Flight and road trip

We'll be flying across the country in a few weeks with my 4.5 YO DS. He normally rides in a frontier 90 in my car, and a radian xtsl in DH's car. He is close to outgrowing the radian by seated shoulder height, and about 45" and 45lbs (wears size 6 clothes).

I'm trying to decide what to bring for him to ride in. I'm pretty confident he'll fit the airplane seat well, so I'm considering bringing a high back booster for him. But we'll be driving a lot at our destination. However, I'm pretty sure he can be still in the seatbelt (particularly if we remind and/or bribe him), and there's an extra adult at all times in the car to be mindful of him.

The radian is the other option (since the frontier is not FAA certified), but he's pretty uncomfortable in it because he is very broad shouldered.

I'm thinking of trying a HBB around town before we go to see if I'm right that he can be still, but thought I'd double check for other opinions/options.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I would definitely try him in a booster first before trapping yourself with that option.

The Frontier 90is FAA approved, retroactively. I don't know what kind of proof of that is necessary, I'd contact Britax to see what they recommend.

safeinthecar said:

I would definitely try him in a booster first before trapping yourself with that option.

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Yes, I definitely would do this. I'm just not sure what my criteria should be for acceptable behavior: sitting still for half-hour trips around town are not representative of what he'll have to do when we get there. But we'll also have an extra adult in the car when we get there which will make a big difference.

ketchupqueen said:

The Frontier 90is FAA approved, retroactively. I don't know what kind of proof of that is necessary, I'd contact Britax to see what they recommend.

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Ok, I knew that they had added FAA for the newer ones but not that it was retroactive. So lugging the frontier is a third option, although not a very attractive one because of its size.

How close is he to outgrowing the radian? They used to allow the shoulders to go over the top slot- do they still?

Dillipop said:

How close is he to outgrowing the radian? They used to allow the shoulders to go over the top slot- do they still?

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He's got a few months left, probably. On the cover it looks outgrown but the slots in the cover and seatback are misaligned, and I think he's got about a quarter of an inch. And while they may still allow shoulders over the top slot, that makes me uncomfortable and I'll probably stop using the seat once his shoulders hit the top slot.

The issue with the radian is not that it's outgrown, but that he's pretty uncomfortable in it because of his shoulder width. I think if we decide to lug a harnessed seat it makes more sense to bring the frontier (assuming it's easy to get the FAA proof).

Do you want to keep him harnessed in your husband's car for a bit longer? Since he's uncomfortable in the Radian anyways, you could try replacing it with a Harmony Defender 360. It would be a bit lighter to travel with and hopefully be more comfortable for him. My son was about the same age and size when we went with a hbb for a trip to visit my parents, and he did so well with it I felt comfortable switching him full time in DH's car when we got back. It could've gone either way, but he was so proud to be using the regular seatbelt like the adults he just did what he was supposed to do. He briefly regressed a year later, though, so it would've been nice having a combination seat to put him back in a harness right away. Fortunately he got back with the program before I needed to buy a new seat.

JlynnB said:

Do you want to keep him harnessed in your husband's car for a bit longer? Since he's uncomfortable in the Radian anyways, you could try replacing it with a Harmony Defender 360. It would be a bit lighter to travel with and hopefully be more comfortable for him. My son was about the same age and size when we went with a hbb for a trip to visit my parents, and he did so well with it I felt comfortable switching him full time in DH's car when we got back. It could've gone either way, but he was so proud to be using the regular seatbelt like the adults he just did what he was supposed to do. He briefly regressed a year later, though, so it would've been nice having a combination seat to put him back in a harness right away. Fortunately he got back with the program before I needed to buy a new seat.

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I am not sure. If he does well in the booster then I am trying to decide if I'm comfortable with him harnessed. If he doesn't sit still in a booster then that'll make the decision easier, and we may end up buying another combination seat for him.