Question How do Radians do not FF tethered?

mlohry · Dec 28, 2012

A friend bought 3 Radians to do a 3 across in her van, not quite sure why she wants then all in the 3rd row. She is expecting #4 and that child will go driver side middle row and she has the other captains chair out. She has 2 Radians FF tethered as she has 2 anchors, but the 1 in the middle she doesn't have anchored. This is not my choice and trust me she knows my stance here, but she has the almost 5 year old and an almost 3 year old FF tethered on the sides and the 15 month old FF not tethered between the other 2 seats. If you were not going to tether, who would you not tether?

I know, this should be a mute point the 15 month old should be RF, but this is what she is choosing, so I want all 3 kids to be as safe as possible and she asked. TIA.

Jessica61624 · Dec 28, 2012

The youngest should get the tether. But at the same time the youngest ff child should be in the center. I'd still chose out board tethered for the 15 month old. If rf is not going to happen.

mlohry · Dec 28, 2012

Jessica61624 said:
The youngest should get the tether. But at the same time the youngest ff child should be in the center. I'd still chose out board tethered for the 15 month old. If rf is not going to happen.

Huh-I told her the opposite because I was thinking of weight. I'll let her know. Wish she would just RF him! Solve the issue!

lovemybabybug · Dec 28, 2012

I am thinking you want the youngest tethered as the risk of neck injury is probably higher on him (you know the whole ossification and all) in a ff situation.

tiggercat · Dec 28, 2012

Interesting logical question: in a radian, if you tether for an under 40lb kid, you have to add the safe stop. Which increases head excursion. Does that negate/reduce the benefits of the tether?
What vehicle does she drive, perhaps retrofitting is possible.
(I am Canadian, so I would explain that it is illegal to FF any of them without a tether and push RF or rearrange kids.)

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

mlohry · Dec 28, 2012

I am not sure what it is, maybe a Pontiac Montana...it's older and wasn't a very popular van. DH says it didn't do well in crashes.

That's the other issue, she only had the safe stop on 2/3 seats. Would she be better off not using the safe stop? I don't understand what that thing does. I did tell her she needs to use it on all seats as all kids are under 40lbs. I really don't know if she will do a retrofit.,

LISmama810 · Dec 28, 2012

The SafeStop is only used on tethered FF seats when the kid weighs under 40 lbs. So she absolutely cannot have the Safe Stop on the untethered seat, regardless of the kid's weight.

I have heard people say that it's better to tether a taller, heavier child since they'll fly forward more. I'd rather have the 1-year-old tethered, though, due to having a less mature skeleton and proportionately larger head. The untethered head excursion standard for harnessed seats is the same as for boosters, so figure the 5-year-old would have the same head excursion in a booster.

The Radian has very good numbers untethered. I think untethered it actually meets (or at least comes close to?) the head excursion requirement for tethered seats, so if you can't tether, it's probably a good choice.

Carrie_R · Dec 28, 2012

I disagree, I would leave the lightest untethered. Tethering reduces head excursion, which is going to increase with mass (and to some degree, possibly even height within the seat.)

Such a shame that she's spent $$$ on seats to leave her children with sub-optimal protection.

Eta: I guess I also feel like tethering increases neck loads, by not allowing the top of the seat to move with the child. I dunno, I could be crazy wrong on that.

mlohry · Dec 28, 2012

Very good to know about the safe stop. We just got a Radian from a trade, but it's only used for RF our DD who is close to 4.

tiggercat · Dec 28, 2012

mlohry said:
I am not sure what it is, maybe a Pontiac Montana...it's older and wasn't a very popular van. DH says it didn't do well in crashes.

That's the other issue, she only had the safe stop on 2/3 seats. Would she be better off not using the safe stop? I don't understand what that thing does. I did tell her she needs to use it on all seats as all kids are under 40lbs. I really don't know if she will do a retrofit.,

If you can get the model name and year, I can tell you if there is a retrofit kit available.

The safe stop is a load limiting device designed to reduce neck strain on younger, smaller forward facers. You use the safe stop on the radian when installed foward facing with the top tether for children under 40lb. If the tether is not used, you do not use the safe stop.

She needs to use the SS on the tethered seats (assuming the older two kids are under 40lbs) and not use it on the untethered one.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

mommyfrog · Dec 28, 2012

Carrie_R said:
I disagree, I would leave the lightest untethered. Tethering reduces head excursion, which is going to increase with mass (and to some degree, possibly even height within the seat.)

Such a shame that she's spent $$$ on seats to leave her children with sub-optimal protection.

Eta: I guess I also feel like tethering increases neck loads, by not allowing the top of the seat to move with the child. I dunno, I could be crazy wrong on that.

That's what I think too. If the top of the seat doesn't move then it seems like there would be a more sudden stop causing more neck loads. Kind of like the argument some people have for boostering older kids, instead of harnessing. That the booster allows the body to move forward in a more fluid motion, causing less neck loads. That is why the Safe Stop is there, to reduce neck loads on younger children who are tethered. The main point of the tether is to reduce head excursion to keep the child's head from hitting the seat in front of them. I'd keep the baby in the middle since he/she is less protected being so young.

Radians do pass tethered limits untethered, but the middle position doesn't have anything in front of it anyway, right?

mlohry · Dec 28, 2012

Got a text that my friend is going to RF the 15 month old. Our talk helped her to realize how important it was and she ordered an angle adjuster to help with install. I asked her the make and year of her van so I can give her more info on the tether hooks.

Jessica61624 · Dec 28, 2012

mlohry said:
Got a text that my friend is going to RF the 15 month old. Our talk helped her to realize how important it was and she ordered an angle adjuster to help with install. I asked her the make and year of her van so I can give her more info on the tether hooks.

Yay! Hopefully she sticks with it.

Kac · Dec 28, 2012

Glad that the difficult decision doesn't have to be made!!

Carrie_R · Dec 29, 2012

Awesome. It's doubly-important in this case, so I hope she's able to work it out!

If her older two are trustworthy, she might find it easier to put the newbie between them in the third row. That way she just has to lean back and dock the carrier in the base, and she could put the 15mo by the door.

Question How do Radians do not FF tethered?

mlohry

New member

Jessica61624

New member

mlohry

New member

lovemybabybug

New member

tiggercat

New member

mlohry

New member

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician

mlohry

New member

tiggercat

New member

mommyfrog

Active member

mlohry

New member

Jessica61624

New member

Kac

Ambassador - CPS Technician

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics