Radian on plane

We just got back from our trip, and I got some pics of dd in her Radian on the plane.

My thoughts on the Radian:
It installs quite well on the plane, though I did find it went better when I had the recline-thingy down. It's literally made for planes, the fit is just perfect. DD loved it, and loved being able to use the tray-table. The flight attendants either ignored it or were curious about it; one said she'd heard of them but hadn't seen one yet and liked the way it folded. Another just wanted to make sure it had the FAA sticker because he'd never even heard of it! It installed well with LATCH in the Saturn Vue we rode in when we got there, too, plus it left plenty of room on either side for the other passengers, which was important because we needed to fit 3-across comfortably.

Complaints: Holy crow it's heavy. Dh carried it for the most part and didn't complain, but we had five different plane rides total for this trip and by the last one I was damn sick of hauling it around! It needs a bag like the ones they have for Britax seats, I forget the name but the bag has wheels. Even with the carry-strap on the Radian, it was just so heavy to lug around, and since I was the one installing and un-installing it, I wound up carrying it a few times.

Also, I had trouble at first getting it to stay folded. That was really annoying, but then I realized I wasn't releasing the harness and it quit unfolding while we were carrying it.

Lastly, I was about ready to pitch that SafeStop. DD is right at the weight where it's required with LATCH/tether, but you HAVE to take it off otherwise. So it went: drive to airport with SafeStop; remove SafeStop on the floor of the airport to use on plane; install SafeStop in the dark in the back seat to use in car; remove SafeStop on the floor of the airport to use on plane; install SafeStop to use in car for the ride home. Ugh!

Overall, though, it worked perfectly and I'm very pleased I bought it for the trip. Here's the pics!

Thank you for sharing. What great detail.

Am I missing something, the manual says to stop using it after the child reaches 40lbs, but it does not say anything about taking it off for use in airplane. I was looking on pg 26 of the manual.

I never had it one since ds is about 39-40lbs.

Hmmm...I might have to try it next time, since you can use the tray table with it. Also might keep "Mr. I'm-going-to-cause-trouble" from kicking the seat in front of him.....great pics!

USmominOz said:

Am I missing something, the manual says to stop using it after the child reaches 40lbs, but it does not say anything about taking it off for use in airplane. I was looking on pg 26 of the manual.

I never had it one since ds is about 39-40lbs.

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The Safe Stop is used for FF kids under 40 lbs. when the Radian is installed in vehicles with lower LATCH anchors, and/or when the top tether is used. Since you would install the Radian using the plane's seatbelt only, because planes aren't equipped with LATCH or top tether anchors, the Safe Stop wouldn't be used on the plane.

Thanks for posting. This makes me want one more and more, but I already have to many seats according to DH. MAybe in a few years.

I have to say your DD looks just like you

Thanks azgirl. And glad the post was interesting for all of you.

About the SafeStop - I probably should have just pitched it, because dd is right at 40lbs, but I really didn't think of it at the time. She was well under 40lbs when I got the seat and planned out this whole thing in my mind, so it didn't really occur to me that she was probably close enough to just not use the SafeStop in the car. My brain was just too busy to re-evaluate!

This might be good to copy and paste over at the reviews Forum? Or maybe add it it to a Radian Review?

Okay, I've seen this mentioned once before... but I scoured the Radian manual cover to cover, and NO WHERE does it say that you MUST use safe stop if using LATCH. It DOES say that you much use the tether if using safe stop (meaning you can't use safe stop on its own), but NO WHERE does it say that you CAN'T use LATCH without it. No where. PLEASE someone clarify where this is coming from, as I am going to be putting three of these in my friend's car and I'm not going to use the safe stop on any of them. They're all under 40 pounds, and all will be tethered (two with lower anchors, one with lap only belt), but it's just not something I feel warrants monitoring at this point, so I was going to skip it. But... what the heck?

page 26 of the manual online says to ALWAYS use safe stop with latch or top tether for forward facing child under 40 pounds. It says do not use safe stop in any other configuration or with a rear facing child.

link to manual page 26 halfway down after the aircraft instructions.

daycaremom2002 said:

page 26 of the manual online says to ALWAYS use safe stop with latch or top tether for forward facing child under 40 pounds. It says do not use safe stop in any other configuration or with a rear facing child.

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Yep - mine says it on the side of the SafeStop, too.

But that is saying that if you are using it, you must use the top tether. It does NOT say that you must use it if using the top tether. I agree it is worded vaguely, but if it were a requirement for LATCH, it would be in the LATCH section. It is a requirement to use top tether if using safe stop. The manual does not indicate that it is a requirement to use safe stop if using top tether. No where in the entire latch section does it mention that the SS is required. It only says in the SS section that LATCH is required if using SS.

I think you totally just sold me on taking the Radian along to Florida when we go by plane this winter. DS rode with out on our Disney trip and he was soooo fidgety. Your DD looks so comfy! I am still worried about what I will get for a rental, but hopefully all will be good. OTOH, I may still pack a hb turbo just in case... Can never have too many carseats!

Splash said:

But that is saying that if you are using it, you must use the top tether. It does NOT say that you must use it if using the top tether. I agree it is worded vaguely, but if it were a requirement for LATCH, it would be in the LATCH section. It is a requirement to use top tether if using safe stop. The manual does not indicate that it is a requirement to use safe stop if using top tether. No where in the entire latch section does it mention that the SS is required. It only says in the SS section that LATCH is required if using SS.

