Complete Air, 40lbs Radian, or My Ride?

Kaitlin weighed in at 30.5lbs today, and she doesn't seem to be slowing down with her weight gain any. Our marathon is only 33lbs rf'ing, so it's time to really consider new seats. She is tall, but I've found with the marathon if I install it as upright as it is allowed to be then she is a little below the 3rd slots from the bottom. If it's reclined somewhat (not all the way to 45 degrees) then she's even with to just above the 3rd slots. Right now we have it fairly upright and she's comfortable. No head slump when she sleeps or anything. With it as is she probably has somewhere between 2 and 3 inches before she only has 1 inch left. Just trying to give you an idea of how she fits in it because I don't have a pic. So, given all of that and the fact that I'm not sure I'm 100% comfortable using the complete air for long with the controversy over the 40 inch limit, which would you choose? We drive a 2005 Ford Expedition, and the buckle stalks are slightly forward of the bight, which I believe I've read can be a problem with the radian. We do not have a local store that carries radians, I've checked, so trying one before buying is out. I really want to make to to 3 rear facing, and while I realize that it may take a while for her to gain the last 2.5lbs, I also realize that in the last 4 weeks she's gained nearly 5lbs, so I'm not ruling out her gaining 2.5 in the next month. Usually budget wouldn't be much of a factor but I'm trying to get everything we need for homeschool so I do need to take price into consideration.

I would go with a radian if it will work for you.. maybe order from target, walmart, or another site that it can be easily returned if doesn't work out. The MR isn't any taller than MA, so if she's close to reaching the height limit on that, she'd also be close on the MR. I wouldn't pay the price for the CA. IMO it's just not worth that price.

I'm not liking the price on the complete air, either. It's a nice seat, just not that nice, imo. I really wanted to try the radian before I ordered it, but that's just not possible. I did try the compatibality database, but the only result for my truck and the radian was ff'ing, and it wouldn't be ff'ing for a while yet. So, I'm off to look a little more online at the radian.

Another question though, I was looking at the MR at target but it was hard to tell on the shelf, is the height of the base about the same as the marathon? Honestly, I'm getting tired of the seat setting up that high.

It is about the same. It does sit a lot higher than the radian. The truefit and radians are the lowest profile seats.

I'd do a radian. You have a 2005, so you can install it with LATCH. You won't have to worry about a seatbelt install until she reaches 48lbs, and you can either see if it will work with the belt or get a new seat at that point (if she eve fits in the radian at 48lbs).

Well, it looks like I'm going to be looking for a good deal on a radian really soon. Do you know of any places I can call and ask about the dom before I order? I really want/need one that is rf'ing to 40lbs.

Complete Air won't be a BRU exclusive anymore in December, I wonder if you have that long to wait for it to hit other stores (at lower prices....). It's way, way taller than the Radian, which I love, but your kids are sooooo long in the torso it's something to consider. Radians were just on sale last week, not sure if they are anymore

Yep, I've got kids with long torsos. I was actually more worried about her outgrowing it by height a few months ago, then she started gaining weight like crazy! Right now we weigh her every other day just to make sure she isn't over the limit. I'm trying to get comfortable with the complete air, I really am, but it's still $250 for a dorel seat. On top of that I'm still not 100% comfortable with the fact that they pretty much seem to be saying the 40 inch height limit is set in stone, even though we've broken it down here in several threads. I don't want her in a seat that I'm not 100% comfortable using with her stats (she's already 37 inches, and she was standing for that height so it's pretty accurate). Of course the radians were on sale a week before I need one, oh well, I'm looking for a good deal online and hopefully will find one!

We just went and compared the MyRide and the Complete Air at BRU on Sunday and came home with a Complete Air. Using a bench test, my DD (38 inches tall, 13 in sitting floor to shoulders, 21 inches floor to top of head), had very very little growing room in the MyRide. We anticipated she'd out grow it in height first, and she's more short and chubby than long and lean.

BRU is doing 15% off of car seats through Thursday which helps with the price on the Complete Air.

Since we just got the seat, I can't give you much of a review, but so far we're happy with the purchase. It's lacking some of the niceties of our Britax of course, but the MyRide certainly wasn't better in that department. I ruled out the Radian in large part because of how long front to back it would be. We wanted to install it outboard without losing use of a front seat.

I still can't bring myself to pay that much for the complete air, even with 15% off. We have a Ford Expedition, so space really isn't an issue. If I do find that it's taller than I would like when behind the front seats I can move it to the middle and put one of the boys in the 3rd row.

I would wait and see how long it takes to take those 2 lbs. My daughter was 31 lbs for 10 months. Depending on how long it takes for her to gain there might be something else on the market.

Of those choices I like the radian the best, I have a my ride as well but my daughter didn't have nearly as much leg room as the radian. I have not tried her in the CA, I just can't bring myself to pay that much for an AO with air cushions.