Marathon lasting longer than than Radian for RFing? *added pictures

Does that sound right?

My 2.5 year old is RFing in a classic Marathon. She is 30 lbs and about 37 or 38". Her legs are cramped because she has long legs and because the Marathon doesn't have a ton of leg room. She has never complained about it but we are going on a cross country trip in a few days and will be driving through the night one of the nights...I figured a Radian would be more comfortable for her. So I tried my older daughter's Radian XTSL RFing with an angle adjuster in our Jeep Liberty. She had a ton of leg room, but I was really surprised that she didn't have more shell above her head.

It looks like she would outgrow them both about the same time whereas I thought that she would have much more time in the Radian. She is only on the second slot of the Marathon.

Does the Radian just sit differently than the Marathon? I always thought the Radian was a lot taller than the Marathon, and a Radian is usually suggested for tall kids. Or is it just that the Radian has a higher weight limit?

ETA:

Both RFing, book is 1" thick. Radian is installed with the angle adjuster.

I gave her a cookie to get her to sit in the seats for me

Radian:




Marathon (it looks more upright than it really is)

Re: Marathon lasting longer than than Radian for RFing?

The radian definitely has a taller shell. My kiddo outgrew the MA by height long ago but can still fit RF in the RN.

Same with mine, except it was a BLVD, not a MA. My almost 7 y/o can still ride RF in our RN, if she is so inclined, but she's been out of the others for a few years.

oops double post!

Buckling can change that. She may be sitting up taller in one seat. Also the angle of the seat can change the amount of room as well.

The shells are actually the same height, I think, or within 1/2" of each other. It's a mystery why most kids seem to fit longer in the radian. I found that my ds seemed to have the same growing room in either, though.

Incidentally, if she doesn't complain about cramped legs in the marathon, then I wouldn't worry about it. IME kids have no trouble complaining if they are at all uncomfortable!

The data sheet shows the internal seating height of the classic MA as 24.5" and the radian as 25".

I can't remember - is there a standing height limit on the classic Marathons or is it the 1" rule? I'm not inclined to go over standing height limits.

Pixelated said:

I can't remember - is there a standing height limit on the classic Marathons or is it the 1" rule? I'm not inclined to go over standing height limits.

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Good question. I'll have to check that out as well.

jjordan said:

The shells are actually the same height, I think, or within 1/2" of each other. It's a mystery why most kids seem to fit longer in the radian. I found that my ds seemed to have the same growing room in either, though.

Incidentally, if she doesn't complain about cramped legs in the marathon, then I wouldn't worry about it. IME kids have no trouble complaining if they are at all uncomfortable!

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I generally follow my girls' lead when it comes to whether they are comfortable or not. I just didn't want her to start complaining when we are halfway across the country. Our usual drives are about 1.5 hours, but with the cross country drive, we'll be in the car for long periods of time. But we drove across the country in August, so I guess she hasn't grown very much.

We decided to just keep them in the seats they are in now since she's not complaining.

featherhead said:

Buckling can change that. She may be sitting up taller in one seat. Also the angle of the seat can change the amount of room as well.

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Good point! I didn't want to buckle her in the Radian because it's set for my older DD. I couldn't get the Radian at a more upright angle. I installed it as upright as possible, and then I added the angle adjuster.

We've decided to just leave things as they are. When we visit my brother in AR, I'm going to borrow my nephew's frontier and work on a puzzling arrangement for 3-across and see how my older daughter likes the Frontier.

Pixelated said:

I can't remember - is there a standing height limit on the classic Marathons or is it the 1" rule? I'm not inclined to go over standing height limits.

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Height limit is 49" both RF and FF on the classic Britax.

If you follow The 1" rule of the Britax, vs. the 1.5" rule for the Radian, it seems to me they'd be about the same.