Radian, Secure Kid, frontier for sleeping?

greenpea77

New member
I have a 5.5 year old 40 lb kid who's marathon just expired. I have been researching new seat for her. We want the 5pt harness to 65lbs. She is a total car sleeper so it needs to give her sleep support. When she has slept in her brothers Nautilus, her head slumps forward. SO..we had our eye on the Dinio Radian as we like the smaller footprint...we can afford the $ of the R100 only. It does not seem to have much padding around the head..so I am not sure if it can support a sleeper.??? Next Secure kids..dont know much about it..feedback? Then the Frontier. We love britax, but again can only afford the clear out models. And it is BIG.... Wondering how it does with as sleeping head? love your thoughts and experience on this one.
 
ADS

tiggercat

New member
I wouldn't buy a radian for a child that big. The Frontier would be my first choice, it is nice for sleeping.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org
 

actuallyamanda

New member
I vote Frontier also. DS sleeps in his often and his head never slumps over. Plus, it can be used at a booster later when he's older.
 

agave

New member
It must depend on the kid my 5 yr old slumps in the Radian, Maestro and Frontier. She has stopped slumping and sleeping more since moving to a booster.
 

bubbaray

New member
I wouldn't rule out boosters just due to sleeping. Both my kids moved to boosters at 5/40 and sleep in them ALL the time.
 

thtr4me

New member
My bog boy sleeps really well in the Frontier. We also just got a Parkway to work on booster training and as a seat for the nanny's car, and he stayed in perfect position sleeping in it this morning. I was pleasantly surprised by how well he slept in it. He is 7yo and just hit 45lbs.
 

Keeyamah

Active member
This is how it looks when DS sleeps in the Frontier.

That's about how my older son looks in the Frontier as well, except in our trip up to McCall (3hr drive) and he just flopped over. But he hadn't had a nap that day before we left and was exhausted. After a bit he picked himself back up.
 

Guest

New member
I think the Radian sucks actually. Feature wise, like on paper, it sounds great. In actuality, unless you drive a tiny car or have a ton of car seats and your ONLY option is the small footprint of a Radian, skip the seat. My kids were never comfortable in it, the buckle is a ton harder to insert/open, the straps adjust far less smoothly than other manufacturers. My Cosco Scenera is easier to use than the Radian.
 

bnsnyde

New member
Securekid is so easy to deal with overall. I like ours. Just...you unbuckle by pushing toward the top of the buckle and I don't like that.

We also have the Frontier90 and it's fine too but big and bulky, and way more $$. And the harness is not as easy for me at all.

We used the Radian FF but my 3.5 YO looked too big b/c headrest kept slipping. So, we bought him the Securekid.

None of my kids have slept in the car that I remember at all except for baby.
 

Athena

Well-known member
My kids had terrible head slump in the GN, yet that rarely happens in our Frontier 85s. I hear the FR90 is more upright, so a clearance/close out FR85 might be perfect for you. Plus, it seems unlikely the other seats would last long, unless she's really small for her age.

How big is she (height, weight) and where were her shoulders relative to the top Marathon slots and which marathon (classic or new gen)? Do you know about height limits and are you aware that most of the time, kids outgrow seats by height before weight?
 

greenpea77

New member
She is fairly tall for 5.5yrs. She just hit 40lbs, so we will no longer be able to use latch ( our pontiac Vibe has a 40lb max for latch) ugh!!

She is on the top slot of the old generation marathon and that fits her fine still...but it just expired.

I just picked up a Radian R100 on clearance...but am unsure..seems so not comfy..?

Frontier XT or XT SICT are also both on clearance. Is there much difference?

Or SecureKid 400 coming in at the cheapest.

I like the nautilus and would buy again if her head did not slump so bad.

Also looking for which model might be easiest to use the seat belt attachment as we do transfer car seats from time to time.
 

TLG Momma

New member
We just got the Secure Kid 400 for DD, she is 4yr and 42lb about 41in. Last years manufacture is at Sears for $119. It fits her great, but her head slumped horribly. It seems like it would be supportive and DS has a Parkway SLX that he sleeps in just fine, the depth and angle of the head support doesn't seem much different so I think it really may depend on the child like another poster stated, not sure. DS always sleeps on the back of his head in the car with it tilted up. It would give me a headache, but he seems fine and no matter the seat that is how he ends up, except when he had the Evenflo chase, that did give him slump. Other than her infant seat DD has only been in the Costco Scenera which gave slump to the side of her head. So DH seems to think she is just used to it and her head naturally goes that way. I kept placing her head to lean on the side of the Secure kid while asleep,(which looked comfy and supportive when I did), but she just kept dropping her chin down to her chest. I think it may be because the separate adjustable head rest has her head further forward, despite the angle of the seat, than a convertible seat would. Also the sides of the head support being less angled than her previous seat could be why. In researching seats it seemed the more angled the less support and more likely for slump, however, if your child is used to turning their head to the side a less angled seat would restrict that possible causing them to slump forward instead. DH says she just has to get used to it. But we just got it today so I can't be of any more help than that. Oh, also about seat belt install, it seemed much easier to install by seatbelt than a lot of the higher priced seats I tried.
 

Athena

Well-known member
She is fairly tall for 5.5yrs. She just hit 40lbs, so we will no longer be able to use latch ( our pontiac Vibe has a 40lb max for latch) ugh!!

She is on the top slot of the old generation marathon and that fits her fine still...but it just expired.

I just picked up a Radian R100 on clearance...but am unsure..seems so not comfy..?

Frontier XT or XT SICT are also both on clearance. Is there much difference?

Or SecureKid 400 coming in at the cheapest.

I like the nautilus and would buy again if her head did not slump so bad.

Also looking for which model might be easiest to use the seat belt attachment as we do transfer car seats from time to time.

My kids outgrow the Nauti by 5.5, so that's part of why I recommended the Frontier, but I also think the FR85 is good for sleeping. My 5yo is a car sleeper and it works great for her. The long belt path installation gets some getting used to, but it's certainly doable and I find it's much easier if I've done it recently. Whether you get the SICT depends on whether the cushions on the side are important to you and if you have the width to fit it.
 

YinzerMama

New member
My girls sleep great in the fr85s in harness mode. It is more reclined in harness mode. My oldest did mostly ok in a booster for sleeping- some slump early on then got the hang of it. I think if I had a 5 1/2 yo to move up personally I'd try to move to a booster - even on close out not the fr85s are still more than a booster and I don't really see it as the last seat you will need since it doesn't go backless, you may still need a new seat down the line. Maybe research good boosters for sleeping? I'm considering the monteray when we move up, if it fits in my car well. I have also seen the recaro vivo listed as a good one for sleeping but it's not for sale on amazon at the moment so I don't know if it has been dc'ed?
 

MommyShannon

New member
I agree, you need to look at the harness heights, not the weight limits. All the seats you are looking at will be outgrown by height first. Your Classic Marathon has 17" top slots. The Radian has 17.5", SecureKid has 18", nautilus has 18-18.5", Frontier85 has 20", and Frontier90 has 20.5". My kids slumped in the nautilus but I don't think it bothered them much. They sleep like they are in a cushy recliner in the FR85, but it is huge and can be a bear to install.
 

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