Help buying a new car seat

sholoulou

New member
My daughter is 37" and 33 - 34 lbs. She turned 3 in December She is in a Marathon which will expire in 5 months so I am going to buy her a new seat within the next couple of weeks. I drive a 97 Isuzu Trooper which has been retrofitted with tether anchors.

Which seat should I buy? I was looking at a radian xtsl.. any other suggestions? I have money saved so price is not an issue. I like having a top tether. This will be the main car seat she will be riding in.

I do not like the Complete Air

Suggestions/Comments Help me decide!
 
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sholoulou

New member
She has been forward facing but I am open to rear facing and would def give it a go! I ff her in the summer because my a/c is not that great and she would get way too hot rear facing. I do not rearface her now because she could be over the weight limit. If I got the radian I would rear face her.
 

2BunniesMommy

Well-known member
If you are going to rear face her I would go with the Radian....coming from someone who just ordered one today.
You said you like having the top tether...I am assuming you mean for rear facing, right? Because ALL car seats have a top tether for forward facing, well any you would buy, I am sure there are expired ones still in use that don't have it, because any seat without would be expired by now.

I don't like the complete air either. I checked one out last week and just wasn't into it. I was debating between the Radian or MyRide65 and one of the many reasons the Radian one out is that it can be tethered rear facing. I love that about our Marathon.

If you are going to keep her forward facing, it would make more sense to get a forward only seat, like the Graco Nautilus or Britax Frontier.

For me, I did turn DD1 just before she turned 3. If there were seats up to 40 and 45lbs at that point, I would have kept her rearfacing. Those didn't come out until she had already been ffing for some time and was well over 3. I will keep DD2 rear facing at least until age 4 because it is so much safer and seats have higher weight limits now.

If your only reason for ffing is A/C, there are ways to deal with that. Trying to remember what I read here, since it is not the season for that. I think the biggest thing is to point the vents at the ceiling and they will get to the rear facer better. Other ideas just to keep the seat cooler are to put ice packs in it when the child is out of it and to cover it with a towel or light blanket. We live in a very hot climate so we dealt with this DD1's first 2 summers. Oh we got the windows tinted and that helped a bit. Luckily that car was not doing so well and we got a van with rear a/c. Best thing ever...but there are much cheaper ways to keep you little girl cooler.
 

DahliaRW

New member
If you do decide to ff, the nautilus or frontier would be my picks. But a radian and rfing if it doesn't overrecline in your vehicle would be my top pick.
 

sholoulou

New member
I live in Louisiana, so yes it is very hot and humid. You will drip sweat just buckling the kids in... yuk! Thought I would get a new van (Honda) before summer but unless something changes quick - no new van until the fall :( I do plan on getting the windows tinted as dark as I can.

I have read that the graco nautilis has bad head slump when the child is sleeping. Lately, from what I have read, etc I am not too impressed with Britax although that is the only brand carseat I have ever owned. Anyway, I will have to see how the radian and frontier fit in my car. Ohhhh decisions decisions!!!
 

armywife12

New member
I say Radian for RF and Frontier for FF. I have both seats and absolutely love both of them. Caleb will be back in the Frontier at the end of the year when hubby returns from deployment but will stay in the XTSL in my vehicle. As much as FF makes me nervous, I'm kind of excited for him to use the seat again...lol.
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
THis was said because if you are not going to forward face, there is no reason to buy a seat that does, and you should just get a forward facing seat. How much room does she have in the marathon?
 

lil.miss32

New member
The Radian IS good for forward facing, but it is a convertible seat. It's also a bit pricey, and out of some people's budgets.
There are great seats made for forward facing *only* that could cost less.
 

nmb

New member
Why is the radian not good for forward facing?



The Radian IS a good seat for forward facing, after rear-facing. It's got the safe-stop for lighter kids (Under 40lbs, so that'd include your DD).

But you're wasting money if you're only going to FF, the Radian is a great convertible seat, and lasts a long time rear-to-forward facing. If you're only going to FF though, then a Frontier is about the same price, higher harness heights so you'll be able to keep her harnessed longer, and then turns into a very tall booster...so you will be able to use it a very long time.
OR the Nautilus costs half as much, again a taller harness than the the Radian, and then turns into a high-back booster and then a backless booster.
 

sholoulou

New member
So I guess my choices are Radian/Frontier/Graco

I will have to look at Graco. But then there is the head slump issue.

I tried the frontier forward facing for my son and because of the angle of the seat it made his legs stick out and hit the back of the seat. The seat has that big hump and I believe that is what caused it or maybe that thing on the bottom. Can not quite remember. However, I will give it another try and see if I can get it to fit... again.

No one has a radian local for me to try out. A store has them on order and it will be 3-4 weeks before they come in.

I have over 300 saved up for a new seat. If I have to buy another seat/booster later that is not a problem.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
You said you like having the top tether...I am assuming you mean for rear facing, right? Because ALL car seats have a top tether for forward facing, well any you would buy, I am sure there are expired ones still in use that don't have it, because any seat without would be expired by now.

.

She meant she has an anchor installed in her car for forward facing. Her car is older than the legal regulation to have one, so we always mention that, she kept us from having to look in our LATCH manuals for part numbers and remind her to go to the dealer to get one installed :)
 

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