Frustrated. What should I do?

NannyMom · Nov 1, 2009

Sofi's Radian has been compressing the seat cushion and reclining more. It's really really getting annoying.

She's only 29 pounds, how on earth is it supposed to get a child to 40 or 45 pounds?!

Here is our current set up:
2nd row:
Driver's side- empty for flipping
Center- Sofi in Radian
Passenger's side- BabyS in a Titan
The 3rd row doesn't much matter. whatever changes I make, won't really effect them much.

Here are the options I see....
Put BabyS in the Radian center, she's lighter maybe she won't recline it so much. Put Sofi in the MR driver's side. Leave passenger's side empty for flipping. If I put the MR in the center, we can't flip the outboard seat. Now I don't have a back up seat for Sofi, unless she happens to still fit in the Titan in my DB and SILs cars (she fits in the Titan outboard in my van, because it's more upright.... but barely in the center because it's naturally more reclined).

Sell the Radian and buy a TF. It's tall enough, but will Sofi gain 6 pounds within the next year? She gained 4 pounds in 6 months, but only 5 in the past 12 months. I can't buy another seat unless I sell something to fund it. Money will be tight, at least through the end of the year. Sofi could stay center in the TF.

But Sofi in a Titan outboard, and BabyS in a Titan center. Keep the MR as a back up seat.

Sell the RN and buy a MA....or.....? to keep Sofi center.

What other options do I have to keep her center?? THe EFTA won't fit next to BabyS' Titan. I don't like the Uptown, and doubt I will like the Avenue either.

I really want to keep Sofi in the center.

Any other ideas??? Would installing the RN with seatbelt change it enough to keep it from compressing the seat?

WhatAboutPuppy · Nov 1, 2009

Is the Complete Air a non-option? I know you wanted the XTSL... Haven't heard a thing about it installing in your center position. Does the Radian not install out board? Keeping her rear facing is a huge deal... It seems that she'd be ok outboard safety wise...

NannyMom · Nov 1, 2009

The Radian installs better outboard than center. I can use the old boot and get it upright easier. But I worry it'll just compress that seat and recline more again. It compressing under DD's butt that's the problem.

I'm having a hard time swallowing the CA. I can't see paying that much for a Dorel seat. And that darn 40 inch rule gets me.

WhatAboutPuppy · Nov 1, 2009

I've noticed now that DSS2 is consistently over 30 pounds (31) he leans it back quite a bit further when he hops in. But I haven't found a way to truely fix it in a problem like yours (or our Outback). For the Boulevard though I install it WAY to up right and then tighten the tether once he's in it...

I'm sorry! I'm having issues with the RN XT also! I want so badly for it to work easily! I want 45 pounds RF! lol

Wish I could be more help.

Pixels · Nov 1, 2009

You already know this, but not everyone does, so I'll repeat myself here. I'm having the same issue, big time. DD's Radian has sunk about an inch into the seat cushions so that it is now AT 45 degrees. In DH's car, it also has dented the vehicle cushions but nowhere near as much.

For seatbelt vs LATCH (you have dedicated LATCH in that position? It's unusual in the center.), I found that the tighter I can get it, the more upright it will be. Mine is center in a Civic (no center LATCH) in one car, and in a pre-LATCH vehicle in the other. So both are obviously seatbelt installs. In the Civic, I use a locking clip because I've found that I can get it much tighter that way (bounce bounce click) than by using the locking retractor.

Where are your seatbelts anchored, and where are the vehicle's LATCH lower anchors? You want the belt pulling the carseat down, so if your seatbelt anchors are forward of the bight, and your LATCH anchors are a bit above the bight, then I would say that probably switching to seatbelt would help.

bobandjess99 · Nov 1, 2009

It sucks for you, but I think this issue is going to FORCE SK to fix the issue. With these new weight limits, the radian can NOT be installed upright enough in some cars..and I'm not talking about a less than 45 degree angle, I'm talking about just 45. It's impossible, the weight of a 40 pound kid simply reclines the seat too much on soft seats.

We MUST have a "big kid boot", are you listening SKJP??

WhatAboutPuppy · Nov 1, 2009

I totally agree!! DSS1 sat in the RN rear facing (50 pounds) and it went from about 40 degrees to over 45 for sure! First thing he said was, woh! lol yeah he's over weight and was just goofing around but made me think... if you can barely get 45 degrees and then put a 44 pound child in the seat... you're screwed.

Places like Sweden have the rear facing tethers and the bar... is this one of the purposes of that bar do you think? I mean obviously for use in a crash but...

Pixels · Nov 1, 2009

Sofi's not even 30 pounds (if her siggy's current) and my DD is hardly over 20. These are kids who aren't even close to pushing a 40 or 45 pound limit. Heck, my kid is barely legal to be FFing in the Radian (and I'm about to have a panic attack thinking about that as an option, so I'll just stop now), but because of the way it's installed in my car, it's barely legal (proper use) to have her RFing.

I need to find my camera cord so I can send pics to SKJP.

Swedish seats sit much more upright, up to 10 degrees. In order to have legroom, they have a footwell. Basically a bar pushes the carseat away from the bight. That leaves the back of the seat hanging off the vehicle seat. How to take care of that, and also support the seat in a crash? Footprop. Definitely lets them have high weight limits without having seats over recline.

NannyMom · Nov 2, 2009

I do have dedicated latch in the center, I have an 8 passenger Sienna. The seatbelt is attached to the seat, but the buckle is a bit forward of the bight. But the lower anchors are kinda forward too. I'll have to try installing with the seatbelt and see if that helps.

Yes, my siggy is up to date. She's 28-29 pounds fully clothed. I'm going to have to email SKJP about a big kid boot. I don't like him much though. He was just flabbergasted before when I told him I could only get the seat over reclined in my van. :rollseyes:

kittykate · Nov 2, 2009

NannyMom said:
I'm going to have to email SKJP about a big kid boot. I don't like him much though. He was just flabbergasted before when I told him I could only get the seat over reclined in my van. :rollseyes:

Good luck with that one. I emailed him last week about a boot that would allow a more upright install since there just isn't enough room for a Radian at 45* in my Versa. He told me that it was fine for the Radian to touch the front seat back even though my car manual says that it is not. (His reasoning is that it since the part where it says that nothing can touch the front seat back is in the airbag section rather than the carseat section it must not be a problem for a carseat to rest on the seat back

)

He just seems to be in denial that the Radian is not the Mary Poppins of carseats.

NannyMom · Nov 2, 2009

So MomBoss doesn't like the RN. It's harder to tighten than the SS1

So, I gave her 1 of my Titans to use for BabyS. I installed her RN, with the old boot (that I bought from someone here), outboard. The old boot makes upright latch install easier outboard (but it's too wide for center- I think). So Sofi will ride in it outboard for a while, and see how the recline goes. I took some pics. I left Sofi's Princess RN where it was, and I'll use it for BabyS for awhile.

Here is a pic of them next to each other. They are both untethered in this pic (I only had 1 D-ring, I left the other in MomBoss' van). But the angles are pretty much the same (maybe 1 degree off) when tethered. The Driver's seat is almost all the way back, and I can fit 3 fingers between the RN and the Driver's headrest.

View attachment 5628

ETA: Ok, it's hard to see. It's dark outside the the outboard Radian (more upright) is Super Cool gray. But look closely and you can see it

An Aurora · Nov 2, 2009

This is why I sold my Radian. It just get more and more reclined.

Pixels said:
Heck, my kid is barely legal to be FFing in the Radian

Don't the new Radians have a 22 lb minimum for FF'ing? My 2007 Princess Radian did.

ketchupqueen · Nov 2, 2009

Actually, I think the OLDER Radians had a 22 lb. limit-- I think my 2007 did too-- but newer ones I've seen seem to say 20.

Pixels · Nov 2, 2009

An Aurora said:
Don't the new Radians have a 22 lb minimum for FF'ing? My 2007 Princess Radian did.

Now that you mention it, I think so. I haven't really paid attention to the minimum weight for forward facing. It's not like she's going to be forward facing any time soon.

