Britax frontier vs Diono Radian - Canada

sarahsentry · Feb 22, 2014

Hello,
Looking for a seat for my 2 year old - 38 inches and 34 pounds. I'm searching for a FF 5 point harness/Booster convertible and in my preliminary search the britax frontier and Diono Radian float to the top pretty quickly. Does anyone have information on how these two compare? Radian looks less bulky, easy to transport, easy for kid to crawl in but I believe the frontier allows for taller height, especially in the booster mode.
(BTW I'm in Canada)

cookie123 · Feb 22, 2014

Re: Britax frontier vs Diono Radian

Hi and welcome! The Radian is a great seat to rear face a two year old. It has great leg room and IS easy for little ones to get in and out of. Rear facing is 500% safer than forward facing and is recommended for anyone who fits in a rear facing seat. While it looks less bulky, it is a heavy unwieldy seat when you're hefting it around.

As far as the Frontier, if you're going to forward face, I'd probably get that. Make sure he meets the minimum requirements. It will last a long long time harnessed, longer than any other seat as it has the highest harness height of any other harnessed seat. Most kids will outgrow the height of a seat before the weight.

Here's a link to information regarding the increased safety benefits of rear facing if you are interested in learning more.

http://carseatblog.com/5168/why-rear-facing-is-better-your-rf-link-guide/

kmw · Feb 22, 2014

If you are set on forward facing (I would rearface for at least another year myself), don't get the Diono - it's not a suitable booster... a couple of reasons: kiddo needs to weigh 50lbs to use it as a booster and also, the belt guides are very close to the same height as the harness max, so most will outgrow the harness/booster function at the same height.

If you chose to RF again, the Diono is a great seat for a tall/heavy kidlet and will work fine as a FF seat until he is booster age (typically age 6-7 in terms of maturity), and dedicated boosters aren't expensive so don't worry about a seat that works long term, get the best seat that works for him now.

Adventuredad · Feb 24, 2014

I probably misunderstood but you want to FF your two year old? Why? Kids should stay rear facing to age four since it's so much safer. Keeping a kid rear facing is 500% safer which is not a small number. There is no reason to FF a child aged two and 34 lbs.

Britax frontier vs Diono Radian - Canada

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