How do you like your Radian as a FF seat?

whitneyg

New member
We are considering turning DD in the next few months and I am curious how the Radian does FF? Any quirks or odd things to be aware of? Reasons to love it or hate it? We have the RXT if that makes a difference.
 
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Syllieann

New member
Not my fave for ff. it's difficult to install with seatbelt and when its ff you can't pull harness slack out from behind so you have to deal with the ratchet more often. The very low profile make it easier to climb into though and its very narrow so it can fit in places other hwh seats couldn't. My mom looked at all the hwh seats and decided she liked the radian best for ease of buckling and the fact that the child can climb in themselves. the frontier was a close 2nd. I prefer the frontier for primary vehicle where one might take long trips and child might fall asleep. Ds finds them both very comfy.
 

creideamh

Well-known member
I've never had an issue installing FF, and the small recline is enough to eliminate headslump (with headwings versions.) Like it for the low profile and narrowness obviously, agree with racheting the harness more often. I think the biggest downfalls are the rules for Safestop (hard for parents to keep straight), the outer buckle position 30lb rule if you have a super skinny kid, and... that's it.
I honestly don't find it any more irritating than any other seat.
 

christineka

New member
I have 2 ffing radians in my van right now and I love them! I have one in with latch and the other with a seatbelt. Seatbelt in that spot is difficult, but I don't take the seat out often. The harness isn't so easy to tighten ffing (It's not rfing either) I leave the harness the same all the time and make little adjustments as needed. I put my radians in recline mode. My kids sleep beautifully in them. (I have 80s.) I like how compact and flush to the seat they are.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I use my Radian as a FF seat, and I love it! I like how low-profile it is and how it allows me to still have room to stuff haul other "stuff" in the backseat (secured) if needed.
 

Neatfreak

New member
I love our FFing Radian! It's installed with the vehicle belt in the center of our middle row (no installation issues, either), and there it plenty of room on either side for adults to sit or other kids in carseats/boosters ...
 

redsox_baby

New member
We've been extremely happy with ours. I've only ever used them FF, so that's all I know.

We have smaller cars, and the low profile helps keep things roomy for the kids, even when my tall husband sits in front of them and moves the seat way back,
 

cookie123

New member
I really like it ff. The low sides are nice. Matthew buckles himself up, and he doesn't adjust the harness until after he has it on, so really, there is no harness adjusting. At first he had head slump on the rare occasion he would sleep, but after I told him to lean his head to the side, there was no more issue.

I didn't use it ff in my Prius because I couldn't get a decent seat belt install. Also Matthew couldn't see out since the seat is low and the windows high, or some such thing, so we switched to a ff ProRide. He loves the head buns. I decided to sell mine but he did continue to use the other one in his mom's car until I deemed it unsafe to use as there was a fair amount of wear on the harness and ours was the not replaceable model. Sunshine Kids said it was fine based on photos I sent them. :)

Anyway, I think you'll like it fine.
 

Meg

Well-known member
I prefer using my Radians FF. I have them FF for my 3 and 6 year old right now and it's great because my kids are tiny and the seats are low profile, so they can easily get into the seats themselves. The only issue I'm having lately is that I've been hearing people say on here they would absolutely never use a RN FF outboard for safety reasons and that's where I have my 3 year old, so now of course I'm questioning the seat and if I should buy something else.
 
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nutritionistmom

CPST Instructor
I have one FF in a '05 Honda Civic, it installed fine. Previously I had a Nauti there and ods was boostered and you couldn't fit anyone between them. But having the Radian allowed a little person to fit center even with the booster. I don't mind the harness, I just set it and leave it, and make small adjustments as necessary.
 
V

VanIsleMommy

Guest
I used mine for a few weeks ff and didn't have any issues, it was easy for him to climb in and out for sure.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

jacqui276

New member
Mine is primarily used RFing but I have used it FFing for transporting other kids and I like it as a FFing seat. It installs easily with the seat belt FFing in my car. I find the harness easier to tighten FFing as well (maybe has to do with the angle you are tugging at).
 

agave

New member
I prefer them RF I've never been happy with a FF seatbelt install I haven't tried very hard. My 4 yr old had really bad head slump FF but she slumps in every FF seat she's ever ridden in.
 

stephpook

New member
I love the Radian as a FF seat! It's low-profile, easy to get in and out of, doesn't take up a lot of room - pretty much everything that's already been mentioned. It can be tricky to get a tight seatbelt install in my van (and I've only ever been able to get it into one seating position in there with the seatbelt; it'll go anywhere with LATCH), but I've done it so many times now that I can almost always get it in tight on the first try. Even with the install difficulties, it's still my seat of choice for FFing.
 

HappyHoo

New member
My 65 I don't mind FF.

The XTSL I really do not like FF b/c of the ratcheting to tighten the harness.

I also get annoyed with the SafeStop rules and remembering about them - especially if I end up using it for a kid that's not my own.

So for now, my plan is to use my Radian65 FF when my DS outgrows the XTSL RF (has already reached the weight limit on the 65 for RF) - which means he's over 40 lbs so I don't have to worry about the SafeStop with him.

However, I really hope to not use my XTSL FF. DS has a Nautilus that he uses as his other seat.

The only way I'd use the XTSL FF is if I needed to do a 3 across for some reason. So I may hold on to it once DS outgrows it RF for that reason v. trying to sell it/give it away.

The low profile is nice, my DD was always very comfortable in them when FF - she did have head slump when sleeping, but she has head slump issues in every seat - including the Frontier.
 

arly1983

New member
Love ours FFing. I have been using a radian for years (xt and non-xt) on and off. I didn't like the xt FFing as much but it was still good. I always do seatbelt installs FFing and haven't had any problems in any of the cars I have used it in.

I worried about using it outboard at first because of the shallow sides but then I measured a marathon and it was the same depth. I think its an optical illusion. The radian comes straight out and the marathon is at an angle so it looks deeper but it isn't.
 

Cryssy Jane

New member
I had both the 80sl and the rxt and honestly I really liked the 80sl FF. My seats are not very reclined and I find that the headwings on the rxt always causes some major headslump. The 80sl did not have the head slump issue, but after watching those crazy crash tests it worried me to use them (not that I expect the small headwings to make a huge difference either though). I prefer radians as rf seats.
 

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