New Vehicle & New Car Seats.

Hello. I have a really interesting question and wanted to hear from those that have experience.

I am looking at purchasing a new vehicle which will either be a new Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. I have twin girls that are 11 months old and they will be going into a rear facing convertible seat soon as they are out growing their infant carriers (Peg Perego SIP 30/30). Between my wife and myself, we regularly have a need to carry another adult or two.

So my question is two fold - what car seat and what vehicle combination would you recommend? As well, how would you install the seats so as to maximize access to the other seats?

I've looked at both vans and in the rear facing seat configuration installed in the middle row, it appears the Sienna's middle row captains chairs can slide back further to give more room for a person to enter. However, I am thinking (and please let me know if I am not thinking correctly) that in the Odyssey, I could setup the middle row in the wide seating mode, install the car seats side by side (i.e. one in a captains chair, the other in the middle seat) and still have one captains chair that could flip forward to allow entrance to the rear seat? Worst case, this won't happen and I could remove the captains chair that is not used with the car seat to allow entrance to the third row. Is my thinking correct or out to lunch?

As well, the car seat I have been recommended is the Clek Foonf. It looks like a great car seat, but I am curious as to the comfort level as well. It appears there isn't much padding and I noticed a few threads on this forum spoke of children complaining about the comfort. The Britax looks like a nice seat, but I believe the top tether use is required even in rear facing which is a no-go as it would block access to enter the van.

I really hope you can offer some advice. Many thanks!

Welcome to the forum! I can try to help you a little bit and hopefully more will chime in...

Before buying our Nissan NV we looked at the Honda Odyssey and really liked it!! Great van, easy to maneuver I would put the twin's infant carriers in the middle row on the captain chairs and, if you have the 8 seater, remove the middle seat, that would allow easy access to the 3rd row for the adults. Or you could try "wide mode" and put the infants seats next to each other which will leave one seat to fold and move forward for easy access. I'm not sure if the Peg Perego you mentioned would allow this, but I know 2 foonfs will. The foonf is actually one of the few seats that installs very well on that middle seat of the middle row. From what I understand, the new Sienna is not really made to have a car seat on that middle seat of the second row... Something to keep in mind when you compare both.

Now, about the foonf, we really like ours!!! We also have twin daughters and both ask to go on a car ride everyday!! They sit up high and can see through the windows. My 5.5 yo DD really like hers too, she told me it's the most comfortable she's had so far and she's had quite a few... We have the 2014 models and while there's not a ton of padding it seems enough and my girls look comfortable in them! It is a very well built car seat, very sturdy and very easy to install (look at their mobile video online to help you with the installation). Clek has great customer service!! They are my favorite seats so far!!

I hope this helps a little bit! Don't hesitate to ask questions, I'll be happy to answer them!!

Mag

The Sienna has a small, lightweight 2nd row middle seat that stows in back, leaving you an aisle in the middle for access to the third row. This is much like the previous generation Odyssey. Very convenient if you only need 2 carseats/passengers in the second row.

The Britax rear-facing tether is optional in the USA, but it is a great feature. It is only required on the new "G4" convertibles in Canada. In the Odyssey, you could remove and store one of the large captain's chairs and leave the other two side-by-side. That would leave a huge access to the third row on one side and allow you to use the rear-facing tethers without blocking it.

The '14 Odyssey received structural upgrades to pass the IIHS small overlap test. This sealed the deal for us. We went from a Sienna to and Odyssey and are very happy with the Ody.

We use the second row in wide mode and have three across with no problems folding/tumbling the captains chairs to access the 3rd row.

http://www.autotrader.com/research/...sey-vs-2014-toyota-sienna-which-is-better.jsp

Thank you all for your responses. I have been leaning towards the Odyssey.

I guess my concern mostly is with how one would access the third row with rear facing convertible seats such as the Foonf. On this past weekend, I had a Kia Sedona as a rental and after installing my current infant carriers, I discovered that third row access would be difficult with the carriers installed. Thankfully one could easily unclip the seat from the base to obtain access. The problem is when I go to the convertible seats in rear facing configuration, if they are installed in the captains chairs, there would be difficulty in accessing the third row through the middle as the seats would impede entrance into the van. However, I suppose that in the Odyssey, I should be able to install the seats side by side and hopefully be able to flip the one captains chair to gain access. Failing that, I could remove that chair until the girls are ready to go forward facing.

mixmanmash said:

However, I suppose that in the Odyssey, I should be able to install the seats side by side and hopefully be able to flip the one captains chair to gain access. Failing that, I could remove that chair until the girls are ready to go forward facing.

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You should be able to place 2 foonfs next to each other without any problem in the Odyssey which will leave you the option to either fold or even remove the remaining captain chair (great suggestion by Darren!) And if you remove that chair you would have easy access to buckle both babies in their rear facing seats .

You can also access the third row from the rear hatch. Not ideal if your loading the grandparents, but my older kids think it's a fantastic route. The third row folds flat in a 60/40 configuration so you can fold one part flat leaving an access route.

Or go the easy route and put the second row Ody in wide mode. Two convertibles side by side and one captains chair open.

Once the car seats are forward facing, the Ody captains chairs can be slid forward and tumbled to allow 3rd row access even with the forward facing car seat installed.

How long will you keep the van? The Sienna only has to 1 top tether in the 3rd row. So in 3 years when the twins are forward facing, you could only put one back there to free up captain's seats for adults. Does the new Sienna let you slide a seat over to create a side aisle? I do like that if it does, but I think the Ody would work better overall. There are also plenty of seats besides the Foonf and Britax ones that can be recommended.

sunnydayz said:

You can also access the third row from the rear hatch. Not ideal if your loading the grandparents, but my older kids think it's a fantastic route. The third row folds flat in a 60/40 configuration so you can fold one part flat leaving an access route.

Or go the easy route and put the second row Ody in wide mode. Two convertibles side by side and one captains chair open.

Once the car seats are forward facing, the Ody captains chairs can be slid forward and tumbled to allow 3rd row access even with the forward facing car seat installed.

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Awesome! Many thanks. LOL @ the accessing from hatch. That's not a terrible idea either.

MommyShannon said:

How long will you keep the van? The Sienna only has to 1 top tether in the 3rd row. So in 3 years when the twins are forward facing, you could only put one back there to free up captain's seats for adults. Does the new Sienna let you slide a seat over to create a side aisle? I do like that if it does, but I think the Ody would work better overall. There are also plenty of seats besides the Foonf and Britax ones that can be recommended.

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I plan to keep the van for at least the next 10 years. I typically keep my vehicles until they are dead or not worth putting any major repairs into. Case & point is my current car is a 2002 Mazda Protege that I bought new. 335000kms / 208000 miles now, mechanically sound, but the body is rusting out badly now. As well, the Mazda isn't cutting it space wise for our family. My wife has a 2009 Nissan Rogue, but since I am the one who works closest to home and flexible (i.e. I could run home in an emergency as I work for myself) it makes sense for me to have the van.

The new Sienna does not allow you to slide a seat over, but it's fore/aft travel is a fair bit more than the competition. I also agree that the Ody looks like it is going to be the better fit. Which is great because I was leaning that way for how it drives / handles, etc.

Regarding the seats, what other seats would you recommend and why? Recaro isn't certified for use in Canada. The Diono Radians are also available here and are certified.