Question I need a new seat , maybe two

[jeffersmama]

My DD is growing quickly so I'm trying to figure out which seat to buy next.
DD is currently 18+ lbs and was 26" the last time I measure her, I'm not sure about torso height. She's 5 months old and in a Snugride 22.
My DS will be three in August, weighs between 32-33 lbs depending on the day, 38.5" with a long torso. He is currently in a Marathon (not the new version). He is FF right now. I am open to RF him again, however he does get car sick and when we switched him FF because he hit the RF limits of the seat he stopped throwing up on car trips. I drive an 08 Honda Civic.
We also have a Complete Air in my husbands Echo. It's not my favorite seat.
I've looked at the My Ride, Radian, Truefit, Frontier and Nautilus. The Frontier and Nautilus would be for my DS if he doesn't go back RF( I'm going to try it in the CA, I just have switch some seats around).
I'm also not sure if it would be possible to fit two of these seats beside one another in case an adult passenger needed to ride in the back. This wouldn't be the norm but we are planning a road trip to Quebec in the Summer.

Thanks in advance for any advice. The choices are overwhelming!

 

[mommycat]

Fitting 3 in the back of the Civic will be challenging. Not at all sure that it would be possible with a Nauti/FR. Since he sounds like he is fairly avg, aside from the tall torso, you can probably get away with a convertible with tall THS like the Radian or CA instead to get you to a good booster age, then follow up with a great HB booster. How much room does he have to grow in the CA before he reaches the top slots?

RF your 2yo would be great but I would test it out as you said, in the CA. If he is going to throw up all the time I would probably feel inclined to consider FF.

Definitely pass down the MA to the baby. I think a Radian should fit next to a RF classic MA both RF and FF (RF for sure). I know for sure I managed a FF MA next to a RF/FF RN in my '07. I would probably do the MA and Radian in the Civic. Are you also looking for a second seat for the Echo? If you use it less often and choose to FF only, you could pass the CA to the baby and get a Maestro for DS to save $$ on the secondary seat. Or get the MyRide (or even a Scenera) and keep DS in the CA. You could swap the MR(/Scenera) and MA if you prefer as they should fit and puzzle with the Radian very similarly (though the MA will probably puzzle better if the RN is FF - but this is a guess as I haven't tried the 3across with the MR/RN combo).

The outboard seat next to the RF MA (or MR) is actually pretty comfy in the Civic. While ideally you would have the FF seat in the center, it is much less comfy sitting next to the FF Radian as it steals shoulder space.

 

[jeffersmama]

Thank you Mommycat.
When I looked last week DS had about an inch left above his shoulder in the current harness slot and there's 1 slot still above that. That's in the MA. I'm not exactly sure how much is left in the CA right now because the adjuster slides up and down.
I was thinking that it would be easier to keep the MA in the Civic and just add a new seat. CA is okay but I think that I'd get irritated if I was using it regularly. Right now it's being used very rarely if DH goes out and takes DS. I think that I'm just used to how easy the Marathon is and it's straps never seem to twist like the CA!
I really liked the MR when I was out looking at seats but I knew that the shell is closer to the height of the MA. Right now DD is 90+ percentile in weight and around the same for height. It is an option as a second seat in the Echo because it looks like it will fit well in that back seat but we don't really need another seat for that car right now. The MA fits well in the Echo also. I think I'm leaning towards the RA in the Civic because it has the extra height and it's narrow. It will also work for both kids and I may be able to get DS rf again. I'm so glad that I've seen Radian covers easily available
I'm happy to see that I may be able to get the MA next to the RA. Let me confirm though, were you able to get both the MA and the RA in your Civic RF? Which configuration with those two seats did you find easiest?

 

[mommycat]

Ok, he has tons of room left then. The top slots on the MA are a little shorter than the CA/Radian so he should have even more room left in those. Pass the MA down and you can use it in both vehicles since it transfers fairly easily. :thumbsup:

I used the Radian in the Civic mostly FF outboard because I had a big Graco bucket and then a 3in1 so they wouldn't have fit side by side. It installs well both with seatbelt and latch (umm, UAS ). It did take me a few times to get used to it especially with seatbelt because it can't be shoved way into the seat bight or it moves around a bit usually. It works better if you pull it out just a smidge at the bottom.

I tried a 3across once when I was planning to pick up a friend and we would have had 3 seats in the back though we ended up changing our plans. I was able to get 2 Radians and a MA in together IIRC (I posted in the 3across thread but the posts seem to have disappeared). It worked best with the MA in the center because it sat higher and made it that much easier to fit the Radian under the flare of the MA shell, and also putting the Radian in the center pushes it towards the front seats a bit more. I put the RF Radian behind the driver's seat and was able to set it more upright using the tricks from the board without too much trouble. I could sit in front of if ok to drive (I'm 5'2"). The Radian can brace though the Civic doesn't allow it on the passenger side at least because of the advanced airbags so that's another consideration when choosing sides.

You would really need to try the FF Radian next to the RF MA because I can't remember if that worked for sure or not
(the opposite did). In some of the combinations I tried the Radians were not sitting flush because the hard side bolsters were pushing them forward on one edge BUT I was trying to get the MA and the 2 Radians in all at once, so you would have a bit more leeway to maybe move the center seat a bit towards the other side to make room.

If I have a chance this weekend, I will haul my Radian out of the basement and try it in the center and also see how it puzzles FF with the RF MR (my MA is in the GP's car) just to get an idea. But I can't promise for sure that I will find the time.

 

[jeffersmama]

Thank you so much for all the info and tips. Please don't go to any trouble puzzling seats unless you're really curious. Getting the seats side by side would be a bonus for me but it's not a deal breaker for the purchase of the Radian. I do need a new seat even if I can't get them beside one another and that one seems to appear to fit our needs however I do have to go out and take a look at them again and make sure that I can install it properly myself. Fitting an adult in the back seat would be a bonus on occasion however DS is sometimes over enthusiastic when "helping" with his sister so they may mostly have a seat between them if I'm alone.
I am curious though, do you prefer the my ride to the radian seats? Does your ds have lots of room left?

 

[mommycat]

Hi again, I haven't been around for a bit. I didn't get a chance to try the puzzle. I can't truly compare the two seats since I have only used the MR RF and have only used the Radian FF aside from the one-time install. I can say that I prefer the harness system on the MR (other than trying to remember which loops are for which slots) both in terms of uckles and how it adjusts, and that in general the MR is a simpler install if switching around. I wasn't sure I liked the MR when FF in the Civic - it was very reclined - while the Radian is great FF in there. I like that the Radian has such tall slots and is so minimalist in terms of shell, which seems nicer for older kids - my 6yo still fit in the Radian but would look quite odd in the MR even if he hadn't outgrown it by height, which I am almost sure that he has. Love the MR cupholders. I don't know if I had to pick just one which one that would be.