Question 2 car seat configuration in Honda Odyssey - please help!

Greetings! We have an almost 2 year old and a new baby due in May. I'm so confused on what to do about our car seat configuration when the new one comes. My 2 year old is still rear facing in the middle position of our 2014 Honda Accord in a Graco Headwise 70. We got the Honda because it's relatively spacious in the back and we were planning on 2 rear facing car seats. When new baby comes I'm thinking I would still like to keep one baby in the middle, and one next to him on the side. I know this may be a problem as far as the 2 year old being directly next to the newborn, I just feel that we should try it since the middle seat seems so much safer.

I don't know if we can fit the Chicco Keyfit 30 next to the Graco Headwise - haven't tried it yet - but I'm thinking it wont work. I'm thus thinking about getting a Diono - either a Radian or the new Pacifica. Reasoning being that as a more narrow seat, I'm hoping I can put the Diono directly next to the Chicco Keyfit, both rearfacing. And if the Diono is on the side I'm hoping I can tether/brace the Diono against the passenger seat. My husband and I are both tall so this makes pulling the driver and passenger seats forward a lot more difficult.

So my questions are...

1.) Will this plan work? Will a Chicco Keyfit and one of the Dionos fit directly next to each other, probably with the Keyfit in the middle seat?

2.) Any experience with the new Pacifica? I've read it's wider than the Radians. Would it still fit directly next to another car seat?

3.) If we do the Radian RXT - are the headwings really that annoying? I have a tall kid and I've read this can create a problem with the headwings. But the Radian R120 seems more difficult to find these days, I guess because they released all these new models. Would a Radian R100 be a good choice?

4.) Does it make the most sense to put Keyfit with newborn in middle and older kid (still rearfacing) on the side?

5.) Any other concerns/issues I'm not thinking about?


Thanks and sorry for the long post!!

Hi there! First, can you clarify which vehicle you have? The post title says Odyssey, but inside your post it's an Accord. BIG difference.

If it's an Odyssey, the Headwise and Keyfit should easily fit side by side. You won't need a Diono. As for bracing in the Ody, I believe you can only brace against the driver's seat, not the passenger seat because of the sensors for the airbags.

I can't speak for the Accord, if that is what you meant since I am not familiar with it. If that is what you have, go ahead and edit your post title so you can get the help you need.

Can you brace against the 2nd row? Stick the 2 yr old in the 3rd row, passenger side, and brace it against the 2nd row seat. I don't fully understand bracing and why you would need it tho. You could then stick the infant in the second row. Either the middle seat or against behind the passenger, allowing you to brace that seat too if needed. You might have to play with that 2nd row passenger side seat, but it slides a good amount. If you're tall, I imagine you'll have the front seat back pretty far cuz the dash eats up knee room unnecessarily. Maybe push the front passenger seat up all the way and sit in the back with the kids if that's needed?

If you put both in a row on the passenger side, that leaves the 3rd row 2/3rd section open to flip down in case you need the cargo room. You can always take out the 2nd row seat behind the driver if you need easy access to the 3rd row.