RA question

[mommy_someday]

We have another baby on the way, due in February, and I'm planning on putting DS1 and DS2 in the backseat of my 2004 Odyssey. I'm wondering if it's possible to put the RA RFing in an outboard position in the backseat, since the middle captain's chairs do not move forward/backward. I'd really like to avoid turning DS2 around, but having 2 RFing carseats in the middle row would make it incredibly difficult to get to the third row to buckle DS1. Ideally, I want DS1&2 in back and DS3 on the passenger side seat/middle row. This would leave the seat behind the driver's seat open. Then we can all get in through the same door, I'll be able to easily reach buckles for all 3 boys, and it leaves a seat open for me to nurse DS3 when we're on the go. I figure being able to load quickly through one door will be nice when the weather is nasty and safer because we can get in and lock the doors. I'm always worried something bad is going to happen when my back is turned and I'm buckling someone in. So is this arrangement possible? If not, is there another convertible seat that would fit RFing ouboard 3rd row? DS2 is about 25lbs, so he's got a long way to go. I could put DS3 in the RA in the middle row and buy a new seat for DS2 if necessary.

Hope this makes sense through the preggo fog...

[Joolsplus2]

An RA should fit fine in the third row. And your middle captain's chairs move a good 4 inches front to back, the mechanism is the same as the front passenger seat (a metal crossbar under the front...grab it and slide). I'm sure you do have some time left with that RA RF, but remember that it's outgrown when the head is one inch from the top of the seatback, and lots of kids are too tall at age 2 or younger, so keep an eye on that. And also, be prepared for installing seats FF in the third row by getting your top tether anchors installed in the outboard positions, they are called plate assemblies and are about $13 from the dealer and super easy to ask them to install or install yourself :)

[mommy_someday]

Thanks, Julie. I didn't know about the tether plates needing to be installed. I will definitely check into that, as well as keep an eye on where DS2's head is. Seems like maybe I should just get him a new seat with a higher weight/height limit. Should I get him a MA or something else? I know MAs are a lot bigger, so I'm not sure what seat would make the most sense for RFing in that position. DS1 is in a Regent. What would you suggest?

According to my owner's manual, the middle seats should move forward/backward, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how to make that happen. There's a big bar/lever thing in the middle under the seats, but it doesn't look anything like the picture in the manual. Not to mention that I can't move the seats either direction when raising the lever toward the seat. I'll have DH mess with it, because I'm feeling like an idiot.

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it.

[jjordan]

Another thing to add to your bag of tricks - we borrowed my parents' Odyssey for a long trip and I installed our two RF seats in the middle captain's chairs. To get to the back, it was actually really easy to go into the front seat and then walk back through the center "aisle" into the back. So that is another option to keep in mind. Depending on how often you have which kids in the car, it might be easier in the end to have the RF seats more accessible (ie in the captain's chairs).