Radian RXT questions

[Unregistered]

Hi there,

I'm deciding between a Radian RXT & Britax Pavilion. I went to Buy Buy Baby to check out the Radian today and wanted to see how easy / difficult it would be to adjust the shoulder strap height & the side impact head wings. The 2 associates who work in car seats there said that the side impact head wings are fixed - that they don't adjust at all??? This didn't make sense to me - there appeared to be a "track" for them to move up and down (and what would be the point of the head wings if you can only use them when a child is older & taller?)

Can anyone clear up this confusion? I couldn't figure out how to adjust them myself, and I did notice that on the website & on the box in the store, the picture of the infant (6 mo old?) appears to have the head wings ALL the way up at the top rather than down low to protect them. If they are adjustable, is there a certain weight / age you are supposed to not use them / start using them? Has anyone successfully used the RXT with a newborn?

Thanks! I was thinking about the Radian over the Pavilion b/c the seat is technically for my 2 year old who is long-torsoed, and I thought the Radian might rear-face a little longer than the Pavilion.

 

[Kel]

Hi, I just got a RXT a few weeks ago. The headwings DO move up and down! My 2yr 3mo old Is RFing 3rd slot from the bottom, that's when you can start using the headwings. If using the two bottom slots, wings go all the way up.

We really love the seat. He's got lots of room to RF in. I like that the shoulders internal width is bigger than the Britax and my rides that we've had. My guy is smaller height wise, but has wide shoulders. I "think" I'll like It better FFing down the road than the other seats I was looking at. Lower profile, deeper seat for leg support and narrow. I would love to be able to use It until he could booster.
Kelley

 

[happiness-and-balance]

The wings absolutely do move. Some store associates have little or no knowledge about CPS and CRS. I'd do your own research on what they tell you, as you don't know the source of their info.

 

[Pixelated]

I have both a Radian and a Marathon (virtually the same as the Pavillion) and I would choose the Radian every day of the week over the Marathon -- IF the Radian installs well in your car. It offers more leg room, the lower profile makes it easier to load a child and have a child climb in themselves, it's narrower on the outside yet somehow roomier on the inside. My 4.5 year old won't get in the Marathon unless there's some pressing reason she must and prefers the Radian for both forward- and rear-facing. My almost 2 year old also prefers the Radian over the Marathon (rear facing). Way more leg room in the Radian. It does have some install quirks though, so definitely try before you buy.

The headwings move by opening the velcro above/below the wings and just sliding them up or down. As said above you don't use them until the child is on the 3rd harness slot though. Rear-facing itself offers great side-impact protection.

What do you drive?

 

[atw]

I have both a Radian and a Marathon (virtually the same as the Pavillion) and I would choose the Radian every day of the week over the Marathon -- IF the Radian installs well in your car. It offers more leg room, the lower profile makes it easier to load a child and have a child climb in themselves, it's narrower on the outside yet somehow roomier on the inside. My 4.5 year old won't get in the Marathon unless there's some pressing reason she must and prefers the Radian for both forward- and rear-facing. My almost 2 year old also prefers the Radian over the Marathon (rear facing). Way more leg room in the Radian. It does have some install quirks though, so definitely try before you buy.

The headwings move by opening the velcro above/below the wings and just sliding them up or down. As said above you don't use them until the child is on the 3rd harness slot though. Rear-facing itself offers great side-impact protection.

What do you drive?

What she said!

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[Unregistered]

I have both a Radian and a Marathon (virtually the same as the Pavillion) and I would choose the Radian every day of the week over the Marathon -- IF the Radian installs well in your car. It offers more leg room, the lower profile makes it easier to load a child and have a child climb in themselves, it's narrower on the outside yet somehow roomier on the inside. My 4.5 year old won't get in the Marathon unless there's some pressing reason she must and prefers the Radian for both forward- and rear-facing. My almost 2 year old also prefers the Radian over the Marathon (rear facing). Way more leg room in the Radian. It does have some install quirks though, so definitely try before you buy.

The headwings move by opening the velcro above/below the wings and just sliding them up or down. As said above you don't use them until the child is on the 3rd harness slot though. Rear-facing itself offers great side-impact protection.

What do you drive?

Thanks for the info! I read the manual this morning & then went back to the store - I was able to move the headwings no problem. (also educated the store employee kindly since they were telling people they can't adjust!) We have a 2008 Honda CRV (primary car; car seat is in this car 95% of the time) and a 2007 Toyota Camry (husband's car - car seat is only in this car for occasional use around town if CRV is in the shop or sometimes for vacation).

We took the Radian out to the CRV to install rear facing behind the passenger seat; we had to move the passenger seat ALL the way up to have room for the rear install. I am only 5'1" and my knees were hitting the dash when sitting in the passenger seat. Definitely not safe! I've read about an angle adjuster - would this work & give us enough room to install on the passenger side without being so close to the dash? We didn't try the middle seat, as it's kind of difficult to get a good install b/c of the "hump" of the seat there - not sure if that would have been a better choice.

Anyone successfully installed in a CRV rear facing (with or without angle adjuster)? Are these angle adjusters really crash tested? THANKS!

 

[guest1]

I have an RXT with an angle adjuster and I llove it. It really does makeep a huge difference! And yes they are crash tested.

 

[guest1]

Whoops sorry for my typos I'm on my phone.

 

[Pixelated]

Here's some info about a Radian in an 08 CRV: http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=761600&postcount=307

The angle adjuster would help a lot. Get a book that's about 2" thick (phone book would be about the right size) to use to approximate the size of the adjuster. Obviously you can't use it instead of the proper Diono angle adjuster, but it would give you an idea of how much of a difference it would make front-to-back.

Using the angled adjuster in my 03 Odyssey means my 6'2" husband can sit in the passenger seat with the seat slid all the way back with a few inches to spare, versus moaning and complaining the whole time that he's squished in the seat.