What to RF in next????

Chris

New member
DS is almost out of his boulevard rfing by height. I have been toying with the idea of a size4me/mysize70/headwise70...but, the harness issues some have makes me hesitate (I love a smoothly adjusting harness).

So I have been thinking maybe we should try to squeak by until the nextfit comes out...but I am not sure we have until late 2nd quarter before we need it, but the seat for the price point is pretty good (but not as good as the under $150 I could get the mysize70 during trade in for).

THEN, DH says tonight that if I am good to him, we could get a foonf with the tax return. WHAT THE FOONF?!?!

Gah! What to do now???
 
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Chris

New member
Ah, I forgot to mention that I hate the radian. I keep hearing that it installs awesomely in my car, but 4separate tries and many scraped knuckles later I have yet to get an install that I really am happy with. A seat that expensive should not be that aggravating. The techs at the last check had issues figuring out how to install my Britaxes and made me remove the RF tether because technically my car doesn't say anywhere in the manual that I can use it (in a dodge caravan, not an unusual seat or an unusual car). Sooo, I have zero confidence that a local tech could be more helpful with the radian.

DS will be three in April and we have another due in April, so baby will go in a bucket for a few months until the Blvd is a better fit and baby isn't sleeping so much, and DS will get a new seat to ERF in. We want to RF as long as possible. He hasn't complained at all about rfing, or asked to turn, and DH is totally on board so we will rf until we can't! Soo, after baby outgrows the blvd, he can move up to ERF in whatever seat we buy, and we should get full lifespan out of a good seat if we don't crash it!

Isn't there a newer Peg out there that is supposed to be good ERF too?
 

Phineasmama

New member
What kind of install are you doing??! I can install a radian in the captains chair of my dodge caravan with latch in like 60 seconds flat :confused:
 

Chris

New member
Oh, and I haven't tried the foonf yet because there just was no point, but that is now on my to do list this week. I imagine I would be ok height wise as I already have a nautilus and a frontier, both extended up pretty high and they fit. Not sure how tight it will be RFing space wise though. I have already given up on ever being able to see out my rear window again so I don't worry too much about that, LOL!
 

Chris

New member
With the radian I tried to do both latch and seatbelt. It is important to me to be able to do both, just in case. This was pre-angle adjuster and that may have impacted the fit, and the one I have tried more recently didn't have the angle adjuster either because they use it FF.

Can those stupid little feet on the recline boot go into the seat bight? It was impossible to tell from the manul, but not shoving them in there as far as possible made the install in my captains chair loose (among other things).

I also need the seat to go in the third row, and want to be able to use it either rf or ff in both rows. I just can't seem to make all of that work no matter how much I twist down buckles and work every other trick people suggest here. I really, really, have wanted to find the radian love and just can't seem to.
 

Phineasmama

New member
With the radian I tried to do both latch and seatbelt. It is important to me to be able to do both, just in case. This was pre-angle adjuster and that may have impacted the fit, and the one I have tried more recently didn't have the angle adjuster either because they use it FF.

Can those stupid little feet on the recline boot go into the seat bight? It was impossible to tell from the manul, but not shoving them in there as far as possible made the install in my captains chair loose (among other things).

I also need the seat to go in the third row, and want to be able to use it either rf or ff in both rows. I just can't seem to make all of that work no matter how much I twist down buckles and work every other trick people suggest here. I really, really, have wanted to find the radian love and just can't seem to.

You are SUPPOSED to shove the feet of the RFing boot in there as far as they will go, that's what they're there for.

I didn't install it with the seat belt because I like to be able to slide the captains chairs up and down if i wanted to. But there's no way I would need an angle adjuster.
In the 3rd row I could also install it with latch in the middle.
 

aept

New member
I have installed our RXT RF in the captains chairs or third row outboard passenger side with seatbelts. I prefer the seatbelt install in the captains chair and although I do use an angle adjuster now, I have also done it without the AA with either latch or seatbelt. I have it down to a couple of minutes for any of those RF installs.
I also have to say - I am comfortable with some movement at the belt path (less than an inch, of course) but I'm not one of those people who is obsessed with getting a cemented-in type of installation. (I used to be. I'm over it.)
I've also installed a Radian 65 FF in a captains chair with latch, third row outboard with seat belt, and in that offset center third row latch position. The ff installs are admittedly trickier and take mw a little more time but are doable, I thought. Not as bad as getting Radians three across in a Prius, for sure!
I have a 2010 grand caravan with fabric seats, if that matters.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

Phineasmama

New member
I have installed our RXT RF in the captains chairs or third row outboard passenger side with seatbelts. I prefer the seatbelt install in the captains chair and although I do use an angle adjuster now, I have also done it without the AA with either latch or seatbelt. I have it down to a couple of minutes for any of those RF installs.
I also have to say - I am comfortable with some movement at the belt path (less than an inch, of course) but I'm not one of those people who is obsessed with getting a cemented-in type of installation. (I used to be. I'm over it.)
I've also installed a Radian 65 FF in a captains chair with latch, third row outboard with seat belt, and in that offset center third row latch position. The ff installs are admittedly trickier and take mw a little more time but are doable, I thought. Not as bad as getting Radians three across in a Prius, for sure!
I have a 2010 grand caravan with fabric seats, if that matters.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

I have a 2010 grand caravan with fabric seats, if that matters.

