Do you think you could fit another Radian in there with the Nautilus and the Radian?? That's another option I suppose...
Do you know off the top of your head how much lower the top slots are on the Radian compared to the Nauti?? Isn't it only like half an inch or so??
in my van... no way... the fpsvb wouldn't even fit with the back on! and without the back, it was at it's narrowest... it had a LITTLE room for more width, but not even close to full width (and full width is the same as the base of the Radian)... so even if the Radian had the inches of extra base room, the shoulder room just wouldn't be there.
Now, if the Nautilus were in the middle (because it is narrower up top than below, so that might give each Radian more shoulder room to puzzle with), that might work.
My radian is packed up to go out, or I'd grab it and go find out... when I took those pics, I only tried the scenarios that a poster on the old bbc asked for... going by what she had to try to fit back there. she had 3 kids in seats (radian, nautilus, booster kid), needed the seats in that configuration to keep the kid in the Nautilus separate from the booster kid, and either two adults or a seatbelt kid and adult (it's hard to remember that far back), and Damian was not exactly thrilled to help... he wanted to go play with his friend next door.
the top slots differ more in my van... by a good 2"... but in my dh's car... (if you didn't have to fit 3 across to where you could use the Nauti there), it's less... maybe 1" tops.
The top slots on the Radian don't matter. That's the only seat that is an exception to the harness must be coming from at or above the shoulders rule. Shoulders are allowed to go over the top slots in the Radian. They've done extensive testing to prove that it is safe.
very true... of course, my finding is that my kids get too snug in the shoulders and their ears are at that point AND they're running/ran out of strap room by the time they are 1" above the slots...
and regardless, not all people are comfortable with that, since it's not something that is true for all seats... it's a rule ingrained for good reason and like any change, it's difficult.
Ok, I should have included stats in my original post but I didn't have them at the time... Got 'em now, so here they are:
DD1 - 5 yrs old; 50 lbs; 16" torso
DD2 - 4 yrs old; 37 lbs; 15" torso
DD3 - 2 yrs old; 33 lbs; 13" torso
I own a Nautilus but if I have to get something else instead, I don't have a problem with that. I also own a Vivo, but I prefer to keep that as just a backup as I'd like all kids to be harnessed for now. Mainly for the reason that I don't want to have to mess with trying to buckle seatbelts in between carseats that will have to be that close together.
Do you think I could put DD1 in a Nautilus and DD2 and DD3 each in a Radian? DD3 would have to be FF'ing though, right? Doesn't the Radian have a 33 lb. RF'ing limit? How much growing room do you think they'd have in a Radian? Or do you think they'd be max'ing out the height?
at 5yrs and 50lbs, if she's used to boosters and rides well in them, I'd be fine with putting her in the Vivo... though I'd teach her to lock the belt just as an extra precaution (I don't like lapbelts being able to loosen), if it fits.
Otherwise, I'm tempted to say just get a RSTV and put that in the middle... providing you have the head support for the 4yr old to ride there.
I think my van might have the widest 3rd row available in minivans.
It's a 2006 Kia Sedona - I don't think they had long or short base models during that year, but others have said mine must be a long base model. It has a 60/40 3rd row bench and 4 full sets of LATCH in the van (so no center tether anchor for the 3rd row.
The WIDEST combo I have fit back there is:
P/C/D
Monterey, Nautilus, Radian. And there was plenty of room for my daughter to buckle herself in the Monterey with no help.
I *might* have been able to fit two Nautilii back there, but I can't promise that.
I'm VERY jealous of that third row room!