WWYD: Radian FF, booster, or new seat?

My sister turned her son FF last week. She had been using my radian RFing, but we lost the safe stop, and so since my son is 42 pounds I took the radian back and gave her my CA65 for her son. But, much to my chagrin, DS is very close to the top slots. I know that diono permits usage until the top of the ears reach the top of the shell, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.

DS is 4.5, 42 pounds, and I think 45 or so inches. He's in a Frontier 90 in my car (~80% of trips), with plenty of room to grow, so this is for our second car. He spends much less time in DH's car than mine, but still is in it for ~1/2 hour trips a few times per week (we drive a lot!). Options I'm considering:
1) Get the safe stop for the radian, trade back to my sister and put her DS in the radian FFing and my DS in the CA65 (until he outgrows that FFing). (Cost is about $10 but I don't know how much longer we'll get from the CA65 compared with the radian).
2) Use the radian until DS's ears reach the top (Free but I'm not sure how comfortable this makes me).
3) Get another high-harness combination seat for DS for our second car. I'm thinking the cheap-ish one from walmart (harmony defender, I think?) or a graco nautilus ($100-$200, but we'd use it for a long while).
4) Get a HBB for DS and booster train in second car only (my sister has some HBBs that her older son is just outgrowing, so this option is probably free).

FWIW, DS is a good listener and has good impulse control. He probably would sit still in a booster, particularly if we made a big deal about it (this is why #4 is even on the table).

Thanks in advance for all your opinions!

How close is "very close to the top slots'?

Ditto on exactly what is the measurement from his shoulders to the top harness slot?

My DS is also about 45 in tall and still has about 1/2-3/4 inch left above his shoulders in the Radian. That will definitely get him to his 5th bday this summer.

I do plan to start booster training him when he turns 5 (slight possibility I'll do a bit this coming week for a potential carpool issue the following week) even though we also have a frontier and nautilus to use too.

So my recommendation would be to see if he can at least get to age 5 - then keep using the harness until his shoulders are even with the harness slot and then start booster training. If he has issues with that, then reevaluate to see what harness seat you could use/would need.

safeinthecar said:

How close is "very close to the top slots'?

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I haven tested by putting a ruler in the slot yet but by eye he was millimeters away from his shoulders being at the slot, if that. He might have a few more months, but I doubt it'll get him to 5, unless I'm surprised when I measure.

There are two things I haven't tried. First is I have the recline foot down; I could put that in and see if we gain any space. The other thing was I think I remember that Diono allows removal of the memory foam under the seat to gain some space, so I could verify that with customer service and try that.

Another issue is that DS says the seat doesn't 'fit' him (his words). I guess he probably doesn't feel like his shoulders fit (he is a broad kid). Although if he technically still fits in the seat I'm not super concerned with this.

My 44 pound 44 inch 4.5 year old is all torso, and still has roughly an inch of shoulder height left. I'd be very surprised if you were going to run out of space as quickly as you think. (Says the mama who joined c-s.o because I was panicking that my then 3.5yo was going to outgrow the Radian before his 4th birthday.)

I got him a Frontier 90, because I want the option to harness him on long trips pretty indefinitely. (Also because I wanted to pass down one of the Radians.) I expect we won't get a second for our second car, though. We'll start booster training in 6 months or so, switch the FR90 to booster mode when he's mostly ready for full time booster riding (minus long trips), and pass down the other Radian at that point.

The Radian is .5" taller than the CA so depending on actual fit in the car, I don't think it makes a big difference.

MommyShannon said:

The Radian is .5" taller than the CA so depending on actual fit in the car, I don't think it makes a big difference.

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Huh, that's funny. I thought DS had plenty of room above his shoulders in the CA but I hadn't checked him in a while, and it's possible DH just didn't mention it (or even notice). But I suppose this means booster or a new high-harness-height combination seat are our choices.

I guess I will just check weekly in the Radian, and when the harness is 'at' his shoulders I'll take some pics and post again.

lgenne said:

My 44 pound 44 inch 4.5 year old is all torso, and still has roughly an inch of shoulder height left. I'd be very surprised if you were going to run out of space as quickly as you think. (Says the mama who joined c-s.o because I was panicking that my then 3.5yo was going to outgrow the Radian before his 4th birthday.)

I got him a Frontier 90, because I want the option to harness him on long trips pretty indefinitely. (Also because I wanted to pass down one of the Radians.) I expect we won't get a second for our second car, though. We'll start booster training in 6 months or so, switch the FR90 to booster mode when he's mostly ready for full time booster riding (minus long trips), and pass down the other Radian at that point.

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Well, where the openings for the straps are in the cover, we definitely don't have an inch left. However, I did notice when I was moving the harness up that the strap holes in the cover didn't seem to align well with the holes in the shell, so perhaps DS has more growing room than I think he does.

And his crazy big-ness is why we also have a FR90 in my car

Go by the holes in the shell, that is where it counts! Hopefully that gives more room/time.