. The trunk is still plenty big for my double stroller and any groceries I have.

[soexcited317]

Mar 2, 2016 12:52:41 GMT -5 lala said:

We have a 2011 Odyssey & 3 kids. We only put them all in the middle for road trips when we need more cargo room.

We've played around w/ various combinations but my favorite & what we use now is this:

Baby (he's now almost 2) rear facing behind the driver. Jumpseat (middle of the middle row) left next to him flipped down to use the cupholders. The captains chair behind the passenger is left in the garage. Then the 2 big girls are in the third row. The oldest is in a HBB and is furthest from the passenger side door; behind the baby. Then the 4 year old who is still in a 5pt harness is right there on the passenger side. Since the captains chair isn't there, I can easily buckle & unbuckle her and if needed I could easily do the same for another child in the third row. There is plenty of room in the empty area for changing diapers, our bags/coats, etc. The trunk is still plenty big for my double stroller and any groceries I have.

Great points! So that gives me a few more questions... Is the baby any safer in the middle of the middle row? And how easy is it to take that seat in and out? I think the set up you described would be ideal almost all of the time, but I feel like there are occasions it would be nice to have the extra seat in. But I know I'd be less likely to do it if it felt super cumbersome or complicated.

[dizzycooks]

lala Ttma your double stroller and trunk space. Right now mine fits easily in my truck of my rogue, but we are having trouble envisioning it in the back of a minivan or pathfinder. I have a britax side by side fwiw.

[soexcited317]

Mar 2, 2016 14:20:04 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

lala Ttma your double stroller and trunk space. Right now mine fits easily in my truck of my rogue, but we are having trouble envisioning it in the back of a minivan or pathfinder. I have a britax side by side fwiw.

I also have a Britax side by side and it fits nicely in the back of my moms minivan as well as her Equinox. Actually because I'm a dork I like to have bot my double and single Britax with me and they fit in the back of a van with out a lot of space for anything else.

[dizzycooks]

Mar 2, 2016 14:34:01 GMT -5 soexcited317 said:

Mar 2, 2016 14:20:04 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

lala Ttma your double stroller and trunk space. Right now mine fits easily in my truck of my rogue, but we are having trouble envisioning it in the back of a minivan or pathfinder. I have a britax side by side fwiw.

I also have a Britax side by side and it fits nicely in the back of my moms minivan as well as her Equinox. Actually because I'm a dork I like to have bot my double and single Britax with me and they fit in the back of a van with out a lot of space for anything else.

Is that with the third row up?

[lala]

I could easily fit my double city mini (side by side) and my single maclaren in my odyssey trunk and still be able to pile more stuff in - w/ the third row up & used.

Minivan trunks are deeper.

Soexcited - the seat is easy to get in & out, IMO, it is heavy and I wouldn't want to do it every day or anything but we pop it in & out as needed.

RE: baby in the middle being safer - I guess technically it is safer but I was so used to never having a baby in the middle seat (couldn't do it in my old car) that I never really tried. I guess you could just keep them in the middle seat, though, and still have one of the other seats out. It wouldn't really change your access.

[soexcited317]

dizzycooks - nope just the trunk space:)

[vettymama]

Mar 2, 2016 14:20:04 GMT -5 dizzycooks said:

lala Ttma your double stroller and trunk space. Right now mine fits easily in my truck of my rogue, but we are having trouble envisioning it in the back of a minivan or pathfinder. I have a britax side by side fwiw.

My britax side by side lives in the back of my minivan too. Along with a Victoria's Secret tote with winter gear. And I still have room for groceries.

[lattelady5]

A lot of 5 year olds still need help buckling in a booster. If he can sit properly (even when sleeping) he's fine to use a booster but dionos often make poor boosters and there is a 50lbs minimum to use the seat in booster mode, so he can't use that. I'd personally keep him harnessed and just work on teaching him to buckle. My kids (4 and 2) can do their chest clips depending on the seat they're in.

I'll check my LATCH manual tomorrow for specifics on tether locations, if you'd like, as FF seats will need to be tethered.

As far as baby in the middle is the safest question: the official recommendations is the "least protected" child should go on the middle if possible. Your rf is most protected so either your ffer or booster rider. But realistically, I suggest finding an arrangement that works for you and not necessarily worrying too much about who is in the middle

[soexcited317]

fwiw, we decided to put the older two in the back and had to secure the car seats with the seat belts because apparently the latch is only in the middle of the back row. Right now I have the baby on the drivers side in the middle row. Thanks for all the input:) I don't think it would matter how we arranged the seats though, because the Odyssey is so much bigger than the Mazda. I am really happy with it.