Question Need a rear facing carseat to puzzle with a FF Radian

I think this is my first time posting here. I have three kids and need to fit them across the middle seat of my SUV. It's a pretty small backseat, but I currently have an 8yo in a Graco Turbobooster on the passanger side, a 5.5yo in a Radian80 in the middle, and my 15-month old in a RF Britax Roundabout behind the driver seat. This combo works well, but my Roundabout is six years old this month so I need to replace it.

I'm considering either getting a Radian65 to put rearfacing in the middle (it's too tall to fit behind the driver), putting the Radian80 behind the driver seat and keeping the turbobooster where it is, BUT I think it will be a real pain to get the baby into the middle seat with a seat on either side. Or, what I'm leaning towards doing is getting another Roundabout. My baby is tiny (19-lbs, 30" and all legs) so I think she'll be able to be in the Roundabout rearfacing until about 3yo before she outgrows it by height. At that point my 5.5yo will be 7yo and possibly ready for a booster (she's not ready now). My oldest will be 10yo, but likely still needing to be in a booster since she's also petite and unlikely to be 4'10" at 10yo. What I don't want to have happen is to buy a Roundabout now and then still need to buy a 2nd Radian in a year or two. I'm open to any other combo that would work, but keep in mind I have a Britax Wizard that won't puzzle nicely with our Radian so I'm guessing any of the larger Britax seats won't work RF next to the Radian in my car.

TIA for any advice!!

What is it that's keeping the WZ from installing nicely next to the Radian? Do you think it might be the LATCH bars? If so, you could get a DC, since it's bigger than a RA and doesn't have LATCH bars.

I have had really good luck puzzling my RF MA next to the Radian 65. Actually, I couldn't figure out why I was haivng so much trouble installing 3 seats in my car yesterday until I realized the MA was no longer RF!

scoutingbear said:

I have had really good luck puzzling my RF MA next to the Radian 65.

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Ditto.

I honestly think it will be easier to get her in the middle than you think. The Radian is pretty low profile that it's not super in the way.

For an experiment, why don't you put the Roundabout in the center, Radian and Turbo outboard and see if it bothers you to have her center for getting in/out. That will answer your question on whether it's going to work for *you* or not.

Otherwise... what SUV is it and are you installing the Radian with seatbelt or LATCH? With seatbelt you'll be able to move the Radian a little further outboard and have more space for the seat in the center.

I generally find the MA and Radian puzzle fantastic next to each other *when* they are facing the same direction. Whey they are opposite directions, it doesn't work so well.