Radian RXT's For Long Torso Girls

Hi all! My twin girls are 10 months old and are very long babies (99 percentile) so it's time to get them out of their infant seats and into a RF seat.

I have bit the bullet so to speak and purchased 2 Radian RXTs. My hubby and I are both tall so this seat RF in our Honda Odyssey is a tight fit....but in 2 months we can add the foam wedge and it allows for plenty of clearance.

I was also looking at the Britax, but I think for my long torso babes we may not get as much use out of it. Also, the Britax "looks" more comfy but I was told at the store I was shopping at..."looks" being the key word. The Radian has memory foam and may actually be more comfortable. Guess we'll never really know since we can't fit in the seats to test them out. Haha.

Anyway, is it worth having the seat installed RF by a professional, only to have to have it re-done in 2 months to add the wedge. Safety of my girls is the main concern, but to spend $80 now for installation and then another $80 in 2 months seems wasteful somehow. We installed our infant seats ourselves and those suckers do not move. Also, does this wedge device put them at a safe incline? The Britax stays at 45 degrees, is it really OK lessen the incline?

Thanks!

You can try the wedge now too, if you want. I'm not a tech so I can't give you "official" advice but with babies that are able to sit unassisted for long periods of time, the wedge would be fine to use.

If you want, you can read your manual, try the install yourself, post pictures here, and we can do our best to guide you through. Save you some cash ;-)

Thirsty4Knowledge said:

You can try the wedge now too, if you want. I'm not a tech so I can't give you "official" advice but with babies that are able to sit unassisted for long periods of time, the wedge would be fine to use.

If you want, you can read your manual, try the install yourself, post pictures here, and we can do our best to guide you through. Save you some cash ;-)

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The official word on the Angle Adjuster in Canada is that the child must be 1 year. I know that in the US, there was an unofficial ok to use it earlier but I'm not aware that this applies to Canada as well.

Can you have the tech teach you how to install with the angle adjuster so you don't have to go back? Also $80 seems like a lot, where is your general location, maybe we can help with that?

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

At that price I'm guessing Mississauga-Toronto area?

The tech should be teaching you how to do it, not doing it for you leaving you in the dark about how it's to be done. The process with and without the angle adjuster is the same, you just, well, add the angle adjuster in. I believe there's a video on the Diono website about how to do it.

What year is your Odyssey?

Re comfort - my daughter, now age 4.5, much prefers her Radian to the Marathon. We have done many long road trips and she's never complained about discomfort in the Radian. The Marathon is narrower at the shoulders for her now and she's nearly outgrown it forward facing, but has room to grow in the Radian. Good choice for tall kids, as it has lots of leg room as well, and the low profile makes it so much easier for them to get in and out of themselves.

I just want to second the comfort of the radian. My 14 month old has been in hers for about 4 months with no issues. In the last 5 weeks we have driven 19 hours in one day, 11 hours one day, 7 hours one day, and 5 hours a once six times. That was in addition to all the normal day to day driving. She is about 75% for height and weight and was easily the most comfortable in the car on the 19, 11, and 7 hour trips and we were in an expedition!

ETA: DD is rear facing with the angle adjuster and has tons of leg room too!

I didn't realize that you could have someone install it for you - and certianly didn't realize it was that expensive!

If you're comfortable with it, I'd just do it yourself. Or have them do it this time but watch them so that when it comes time to add the adjuster you can do that yourself. But as long as you can get a good install and feel comfortable wtih it, I'd just do it yourself. I installed my daughters convertible seat myself.

l1i2v3 said:

I didn't realize that you could have someone install it for you - and certianly didn't realize it was that expensive!

If you're comfortable with it, I'd just do it yourself. Or have them do it this time but watch them so that when it comes time to add the adjuster you can do that yourself. But as long as you can get a good install and feel comfortable wtih it, I'd just do it yourself. I installed my daughters convertible seat myself.

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There are some business around that are 'installers,' and rather than teach the parent how to do it and help them through it and check the final product, they just do it for you, for $80. And it's a business and if you're on board with that, ok. Some people do just want that. Some techs also charge for their seat checks, and that's completely fine too -- but I am much more in favour of the parent leaving being able to replicate it themselves.

It doesn't hurt to have a tech check an install even if you think it's perfect. In all of the seats I've ever checked (I don't know how many that is now...hundreds) I've seen two that did not have use or install issues. No one was doing it wrongly on purpose, and some people were completely confident that they had no issues. I don't mean to single you out -- hanging out here and reading your manual increases your odds greatly of having a perfect installation, but the misuse rate is so high because you're not the norm.

Did you check our list for someone near you? $80 is a lot for an hours work...

As for the question asked, should you install it now and then again. There is *no* need to do that. You can have it installed now, then when your girls are old enough (and have sufficient head control etc), you do *not* uninstall the seats to put the AAs in. You loosen the tether strap and then push on the back of the seat (upwards). And, then pop the AA under the seat. You then tighten the tether strap back up. Please read the limited instructions step by step that are on the AA when you do it. But, the seat is to be properly installed w/ the lower latch (or seat belt) *before* you add the AA into the mix, so you would not be undoing the professional install to add the AA under the seats.

The same goes for if you are going on a long trip and want to remove it. Opposite order of course. I find my 3yo, who rarely sleeps in the car anyway, has trouble w/ the upright install w/ the AA in. His head tips forward and then can get stuck sort of under the SIP wings.

Also, you asked about the Britax seats, and my response as a mom w/ a long torso boy is you've made the *right* choice. When the new Britax seats came out last year, I tried my guy in one and he had just turned 2yo and he was already too tall to RF in them. He's short, but has a super long torso and I'm starting to wonder if we'll make it to 4yo in our RN b/c of it!

And finally, as several PPs have already said, I encourage you to learn how to install your seats yourself b/c you never know when you will get stuck on the side of the road w/ a broken down car and need to pull them out to get into a tow truck or taxi. Or, for that matter if you are going to ever travel and/or go w/ a friend for the day...So, be sure if you are paying someone in addition to them doing it, they at least show you how to do it!

Other techs: I'm a bit confused w/ the liability of the professional installers (on their part)?? As my understanding is that our insurance does not cover us to *touch* the seat being installed, just show you how to do it...

tam

Let me know if you are in the Toronto area, and I can help out. You can come by my work to try out the seats, but I know they will fit, and with adding pressure in the right spots, get them a little more upright.