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The way I read the SS page is that if you are using the top tether or LATCH for a FF child under 40 pounds, the SS is required.

In the manual, page 20, the FF latch directions has 4 bullet points in red. The third one says "ALWAYS use SafeStop with LATCH installation for forward-facing child below 40 pounds (see page 26)

Page 22, the forward facing instructions for lap/shoulder belt installation, 3 bullet point, says "for lap/shoulder belt installation ONLY use SafeStop with top tether and with child under 40 pounds. (see page 26)

If you take all 3 of these statement (pg 20,, 22, and 26) you end up with ALWAYS use SafeStop when you have a child under 40 pounds, and the seat is installed with LATCH or if the seat is top tethered.

I understand where you are coming from. If they would just change the wording, it would be clear. If they said DO NOT tether this seat for a child under 40 pounds without using the SS, then that would be clear. But, that is the way I interpret the directions in the SS section. It say to ALWAYS us the SS with latch or top tether for a child under 40 pounds. It says to NOT use it in any other configuration. That to me says you can't use it without the top tether and you can't use it on a child over 40 pounds ever.

I called SKJP a few months ago, and he confirmed this for me. If you have an under 40 pound child and no top tether and the seat is installed with a seatbelt, then do NOT use the SS. If you attatch the top tether and the child is under 40 pounds, you MUST use the SS.

I asked because I often will use a seat for an under 40 pound child in the morning and an over 40 pound child in the afternoon. He said that I could NOT uses the seat without the SS for the smaller child. I could install it without the SS and just attach the tether for the older child and use the seat without the tether for the younger child.

I hate the way they worded the manual, but if you follow the red directions at the beginning of the chapters, they all point back to the SS directions to ALWAYS use it for a child under 40 pounds when a top tether or LATCH is in use.

I agree with Splash on the wording of the manual. And if the SafeStop was required with a FF LATCH installation for children under 40lbs, then certainly SKJP would have sent me a SafeStop for my DOM 2005 Radian that didn't come with a SafeStop and has no mention of it in the manual attached to the seat?

I am reading the manual online. Maybe they changed it? I clearly read where it said to always use the SS with LATCH installation if the child is under 40 pounds. I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way.

When did they start shipping the SS with seats? Obviously you can't use one if your seat didn't come with one. I was going on the assumption that the seat had come with one because she asked specifically about it. If it came with one, then it should be in the manual. The online manual does clearly address the SS. I wonder if maybe there are older manuals with some of the newer seats?


Defrost: Sorry to take your post off on a tangent. This was a great review for the Radian. Thanks for posting your experience. I am planning on buying 6 or 7 Radians, so it is great to know that they work well most of the time.

daycaremom2002 said:

When did they start shipping the SS with seats? Obviously you can't use one if your seat didn't come with one.

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They started shipping the SS with Radians sometime in 2006. And yes, I AM going against my manual because when I got a 2006 Radian which came with a SS, I called Russ and asked him if I could get a SS to use with my 2005 Radian. He sent me one, and told me if I did decide to use the SS, then I must use a top tether and to stop using the SS when my child reached the LATCH weight limits of my vehicle OR 48 lbs if the vehicle defers to the child restraint instructions for LATCH weight limit (or the vehicle has no lower anchors, but only top tethers). Otherwise, using SS with no tether would cause too much head excursion. He also said that it was an enhancement SK was able to add for younger kids because of the very low head excursion ratings the Radian got in the crash tests. He said because it was an "enhancement" and not a recall, so SK wasn't required to send out SSs to people who had older Radians. But if you called, SK would send out a SS for free.

FWIW, my 2006 Radian manual says that the SS can be used up to 48lbs (like Russ told me verbally almost 2 years ago), but I don't plan on using my SS beyond 40 lbs which is the limit specified in the latest revision of the manual.

Don't worry about the "hijack" - for one thing, it's fairly relevant considering my complaint, and in any case, digression is natural in most discussions.

Dh has the Radian in his car at work, so I can't go check it, but I was going solely by the directions written ON the SafeStop. I've read the manual, but for the trip I didn't bother taking it out, and just went by the instructions written on the SafeStop.

It's written weird, and it's clearly open to interpretation. In any case, I wanted the "enhancement" of the SafeStop for use in the car, I just didn't want to have to take it off to use on the plane. So my complaint was not that I "had" to put it on to use in the car, but rather that I HAD to take it off to use on the plane.

ETA: What I mean is, even if I was interpreting it incorrectly, had I been told that it wasn't required with LATCH/top-tether, I would still have chosen to use it - the frustrating part was removing it for the airplane, not putting it on for the car.

I have a radian DOM 2/2006 that came with a safestop that can be used to 48 pounds. I think I would only use it to 40 pounds though with the new revision.

About the safestop and the airplane...I got this seat specifically for flying. I was leaving on a trip within 2 weeks of getting the seat. I called SKJP and asked if the ss needed to be removed for the flight. I was told that I could leave it on for my 35 pound boy. I assume this is because you don't have to worry so much about head excursion on a plane. If anyone else will be flying, maybe they could call and find out what they are saying this month.