Me too!

OP if you hate the radian then you hate it. But I think it's a little unrealistic to expect a car seat to install well both rear facing and forward facing in every single position of a van :eek: Especially with the grand caravan, they have a lot of quirks.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
I'm not a lover of the radian either, I hate how the harness attaches, it's a giant pita. Sooo, I put it in my mom's 08 caravan where it fits beautifully in every position I've tried it in. I've done both latch and seatbelt and have yet to take more than 3 minutes to put it in.

Rght now I'm using all my os britax blvds rfing because I love the ease of use AND how easily they come apart and go together (we eat alot in my van). The whole new buckle thing with graco/evenflo really pisses me off because it's a ton of seats I can't use or frankly even recommend because of the pos buckle. As much as I hate a continuous harness I've been looking at the pria and and ca to replace my blvds when they start expiring later this year.
 

jjordan

Moderator
Okay... radian issues aside (I am not a big fan either, btw)...

If you post a picture of your ds in the BV, we could all have fun guessing how much time he has left. Often kids do not grow much torso for a while when they're that age.

As for the Peg, try it before you buy. It seems to depend on the situation, but some people find it doesn't have much growing room at all compared to the Britax seats, and somehow other people find that it has a significant amount of room. When/if you do try it, make sure you're following the instructions in the manual as far as how high the headrest is allowed to go for RF.

I also like the looks of the NextFit (from what I've read), and personally would probably go with that if possible, just because the Foonf is so pricey! But on the other hand, it might be hard to turn down a Foonf, plus who knows when the NextFit will *actually* be shipping...
 

Chris

New member
Ok, ok, I will give the radian another try. I will have to bribe DS with the iPad and candy and probably lunch out, but I will try to get to BBBthis week to try the foonf, radian, size 4me and peg side by side.

Anybody find that one or the other is easier for kids to buckle themselves in? Since DS will eventually be in the third row, it would be spectacular if he could climb into his seat and buckle himself. My other two kids could by age three in their Britaxes seats, but he isn't even close. I am not sure if it has something to do with them having been ffing vs him being rfing or if it's something to do with the changes in seat design, or if he just isn't the car seat monkey that they were.

Oh, and DS soaked his seat yesterday so it is bathing today. I will try for pics tomorrow. Then we can all guess if there might possibly be a nextfit in our future, LOL.
 

Phineasmama

New member
I'm not a lover of the radian either, I hate how the harness attaches, it's a giant pita. Sooo, I put it in my mom's 08 caravan where it fits beautifully in every position I've tried it in. I've done both latch and seatbelt and have yet to take more than 3 minutes to put it in.

Rght now I'm using all my os britax blvds rfing because I love the ease of use AND how easily they come apart and go together (we eat alot in my van). The whole new buckle thing with graco/evenflo really pisses me off because it's a ton of seats I can't use or frankly even recommend because of the pos buckle. As much as I hate a continuous harness I've been looking at the pria and and ca to replace my blvds when they start expiring later this year.

Do you have an older Radian or a Diono radian? The older ones were the biggest PITA ever to get the harness back on the spitter plate, but the new ones seem MUCH better to me.
 

Baylor

New member
Ok, ok, I will give the radian another try. I will have to bribe DS with the iPad and candy and probably lunch out, but I will try to get to BBBthis week to try the foonf, radian, size 4me and peg side by side.

Anybody find that one or the other is easier for kids to buckle themselves in? Since DS will eventually be in the third row, it would be spectacular if he could climb into his seat and buckle himself. My other two kids could by age three in their Britaxes seats, but he isn't even close. I am not sure if it has something to do with them having been ffing vs him being rfing or if it's something to do with the changes in seat design, or if he just isn't the car seat monkey that they were.

Oh, and DS soaked his seat yesterday so it is bathing today. I will try for pics tomorrow. Then we can all guess if there might possibly be a nextfit in our future, LOL.

What do you mean? It is not soaking in the tub is it???
 

Chris

New member
Do you have an older Radian or a Diono radian? The older ones were the biggest PITA ever to get the harness back on the spitter plate, but the new ones seem MUCH better to me.

I don't own a radian, just tried several times to install them because I have wanted to love them...but haven't. I tried to install both the older Radian 2 separate times (in spring 2011, post car accident) and the Diono just 2 mths ago. Admittedly, I was very hurried with the new one and after raking my knuckles a couple of times really solidly I was ticked and gave up. I just don't see spending that much money on a seat that I fight with to install, and then daily to use (I like a nice harness adjuster, not sure how much the ratcheting of the radian will annoy me), and then I may not even be able to use it in another person's car in a pinch if I have to. Dealing with that in a $50 seat I can see, but not in a $200-$300 seat. I will try again and maybe it will all just click this time.

Can kids buckle the Radian ok themselves? I haven't heard much about that, but I would love to move towards DS buckling himself in so that I can just do a visual check and not climb through the hatch every time we are in and out of the car.
 

Chris

New member
OK, photos of DS in his BLVD 70. I have a super hard time figuring out where exactly his head falls in relation to the shell. My best guess is somewhere between 1 1/2"-2 1/2". If it is 2 1/2" I am sure we will make it long enough to try out a Nextfit, but if it is 1 1/2" I need to make a decision pretty quickly.

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