2012 Honda Odyssey Seating Configurations

rinibean

New member
I currently have a 3.5 y.o. RF and a nearly 2 y.o. RF in the two captain's chairs in a Dodge Grand Caravan. With another baby on the way, we are looking at a new van. Both my kids are in Radians, and the baby will be in a Snugride and eventually a Radian.

I want to move the 3.5 y.o. to FF in the 3rd row, and leave my 2 y.o. RF for at least another year in the 2nd row, plus add the baby to the 2nd row. It is not an option to move the 2 y.o. FF or RF in the 3rd row, I want to leave her in the 2nd row.

The Dodge cannot do this and still give easy access to the 3rd row. My son would have to climb in through the hatch or climb under the RF seats in the second row. Both scenarios make it impossible for us to latch him in properly, or even once he can latch himself, to check the tightness of the straps to ensure he's properly seated.

In looking at vans, it appears the Honda is the only van that will meet my needs (is that right?). I can put the baby in the middle 2nd row seat and my toddler in the side captain's chair. Then, remove the other captain's chair for easy 3rd row access. Is this correct?

For anyone in this situation, would it be better to have the toddler in the middle? I'm concerned about lifting the Snugride from the outside of the van to the middle seat. My DH has back issues and it just seems like an awkward lift to get the carseat to the base. I know it could work just by sitting the seat on the floor of the car, climbing in a bit, and then doing it. But I was just curious if anyone else found it easier to have the toddler in the middle. I do tend to have lightweight children so we will not liking be lifting a heavy kid, but still I can see it as an issue.

I know all this stuff will work itself out once we have it, but I'd just like some BTDT experience to give me a heads up. Thanks for the help!
 
ADS

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
In looking at vans, it appears the Honda is the only van that will meet my needs (is that right?). I can put the baby in the middle 2nd row seat and my toddler in the side captain's chair. Then, remove the other captain's chair for easy 3rd row access. Is this correct?

Yes. In fact, the previous Odyssey (2006-2010) is even easier in this regard. The narrow middle seat stows away and you slide the two captain's chairs together, leaving an aisle on the side.

The nice thing about the 2011-2012 Odyssey is that you could easily put all three kids in the 2nd row in principle.

For anyone in this situation, would it be better to have the toddler in the middle? I'm concerned about lifting the Snugride from the outside of the van to the middle seat. My DH has back issues and it just seems like an awkward lift to get the carseat to the base. I know it could work just by sitting the seat on the floor of the car, climbing in a bit, and then doing it. But I was just curious if anyone else found it easier to have the toddler in the middle. I do tend to have lightweight children so we will not liking be lifting a heavy kid, but still I can see it as an issue.

I know all this stuff will work itself out once we have it, but I'd just like some BTDT experience to give me a heads up. Thanks for the help!

With both kids RF in the middle row, choose whatever is most convenient for you, provided your carseats install correctly, of course!

The biggest issue you will face is making sure the Radians are installed correctly, sometimes a challenge even if you know others have done it in the same car!
 

StillThankful

New member
What a blessing to get an '12 Odyssey! I'm in a 95 Odyssey right and now and LOVE it, but I wish/dream/pray that I can one day afford a minivan with side airbags and other safety features.
 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Because my older kids buckle themselves, we actually have them climb through the centre seat, flipped down. But our other kids are forward-facing, so it's easy to sneak by. If I had two RF and one FF or all three RF, I would either use the three across in the middle row or I would pull out one of the outboard seats and have the RF'ers in the middle row and the oldest FF in the back row. Another alternative would be to keep all three RF, with the oldest in the back row and the other two in the 2nd row. You can get access to the back row either via one of the seats in the 2nd row or through the trunk. We often leave one seat flipped in the back and the kids will go in that way.

You should note that the '11-'12 Odysseys aren't your only option. The previous generation of the Sienna is a great option, as well. I had a 2005 Sienna and absolutely loved it. My only complaint would be that the XLE didn't have an 8 passenger option, whereas the Odyssey Touring (and, now, Touring Elite) eventually did (and, now, does) so I had to get the LE. The new Sienna has the tiny seat like the previous generation Odyssey's PlusOne, though.

-Nicole.
 

juliet108

New member
Your situation is a lot like mine. I have a 4.5 year old, 2.5 year old and a 2 month old. We've had a 2012 Odyssey for about 3 weeks now.
I have the 4 year old in the 3rd row passenger side FF in a Nautilus. The 2 year old is in the middle of the 2nd row, RF in a Radian. The baby is 2nd row behind the driver in a SafeSeat. This leaves the 2nd row passenger seat empty. We didn't remove it or anything. An adult can sit there to buckle in the 2 year old or ride there to give the baby a paci on a fussy ride. My 4 year old can buckle herself, can't unbuckle though. If I slide that open 2nd row seat, I can easily reach her to correct a twisted harness or whatever I need to do - I'm pretty tall though. Also, the 3rd row is a split seat that folds down into the floor. The passenger side is the short side. So we can fold down the other larger half of the seat without disturbing the Nautilus. My 4 year old thinks it's fun to climb in thru the trunk like that if we let her.
I like having the baby outboard - easier to load and unload the carrier. We had her in the middle of DH's truck for a while. It was a pain lifting it up over the other seats to put her in the middle. I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to.
Congrats on your new addition!
 

mcrmama

New member
We have a 2011 Honda Odyssey and have 3 across in the 2nd row. We could have also put 2 in the 2nd row and 1 in the 3rd row. My oldest is in a booster so we can still access the 3rd row without too much fuss when needed. Part of the reason we ended up going with the Odyssey was that my kids like to sit next to each other and we liked the option that even as they get older and perhaps need more space, that we could still put them 3 across when needed and fold down the 3rd row for extra cargo room. We also liked the flexibility with tethers at each position and 5 sets of latch. To give you an idea on the size of seats that will fit 3 across, we have a Sunshine Monterey behind the driver's seat, a Britax Marathon rf in the middle and a Britax Frontier behind the passenger seat. So, these are not small seats but still fit and there is more room between the seats than we have in our cr-v 3 across using 2 radians and a booster. If you check out the odyssey, ask them to put it in wide mode as well as moving the seats forward and back as you also have the option of staggering the seats some. Our salesperson had no clue what I was talking about when I asked but it is good to play with this to see how you like it.

We looked at the 2011 7 seat Sienna as well and were amazed of the walking space between the captains chairs. I could walk through to the 3rd row and I had my dh do it too. We were actually impressed with this and quite tempted when making our decision. It is worth considering for a family of 5 as there are just enough tethers and latch to do this.

Have fun deciding.
 

jourdysmom

CPST Instructor
I currently have a 3.5 y.o. RF and a nearly 2 y.o. RF in the two captain's chairs in a Dodge Grand Caravan. With another baby on the way, we are looking at a new van. Both my kids are in Radians, and the baby will be in a Snugride and eventually a Radian.

I want to move the 3.5 y.o. to FF in the 3rd row, and leave my 2 y.o. RF for at least another year in the 2nd row, plus add the baby to the 2nd row. It is not an option to move the 2 y.o. FF or RF in the 3rd row, I want to leave her in the 2nd row.

The Dodge cannot do this and still give easy access to the 3rd row. My son would have to climb in through the hatch or climb under the RF seats in the second row. Both scenarios make it impossible for us to latch him in properly, or even once he can latch himself, to check the tightness of the straps to ensure he's properly seated.

In looking at vans, it appears the Honda is the only van that will meet my needs (is that right?). I can put the baby in the middle 2nd row seat and my toddler in the side captain's chair. Then, remove the other captain's chair for easy 3rd row access. Is this correct?

For anyone in this situation, would it be better to have the toddler in the middle? I'm concerned about lifting the Snugride from the outside of the van to the middle seat. My DH has back issues and it just seems like an awkward lift to get the carseat to the base. I know it could work just by sitting the seat on the floor of the car, climbing in a bit, and then doing it. But I was just curious if anyone else found it easier to have the toddler in the middle. I do tend to have lightweight children so we will not liking be lifting a heavy kid, but still I can see it as an issue.

I know all this stuff will work itself out once we have it, but I'd just like some BTDT experience to give me a heads up. Thanks for the help!
You can access the 3rd row of a Grand Caravan easily if you need to...

The captain chairs flip forward easily with a base or FF seat installed with LATCH. This is how we load our Town and Country every day! Just throwing that out there in case you can't get a new van as quickly as you would like to..
 

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