Sit n' Stroll or Radian for upcoming trip?

We have a Sit n' Stroll (2.5 year old hand me down) that we've used for previous trips.

At home we use recent model Radian 65's that go to 40 lbs rear-facing.

Our 23 month old is 35-36 lbs and ~36 inches with a long torso.

I have to double check if he still is under the height limit for the sit n' stroll forward facing. He's definitely over the rear-facing limit.

We have a trip coming up in a couple days - we will be taking the subway to the airport, flying and renting a car and driving about 3 hours to our final destination, then doing the same in reverse.

For ease of travel, I prefer the sit n'stroll since we have about a mile walk to the subway and with luggage I don't want to carry the Radian. I looked into borrowing a GoGo Kidz but have no offers and don't want to have to buy one now.

Assuming ds fits in the Sit n' stroll by height, am I crazy to put him forward facing for the ~6 hours we will be in a car?

Have you carried a Radian backpack style while dealing with a stroller and roll-aboard suitcase and walked ~ 1 mile. Is it easier than I would think?

Is there another travel carseat option I should consider? Since ds is already at 35+ lbs. there are limited RFing options and I don't see getting another lighter weight one for travel.

Thanks!

I find the Radian to be fine when used as a backpack-- but I know not everyone agrees.

You can also strap the Radian to a suitcase and push an umbrella stroller, done that too, that's not too bad.

I don't know about you but I've had trouble getting a decent installation (moves less than 1 inch at the belt path) with the Sit and Stroll the one time I installed it. And I would prefer a child that age be rear-facing.

You can get a standard luggage-trolley at Walmart for much cheaper than the Go-Go Kidz, and it works nearly as well (I won't say AS well, because the GGK does have some nice convenience features.)

I'm really not terribly opposed to the fact that he'd be FF in the Sit-n-Stroll, it's just that I hate the way it installs - as far as I can tell, they haven't made it any easier with the "improvements" they've added since I owned one years ago. That said, you've obviously used one before so I would assume you're familiar with the way it installs.

Personally, I'd find a way to add wheels to the Radian - with it folded, it could even be strapped to the top of your wheeled luggage. But that's just because I really, really like the Radian and really, really hate the Sit-n-Stroll.

We can get a good install FFing with LATCH/top tether with the Sit N Stroll. I hate uninstalling and reinstalling every time though, but you have to at least re-LATCH the bottom anchor closest to the door to get the kid in and out. He's been FFing in it for a while since it only RFes to 30 lbs.

This will be the first time we use it for something other than short car trips and once we install it at our destination we use it like a carseat and use an umbrella stroller as a stroller since I don't like having to entirely uninstall/reinstall each time.

We have installed it in quite a few different rental cars though.

For anyone out there who's thinking about getting one, it's almost impossible to get a good install RFing in my experience and it helps to have a strong husband and LATCH.

Defrost said:

Personally, I'd find a way to add wheels to the Radian - with it folded, it could even be strapped to the top of your wheeled luggage. But that's just because I really, really like the Radian and really, really hate the Sit-n-Stroll.

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Ditto this. Well maybe not the really, really liking the Radian part. Truthfully, I can't work up more than an apathetic "meh" feeling regarding the RN, but ITA with really, really hating the Sit-n-Stroll part.

Since I've flown with both of these, I'll chime in here...

I found the S&S convenient but I fly alone on transatlantics with three closely spaced children. It's kind of a no-brainer but honestly, flying with the Radian is not that much less convenient and in your case, two adults with only one child, you should be fine.

Save your money and skip the GogoKidz! I strap mine to an all-metal luggage cart. I don't recommend putting it on a rollerboard because I hate those as carry-ons! (Former Flight Attendant, need I say more??) and also the Radian is heavy and the handles may not stand up to the extra weight. Then there you'd be, in the middle of the airport with a broken rollerboard and a heavy car seat to transport. No, use a back pack and put the Radian on a cart. Use an extra bungee cord to keep it secure and the handle free for stairs.

I used this as my stroller. My daughter could ride in it well past her 3rd birthday. Any chance of borrowing a stroller at your destination? Much easier to just have the car seat and not deal with the stroller.

Now I might get flamed for this but to make your trip easier, you may want to carefully pack your insert and use your Radian ffing on the airplane. While rfing is safer (I wont debate this!) the chances of anything going wrong on the airplane are slim and the seat still provides security. I am only suggesting this since he is almost 2 and you would go back to rfing in the car on your arrival. There is the slight chance also if your bag is lost with the insert, but you'd still have the Radian so your child would not be transported entirely unsecured.

It's just a suggestion in case it sways you towards bringing the Radian over the S&S. Priority for me would be the long car ride at your destination, which is statistically much less safe than the flight.