Question HELP Help! Graco Nautlius V.S. Diono Radian RXT

cherieqyl

New member
I have a 2.5 yr old girl (28lb and 85cm) who loves her Graco MyRide65, and my 4 months old baby boy is almost out grown his infant car seat.

Now I need some great advise of what to get next!

(I did some research and narrowed down to Nautlius and Radian Rxt)

Option 1: I get a Graco Nautlius for my toddler girl and let the baby boy have the MR
(only i have to worry about getting another combination seat/booster for the boy later.... )

Option 2: Get a Diono Radian Rxt for the baby, which the car seat will grow with him (big money saving!)
(what would you recommend to get for my toddler when she is too tall for her MR? ie a booster seat?)

Huge thanks in advance!!!


:rolleyes:
 
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Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Just reading quickly - you may have other options depending on what you drive, etc., but I will add:

Option 3: pass MyRide to baby and put toddler in the Radian, rear-facing preferably. If she's not rear-facing, and you have no plans to rear face her again, then the Nautilus is usually a great choice. Another to consider is the Evenflo Maestro. If you do go the Radian route, she ought to fit in it until she is booster-ready. Worry about what booster to get in a few years, at which point they are usually quite a lot less money than an infant/child seat.
 

cherieqyl

New member
Just reading quickly - you may have other options depending on what you drive, etc., but I will add:

Option 3: pass MyRide to baby and put toddler in the Radian, rear-facing preferably. If she's not rear-facing, and you have no plans to rear face her again, then the Nautilus is usually a great choice. Another to consider is the Evenflo Maestro. If you do go the Radian route, she ought to fit in it until she is booster-ready. Worry about what booster to get in a few years, at which point they are usually quite a lot less money than an infant/child seat.

Good idea acutally, my only concern is that once my baby boy is too big for the MR, I can let him have the Nautilus, but will the toddler girl big enough for a booster (she is always average size hopefully will be still) I really don't want to spend another $200 something ...ouch!
 

cherieqyl

New member
If she's FF I would pass the myride down and get her a nautilus then. Although I agree I'd rather see her rf in a radian.

ya, too late to go back to RF, she enjoys FF too much.

just out of curiosity, is there a booster/combination car seat you recommend for her to use late on? ($50-100 price tag?)
 

Jessica61624

New member
cherieqyl said:
ya, too late to go back to RF, she enjoys FF too much.

just out of curiosity, is there a booster/combination car seat you recommend for her to use late on? ($50-100 price tag?)

Have you tried rf her? My son is 2.5 and has went back and forth rf and FF without issue. The nautilus is a combination seat so I'm not sure what you mean. A booster seat?
 

cherieqyl

New member
Have you tried rf her? My son is 2.5 and has went back and forth rf and FF without issue. The nautilus is a combination seat so I'm not sure what you mean. A booster seat?

Sorry I wasn't being clear, trying to do the posting while feeding the little one.

I meant once I pass the Nautilus to the baby boy then I have to get something for my girl. (a lot people said their kids out-grown MR fast due to the height limit was reached)

Man, mabe I shouldn't get ahead of myself too early, Thre reason I like Radian is it has 10 year life! I will ask my toddler about RF:)
 

Jessica61624

New member
cherieqyl said:
Sorry I wasn't being clear, trying to do the posting while feeding the little one.

I meant once I pass the Nautilus to the baby boy then I have to get something for my girl. (a lot people said their kids out-grown MR fast due to the height limit was reached)

Man, mabe I shouldn't get ahead of myself too early, Thre reason I like Radian is it has 10 year life! I will ask my toddler about RF:)

I wouldn't worry about that now. A lot of seats come out every year and by then the same seats might not be on the market.
 

tam_shops

New member
If you are willing to RF her, then I would put her in a Radian. I RF my guy at 3yo when I got a Radian, no complaints from him. He stayed that way until recently.

If you want to FF her, then I would get the Nautilus or Frontier.

If you want a more affordable and/or spare seat, I would get the Evenflo Maestro. Was around $100 at Walmart and went on sale at Sears for $80 recently.

tam
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Sorry I wasn't being clear, trying to do the posting while feeding the little one.

I meant once I pass the Nautilus to the baby boy then I have to get something for my girl. (a lot people said their kids out-grown MR fast due to the height limit was reached)

Man, mabe I shouldn't get ahead of myself too early, Thre reason I like Radian is it has 10 year life! I will ask my toddler about RF:)

Hello@ It's great that you're willing to consider turning her back rear facing. It offers big safety benefits and honestly is more comfortable for kids because it gives them somewhere to place their legs/feet without leaving them dangling in the air which causes the bottom half of their bodies to get uncomfy quick. My son (at 7, almost 8) is forward facing in a booster and has blankets in the floorboard for something to put his feet on. It's too uncomfortable otherwise.

