[CT]

I have a three year old and a month old and was wondering what the best recommendation would be for location of the child seats. Currently, my infant is in the center of the third seat and my three year old behind the driver. Suggestions and comments would be very welcome. I have a 2002 Odyssey.

 

[adam1991]

See page 30 of your owner's manual for Honda's recommendations.

 

[moonatics]

I've never felt comfortable driving my car with my little babies out of my reach. I'd suggest pushing the two middle seats together and putting your littlest one in the center, with the older child next to him/her. Then you can reach back if you need to, and you can be sure that your infant is in the safest place in the van. The center is the site of least impact, and so your baby's head will be most protected there. I don't know how they'd handle being right next to each other, but my kids did just fine.

 

[CPSDarren]

Technically, "best practice" is that the least protected child is the one who should be in the safest seating position. Odd as it may seem, rear-facing carseats provide the most protection from side impacts. So, when given a choice, the front-facing child would be in the center, and the rear-facing child outboard.

An even better arrangement would be to have one in the second row chair moved to the center, and the other in the center of the rear seat, though that is less convenient.

Personally, I have my 17 month old and 3 year old in the second row chairs, both outboard. There's still quite a bit of room between the chairs and sliding doors (more than most cars), and the Odyssey has reasonable side impact protection.

Just make sure your carseats are installed properly, and that is the most important thing you can do for your children's safety.