Radian and combo seat?

I'm never going to get going on this it seems... But dd2 is going out of the bucket at the end om the summer (I think) and I need a new seat for her.

DD1 is almost 4 (in Aug), around 37-38 inches tall (no idea of torso height, but top harness in her RA ff. She is no way near booster ready and will go harnessed for a lot longer. DD1 is in a RA that will expire next year.

DD2 is 4 months. I want to rf dd2 for as long as possible. My kids run skinny and on the short side.

I drive a Matrix and want to/need to do a "three across" with two seats next to one another and an adult outboard.

So, I can keep dd1 in her RA, get a Radian for dd2 and a new seat for dd1 once the RA is either too small or expire. Or I could get the Radian for dd1, give the RA to dd2 until it expire.

DD1 wants a pink seat. I like the pink Radian XTSL better than the 80SL, but if I use the seat ff, will I have a problem with the wings?

The way I see it right now is that I will eventually have to buy two Radians to keep the girls next to each other. Or is there a combo seat that will puzzle well with the Radian so that I do not have to buy two convertibles once the RA expires? I can do a tight outboard seat for the adult in the back, but not too tight.

I cannot think of anything else right now, but probably will as soon as I post.

I'm going to leave most of your questions to someone else as they probably know the answers better then I do but I would rf Dd1 in a radiant xtsl and put baby in her old carseat, pretty much what I did with my youngest 2. You wont have a problem with the headwings on the xtsl as they are inside the shell of the seat. I have a rf xtsl next to a britax frontier and they fit fine. I also squeezed a sk Monterey in next to them so a am/md size adult should fit in my vehicle. Radians will be your narrowest options.

Yep, I know dd1 is safer rf, but I'm sorry we're not going back to that... She was happily rf until 3 and has been ff for almost a year now and would not be happy rf.

The problem with the wings that I was thinking of is the wings and the straps issue. I haven't read up on it, but what was/is the issue/problem with the wings covering the straps?

Are you all tired of my Radian questions already?

LOL, I'm up feeding a newborn so I only have a minute, but I'll give a crack at answering for you.
I wouldn't bother getting a convertible for your daughter. If you're not going to RF her, then why spend the money on it? Get a combo seat - I know the Nautilus and Frontier are both heavily recommended, but I don't know how wide either of them are - I'm thinking pretty wide, which wouldn't be conducive to a 3-across.
Get an XTSL for your younger. No need to worry about the headwings. The 45lb RFing limit is awesome, although if you don't want to spend quite as much "downgrade" to one of their other seats and get a 40lb RF'ing limit. If your daughter is on the lighter side, it may not turn out to matter anyway. I'd say definitely stick with a Radian for her, because the skinniness of the seat is probably necessary for a 3-across.
I don't have any experience with it personally, but look into which combo seats puzzle well with Radians or are on the skinnier side. I'm sure someone here will have answers for you if you ask around as well.
HTH!

I'm not sure how much room you have to work with. I think getting the Radian for your older DD makes sense. A lot of times it doesn't make sense to buy a Convertible for a child who is too big to RF (or won't be RF) but you need a narrow seat and you can pass it down to your younger when the RA expires. So I'd get it and let your ODD use it now and re-evaluate what's available next year when the RA expires (like if there's a combo seat that will fit in your vehicle next to the Radian or if she'd be ready for a booster by then).

aeormsby said:

I'm not sure how much room you have to work with. I think getting the Radian for your older DD makes sense. A lot of times it doesn't make sense to buy a Convertible for a child who is too big to RF (or won't be RF) but you need a narrow seat and you can pass it down to your younger when the RA expires. So I'd get it and let your ODD use it now and re-evaluate what's available next year when the RA expires (like if there's a combo seat that will fit in your vehicle next to the Radian or if she'd be ready for a booster by then).

Click to expand...

If so, would you get the XTSL eventhough it will be used ff (I'm thinking of the wings covering some of the straps)? Or should I just go with the 80SL? They do have the same rf limit, don't they?

Yes, the 80SL and the XTSL both rf to 45 pounds.