So, my DD will be RFing to 35 lbs. now...

I have a lovely, new-to-me 1999 Honda Odyssey... with no tether points for the middle row captains chairs. When the time comes for DD to FF, I will have to tether her seat to a third row seatbelt if I want her in the second row, which kind of sucks.

But the silver lining is that now I'm pretty convinced to keep her RFing as long as possible. Because of this tether issue, RFing seats just work better than FFing seats in my car. I was pretty much headed that direction anyway (why turn her if she's happy and comfortable RFing and it is safer?) but this really seals the deal. FWIW, DD is 22 months and about 27 lbs., so we have some time before she hits 33 or 35 lbs. When she is over 33 I'll swap our EFTA out of DH's car for her to use for the last couple of pounds.

This is premature, but now I'm considering a Radian when she does turn FFing. In all likelihood (and with a lot of luck) we'll have another baby to pass the Boulevard down to, and I was planning on getting DD a FFing only seat like the Frontier at that point. But I was thinking that since the Radian does well untethered, it might be worth getting that seat for FFing for the rare times when I would have a passenger who would need the third row seatbelt that I'll be using to tether DD's seat. Is that crazy, or do you think that might work? DD is kind of on the short side, so she would probably make it to booster age in a Radian.

Can't you get tether anchors installed?

A 99 probably doesn't have tethers anywhere so you should be able to get them installed at a dealer. I don't have my book w/ me or I'd check for you.

You have to fold down the third row and use the anchors you can add to the rear door sill for either second or third row seats... it wasn't the Ody's proudest moment in terms of top anchors

Though I think it'll be so comfy for rf it won't even matter (my dd was VERY comfy RF till 4.5 and 34ish --ooops forgot to weigh her and exceeded 33-- pounds) in our ody, I think Leah will be even more comfy in her Radian that long. Good idea to get a RN in case you need to put people in the third row (or get the anchors, which are cheap and easy to install, and put her seat back there if you have other people in the car )

It has tethers for the three rear seats. They are in the cargo area. If you want to tether a seat in the 2nd row captains chairs, you have to fold the third row down (which means you lose three seating positions) and stretch the tether all the way to the back of the van and tether to the points in the cargo area. Isn't that dumb? Not to mention, I don't even think my seats have long enough tethers to reach all the way back there.

I discovered this little quirk AFTER I bought the car by doing a search here for 1999 Odyssey and finding other posts complaining of the same problem.

It seems like there is a slim chance of getting a tether anchor installed under the captains chairs, as the next model year (2000) has them in those positions. I am going to pursue this, but in case it can't be done, I think I'm reasonably satisfied with the solution of tethering a Radian to the third row seat belt. It will be very rare that we need all the seating positions.

But anyway, for now I'll cross my fingers that DD takes a looooooong, looooong time to reach 35 lbs.

ETA: I crossposted with Jools - the RFing seat *is* super comfy for M right now, and it is so easy to get her in and out.

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Yeah, it's so nice for RF in that car! Bitsy HAD to FF at 3 in our oldstyle Prius, she was like origami baby in there, it took 10 minutes to get her buckled, but she could spread out all comfy in the Ody