Same Seats? Different? Who Goes In What?

Jonah Baby

New member
This is another I'm stressed and need to ramble, please reassure me thread. One Wizard is expired/so close to it that it just needs to die. SR32 and Radian are crashed.

I think I want to replace the Radian with the same Radian (maybe a different cover, of course, for a change.) J rides in this seat in my car multiple times a day. The Radian seems made for my car - I can get a 30* behind driver, 40* or so behind passenger (must use LATCH, though, stinkers.) Regardless, J can RF now in it, probably till 4. I have the perfect RF tether spots. J will definitely take a long time to booster train, so a HWH is a must, and he's tall, so that works well. I can install this RF in this car faster than the Britax convertibles FF.
The seat can later be passed to long torso A, who will also get good use from it. It just works well for us.

I'm not so sure that replacing the SR32 with a SR32 is a good use of money. I think it was bought around $160 at BRU, they're around $150 now I think, so that's what I have to work with.
I like our MyRide, but J is now just bordering too big to RF in it and A has a very long torso, so not the ideal replacement I should think, especially considering we already own one.
I'd love a Coccoro to give us passenger leg space back (and, well, they're cute) since the front seat must currently be all the way forward, but I don't think that's good for long torso babies, right?
I do wear baby when we get out of the car 90% of the time, so an infant seat isn't a must. I do have an extra SR32 base, however, and I like not having to wake baby to wear him if it is a 5 minute out of car experience (baby has issues falling asleep and staying asleep.)
Baby is so long that he can safely use the alive Wizard. It does not expire until next March.
I have an '04 Accent, if it matters.


Who goes in what seat right now?
I've got one Wizard and the MyRide left.
I've never put the MR FF in my car, no clue if it works well. The Wizard is super close to the ceiling FF, but it works and I've done it a few times.
I haven't weighed J in a while. About 2 weeks ago I checked his fit in the MR when installed in my Mom's car. He had like 1"ish before being too tall to RF and he has been hovering around 38-39# for some time now.
No clue how baby fits in the MR, he's never been in it.

I'm sure the solutions are simple. I'm just too stressed to think clearly about it.
 
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carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Honestly, considering how finances are an issue for you (not a criticism, just an observation), I'd be focusing on what seats would last you the longest so you won't have to do any more seat shopping in the future.

Nautilus for J, should be the last seat you need to buy for him.
Complete Air or TrueFit for A.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
Honestly, considering how finances are an issue for you (not a criticism, just an observation), I'd be focusing on what seats would last you the longest so you won't have to do any more seat shopping in the future.

Nautilus for J, should be the last seat you need to buy for him.
Complete Air or TrueFit for A.

Which is why I'm thinking replacing the SR32 with a SR32 isn't the smartest idea. It also takes up a LOT of room in my car.

The Radian will get J RF another 6 pounds or so, which could be 2 years, then is a FF HWH if he is not ready for boostering at that point. When he's ready for a booster I'll get him a dedicated booster (thinking Turbo or the future equivalent.) By whatever point that is, A can then RF the last of his RF time in the Radian.
I know the Radian works in my car and fits J well, will probably be really useful for A's long torso.
I've tried J in the Nauti and he doesn't fit well - he's a large kid all over. I don't see a Nauti lasting him very long.

I hadn't thought of CAs or TFs.
J does NOT fit in a CA. Worse fit than the Nauti. For the price, I'd also hate buying an ERF seat for FF use for a 3 year old - rather by a F85 or something. I have not tried A in a CA in a while and have never tried one in my car. Maybe I should go to BRU today and try that. A does have the tall, skinnier build for such a seat.
I have never seen a TF in person. I would LIKE to, hehe, but my car is a tricky PITA on seats, very picky on what works how. If I can get some reassurance it will work, that could be a good alternative to the SR32.
I'd prefer to aim for seats like the TF which COULD work for either child if necessary, unlike the Nauti or the CA.

Do we know about when the new ERF seats will be released? We could probably sneak by with these two if something really promising is hitting market that will work for either kid.
 

Pixels

New member
If you have to use LATCH to install the Radian, it's not a good long-term choice. You can only use it up to 48 pounds* in your car.

Your car was manufactured before the 9/05 cutoff for using SuperLATCH. The SL manuals don't say anything about a weight limit for pre-9/05 vehicles, other than to do what the vehicle manufacturer says. Hyundai doesn't provide a weight limit, they're either mute or they defer to the restraint manufacturer, I forget which. At any rate, since the LATCH standard was written with a 40 pound child in mind, and your vehicle was made long before anyone thought of using LATCH with an 80 pound child, I wouldn't be comfortable doing it. I would use the 48 pounds limit that is common among carseats and other vehicles.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
If you have to use LATCH to install the Radian, it's not a good long-term choice. You can only use it up to 48 pounds* in your car.

Your car was manufactured before the 9/05 cutoff for using SuperLATCH. The SL manuals don't say anything about a weight limit for pre-9/05 vehicles, other than to do what the vehicle manufacturer says. Hyundai doesn't provide a weight limit, they're either mute or they defer to the restraint manufacturer, I forget which. At any rate, since the LATCH standard was written with a 40 pound child in mind, and your vehicle was made long before anyone thought of using LATCH with an 80 pound child, I wouldn't be comfortable doing it. I would use the 48 pounds limit that is common among carseats and other vehicles.

I thought of that after and began to panic.
I harassed Maedze about it, who reassured me that SHE could get it in FF with the belt.
I can also cross my fingers that by the time J is 48 pounds he can be boostered and the seat would continue RFing for A.
 

Pixels

New member
If Maedze can get the seat in with belt, that's all fine and dandy, until the day it gets accidentally unbuckled and you're on vacation/Maedze isn't available/you're stuck at the grocery store. Unless you meant that she can teach you to do it with the belt? I find often it's just a case of finding the right combination of tricks for that particular vehicle. Once you find the right combo, it's a lot easier to do again.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
If Maedze can get the seat in with belt, that's all fine and dandy, until the day it gets accidentally unbuckled and you're on vacation/Maedze isn't available/you're stuck at the grocery store. Unless you meant that she can teach you to do it with the belt? I find often it's just a case of finding the right combination of tricks for that particular vehicle. Once you find the right combo, it's a lot easier to do again.

I'm very confident she can teach me how. She was actually quite impressed with how I got it in there RF without her help.
I would never continue using a seat I couldn't confidently install and it is rare that anyone else installs our seats, sometimes my Mother and she listens about the carseat nonsense enough that I don't worry often.
 

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