An Aurora · Nov 2, 2009

Pixels said:
Now that you mention it, I think so. I haven't really paid attention to the minimum weight for forward facing. It's not like she's going to be forward facing any time soon.

Me neither, I just thought it was cool. I like higher minimums for FF, no matter how slight, and the fact that most people would ignore them anyway

NannyMom · Nov 3, 2009

Ok, I too have decided I don't like the RN for BabyS. With Sofi it's easier to not loosen it every time, but not with the baby. I'm putting a Titan back in for her.

When I put Sofi in the outboard RN, it reclined a little, and I had to tighten the tether. There are now 2 fingers (not 3) between the driver's headrest and the top of the RN.

Pixels · Nov 3, 2009

I don't tighten the tether if the weight of the child creates slack. If you tighten it, when the child gets out, there will still be all that pressure on the vehicle seat bottom just as if the child was in the seat 24/7. The seat will compress more and faster. In fact, I make sure not to take 100% of the slack out of the tether because of this. I remove 99.9% leaving just a smidge.

Seeing the video of the RFing tethered seat, an inch of slack in the top tether isn't going to make a bit of difference. During the initial phase of the crash, the seat rotates downward and you get oodles of slack in the tether. Then rebound happens and is cut short by the tether. Rebounding an extra inch isn't going to hurt anything.

NannyMom · Nov 3, 2009

Pixels said:
I don't tighten the tether if the weight of the child creates slack. If you tighten it, when the child gets out, there will still be all that pressure on the vehicle seat bottom just as if the child was in the seat 24/7. The seat will compress more and faster. In fact, I make sure not to take 100% of the slack out of the tether because of this. I remove 99.9% leaving just a smidge.

Seeing the video of the RFing tethered seat, an inch of slack in the top tether isn't going to make a bit of difference. During the initial phase of the crash, the seat rotates downward and you get oodles of slack in the tether. Then rebound happens and is cut short by the tether. Rebounding an extra inch isn't going to hurt anything.

I was always removing the extra slack. Maybe that's part of the problem. I never thought about all the oodles of slack during downward rotation.

I just took the RN out of the center seat. It looks like the base of the RN slid up the hump

I took pics of the toe marks in the compressed seat, so you can see. I'll post them later tonight.

TechnoGranola · Nov 3, 2009

The issue you're having sounds exactly like the problem I was having with install of the Radian. No matter how hard you press on front of the seat, and even if you use two people, eventually a child's weight slips the seat back into the bight and the install is loose and too reclined. I tried to describe this in another thread but I think I was being misunderstood so I was being told that the movement was acceptable, and this to me is NOT acceptable as it could happen during a drive, so even checking before each drive doesn't help. I didn't have the tether attached though, as I was just testing the seat out to see how it worked in my vehicle.

I'll keep watching this thread as I'd like to know if you're able to come up with a solution. I wanted the new XT when it RF to 45# in Canada, but not if I have to deal with this issue like I did with the prior Radian (and I can't buy it anywhere that is easily returnable).

NannyMom · Nov 3, 2009

TechnoGranola said:
The issue you're having sounds exactly like the problem I was having with install of the Radian. No matter how hard you press on front of the seat, and even if you use two people, eventually a child's weight slips the seat back into the bight and the install is loose and too reclined. I tried to describe this in another thread but I think I was being misunderstood so I was being told that the movement was acceptable, and this to me is NOT acceptable as it could happen during a drive, so even checking before each drive doesn't help. I didn't have the tether attached though, as I was just testing the seat out to see how it worked in my vehicle.

I'll keep watching this thread as I'd like to know if you're able to come up with a solution. I wanted the new XT when it RF to 45# in Canada, but not if I have to deal with this issue like I did with the prior Radian (and I can't buy it anywhere that is easily returnable).

What vehicle do you have? Was yours a seatbelt or latch install?

The solution I'm trying now is using the old boot (only fits outboard, not center). THe way the old boot and latch interact would keep the boot from slipping into the seat bight, but that may mostly be because my lower anchors are a bit forward of the bight. That will keep the boot from slipping, and not tightening the tether (thanks Pixels), should hopefully help the seat from compressing too much.

Frustrated. What should I do?

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