Radian premier (80) or Frontier?

I have a 4.75 year old who is 42 inches and 37 pounds. I am looking to buy her a new seat as she is getting near the max weight for her Eddie Bauer High back Comfort bosster/carseat. She still needs to be in a 5 pound harness.

I live in Canada so the only options for 5 pound harness to 65 pound is a Radian premier (like a Radian 80), a Safety first Apex, a Marathon (which is almost to small straps wise), and the Britax Frontier will be released here in June-July.

I am struggling between getting her a Radian or waiting for a Frontier?

The pros for each to me are that the Radian is narrow, so we may be able to fit 3 together when we get a new vehicle, and it comes in pink, which my daughter really wants. We will probably get a large vehicle (truck or large SUV since we need to pull a trailer so we may be able to fit 2 in the second row no matter what seats they are)

The Frontiers pros are that it has side impact protection, and can be used a booster. To me the Frontier would be the one to get if it was released now and (I Know this sound silly) but if was available in pink here (in Canada it will only be available in blue and tan, and she really really wants pink).

If there was a way to get pink in the Frontier here (even by ordering a cover from Britax, or having a cover sent to family in the US for them to send to me) I would be leaning towards that seat. I know colour seems silly, but she really wants a girly seat, and you should have seen her eyes light up when she saw the Radian Princess.

Is the Frontier considered safer than the Radian because of the side impact protection? Since our daughter is nearly 5, is she likely to outgrow either seat by height in the next year and then need a booster anyways? She is average size for her age, but pretty skinny. She will likely be sitting in the center 3rd row of our minivan for now. Is the Radian comfortable for older kids? It doesn't have armrests, is that an issue for any kids (she has armrests now and does use them).

Thanks,
Marcie

In regard to the covers, usually Britax releases the new covers for sale separately a few months after it has been released. In this case it is a whole new seat so I am not sure if the same applies.

But because the pink cover is not for sale in Canada it will not be in the Canadian parts and accessories and therefore I do not know if they will ship it directly to Canada.
I have never bought my spare covers from Britax so maybe if a fellow Canadian has been able to\or not they will post that information.

Another easier option in my opinion is to buy a spare cover from a Britax retailer that ships to Canada once they become available.

Hi,

Where are your dd's shoulders in relation to the top harness slots of her current seat?


In terms of what seat she should have next, it sort of depends (at least IMO) how soon you want to move her to a booster, which will also be dictated by her torso height -- relating directly to my above question about the top slots on her current seat.

The Radian and Frontier have the same top harness slots (18.5" give or take, plus or minus a hair or two type thing), the main difference being the Frontier converts to a booster. The Frontier is marketed as having True Side Impact Protection thanks to the headwings, the Radian still offering side impact protection through EPS foam. The Radian is super narrow making a 3 across set-up more achievable, but it does have some install quirks, sometimes it's downright incompatible in certain vehicles. The Radian is about $30 less, but there again you'll still need to purchase a booster afterwards.

I suppose the best thing for you to do is to post back with an answer to my first question.

If she's long in the torso she may not have that much time left in the 5 point harness of either seat. Or, she might have a lot of time left...

I admit that "42 inches" doesn't mean a whole lot to me. I'm really bad with relating the height of a child to the actual inches they are... if that makes sense. Though I know my 2y/o is about 35"... and I know she'd be using the 4th set of slots on her Radian if she were forward facing.

So anyway, maybe post back and we can go from there...

She must be some what small in the torso because her current seats height limit is 40 inches, and at 42 inches she is no where near being to tall. She is about 3 inches from the top of the seat and about 1.5-2 inches from the last strap slots. I guess I should sit her down and measure her torso. I did try her in a Radian, but it was on the floor so it was a bit weird since it was so low, and hubby was waiting in the van with 2 crying 2 year olds so we didn't take our time. Everyone says that kids outgrow their seats by height before weight, but she is within 2 or 3 pounds for the weight limit, and has a bit to go for torso height too. She does have very long legs, but is not tall for her age.

I can't remember which slots she was on at the store, and the Frontiers are not in yet, so we couldn't try.

As for the covers for a Frontier, I was thinking I could get an American family member to pick up a pink cover and ship it here, would the US cover fit the Canadian seat?
Thanks,
Marcie

marciemp said:

As for the covers for a Frontier, I was thinking I could get an American family member to pick up a pink cover and ship it here, would the US cover fit the Canadian seat?
Thanks,
Marcie

Click to expand...

Absolutely--it's the same shell.

-Nicole.