Question Should Infant get own Radian or take over older child's?

deanna1ynne

New member
I currently have a son who will be 3 in August RF in a Radian and a daughter who will be 1 in August in a SnugRide. My son seems to have plenty of room in the Radian still: around an inch or two in the shoulders, and he only weighs in around 37 lb, but my daughter will probably outgrow her infant seat before she turns 1.

So I'm going to be needed another car-seat soon. Given that money is tight (so I'm disinclined to buy another Radian...) and that I need something kind of narrow (we have to fit the seats three across so that I can care for another infant as well), I'm looking to see if people recommend (1) sucking it up and buying a second radian anyway, in order to keep the boy RF as long as possible, (2) scooting the baby into the Radian RF and buying one of the combination car seats that are mentioned here alot (Graco Nautilus, Evenflo SecureKid, Britax Frontier, or Recaro ProSport) for the older boy, or (3) do something else altogether?

Thanks so much for your help!!
 
ADS

mom2juliarose

New member
I think sucking it up and buying another Radian is a good idea, especially if you have to get 3-across. The combo seats take up A LOT more space so I don't know if 3-across would work... what car do you have?
 

Jan06twinmom

New member
Long-term, a Radian will be your best bet for 3 across. I don't know if you have a 40lb or 45lb limit on your current Radian, but you might want to go ahead and buy one with a 45lb limit to have your 3yo use if you don't have one now.

Short-term, more economical option might be to buy a Costco Scenera for the baby to use for now.
 

Kel

Well-known member
Maybe just get the base RN. It's a little cheaper. Or maybe see if someone has an older RN in swap.
Kel
 

deanna1ynne

New member
We don't have a particularly small car -- it's a 2002 Saturn VUE with three latch connections across the seat. But those dang infant seats (especially the bases) are so big!! :D

I got the Radian XTSL in 2010, so (if I'm reading things right on the website) I believe it goes up to 45 lbs RF.

Hmm... I don't suppose you can find a reputable person to sell a used Radian, so you know it's never been in a crash, huh? Another $300 is just a heck of a lot of money to shell out... :p

Also, any ideas on how to arrange the car seats? I have a hard time imagining getting an infant seat into the middle with two bigger car-seats on the ends. Should I just take my car to a store and try in the seats?
 

deanna1ynne

New member
I also just did a little poking on Amazon, and found that there's a million Radian's out there now! We got my son the XTSL because he was growing terribly fast (outgrew his SnugRide at 7 monts) and we wanted to make sure we had something good for him. My daughter's not growing nearly as fast (maybe helps that she was a preemie...). Some of the radians (like this one [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Diono-RadianR100-Convertible-Seat-Stone/dp/B005MQR794/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1339533435&sr=1-2&keywords=diono+radian"]Amazon.com: Diono RadianR100 Convertible Car Seat, Stone: Baby[/ame]) are closer to $200, than $300, which makes them much more attractive economically. How much reason would there be to get another XTSL as compared to this one?
 

jnamommy

New member
The R120 and the R100 do not have headwings (like your XTSL). Whether you like the headwings or not is a personal opinion, there is no proof either way if they are safer or not.

If you forgo the headwings, the price would be cheaper.
 

nanny2be10

New member
I have a hard time lifting an infant bucket into the middle as well. If i were in your position, I would put a radian in the center and keep the infant in an outboard position. If you lift your three year old up, I'm sure he could climb in the center seat by himself.
 

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