I did want to say, though, that I would not ask the toddler if she wants to rear face. :) We have the most success turning kids back RF when we just do it matter of factly. "Mommy found out it's A LOT safer for you to be rear facing, so you're going to sit that way again, just like your brother." OR something to that effect. Like most safety issues, at that age, it really shouldn't be a child's choice. They don't understand the safety issues at stake. IF you get a Radian, let her help choose the color, that'll help. Keep in mind that you may want to use the seat for another child, though. You can replace the covers, but they're not cheap.

I would definitely put the baby in the MR, it'll last him a long time yet. Put 2.5 yo in Radian. Hand down the Radian to younger child when he outgrows the MyRide, and then the older child will likely then be ready for a booster seat (kids are ready for boosters around 5-6 years old). Boosters aren't that expensive, depending on the model. IF younger child is ready for Radian before older child is ready for booster, reevaluate then and see what the best option to buy is going to be.
 

SynEpona

New member
Man, mabe I shouldn't get ahead of myself too early, Thre reason I like Radian is it has 10 year life! I will ask my toddler about RF:)

I believe only the booster portion is 10 yr, but my manuals are not close at hand and the online one won't load for me right now. It has a very limited range as a booster, so I wouldn't consider that part of it's useful function.

I agree with the other poster, if you're going to RF your toddler, don't ask, just do it.

The nautilus is a good booster once the harness is outgrown and I believe the booster portion has a 10 year life span.

For me, it made sense to get Radians, use them till my kids were done with them, and then move into dedicated boosters. That gives maximum useful life for my seats, with minimum seat purchasing. However, my son was in his Radian by about 6mth old, and DD has been in hers since birth. We have a 3rd that DS used from the time we got it until now, and DD is going into it as soon as I do a major seat shuffle when ever it's nice out and DH's truck is here. Our oldest one will become a travel seat until it expires.
 

Brianna

New member
Another don't ask vote :)

J is 2 1/2 and he's outgrown his MyRide rear facing by height, so he rides FF in some vehicles but he still rides RF with me and on longer trips in his Evenflo Triumph Advance. He doesn't have any problems changing back and forth and actually prefers to be RF as he has somewhere to put his legs.
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Yes, I stated in my post that the booster portion is 10 year span. If her child is 3 that would get her to age 13....

Not really because the booster portion of the Radian is essentially useless. It is not adjustable so when the harness is outgrown, the booster is outgrown, too. Also, on the RXT model, the shoulder belt tends to stick instead of free sliding through the belt guide. It just isn't a great booster. OP will still need to buy a booster at some point even if she purchases a Radian.
 

mommycat

Well-known member
Sparkly was talking about the Nauti though, not the Radian. ;)

How tall/heavy are your kids? Ds2 was riding in the MyRide and fit RF until 4yo. He will turn 5 in about 3mo and still has room to grow FF. He may or may not fit long enough to get to 40lbs, it is likely that he will though. He is about 25-40th percentile (can't recall which kid was what exactly anymore). The baby could likely use the MR until it expires unless he is particularly on the bigger end.

I think RF would be a great idea for the toddler as well. At the very least I would worry about head slump - which may not be a safety issue exactly but even if they don't complain I don't agree that it is a healthy way to ride. The Nauti is a great seat but head slump is often an issue and definitely was in our '07 Civic. For a 5yo I wasnt too worried because it happened rarely but I imagine a 2yo still sleeps often in longer drives? The MR is naturally very reclined when FF so it would be a big change. On the plus side, I thought the Radian fit quite well RF behind my drivers seat in the Civic when I tried it out, and that was without the angle adjuster to help get the seat more upright, just some slight effort to angle it with pushing and tightening the right way.
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Sparkly was talking about the Nauti though, not the Radian. ;)

How tall/heavy are your kids? Ds2 was riding in the MyRide and fit RF until 4yo. He will turn 5 in about 3mo and still has room to grow FF. He may or may not fit long enough to get to 40lbs, it is likely that he will though. He is about 25-40th percentile (can't recall which kid was what exactly anymore). The baby could likely use the MR until it expires unless he is particularly on the bigger end.

I think RF would be a great idea for the toddler as well. At the very least I would worry about head slump - which may not be a safety issue exactly but even if they don't complain I don't agree that it is a healthy way to ride. The Nauti is a great seat but head slump is often an issue and definitely was in our '07 Civic. For a 5yo I wasnt too worried because it happened rarely but I imagine a 2yo still sleeps often in longer drives? The MR is naturally very reclined when FF so it would be a big change. On the plus side, I thought the Radian fit quite well RF behind my drivers seat in the Civic when I tried it out, and that was without the angle adjuster to help get the seat more upright, just some slight effort to angle it with pushing and tightening the right way.

:doh:
 

SynEpona

New member
Sorry, I lost part of my train of thought to the 11mth old that was helping me type earlier! I forgot to erase the 2nd quote, which had no bearing on my final answer -- I think it was relevant to whatever I meant to say when I started my reply :)
 

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