What is safer for my kids? Please help!

[radroxx]

Hello everyone. I’m trying to figure out which one of my cars and what way is the safest for my two kids while on the road. I have a 2004 Mitsubishi Outlander. My 20 month old rode in his Radian XTSL rear facing in the middle seat of my car before his little brother came along.

I now have a 5 month old who rides in a Chicco Keyfit 22. I had him in the middle seat and moved my older son behind the passenger seat. I recently went to get the seats inspected and I was informed that my older son’s seat looked too reclined. We found that my car’s two outer seats have a slight cushion on the seat which makes the Radian recline more than usual. They tried everything and couldn’t get a good angle. Tech’s recommended to move the Radian to the center seat and move the Chicco behind the passenger seat. I would feel more comfortable if my younger son was in the middle of the car and I planned on purchasing another Radian for my younger son, so this was upsetting. The tech’s don’t recommend getting another Radian, instead they suggested I purchase a Britax or another car seat that doesn’t require a detachable base to rear face like the Radian does. If I get a Britax, my older son will still be riding in the middle since the Radian has a taller shell. It’s safest for my infant son to be in the middle seat correct?

I also have a 2004 Chrysler Sebring Touring I can switch over to(I‘m currently using this car.) I can use two Radian’s but they will have to be behind the driver and passenger seats since the back seat is smaller than my other car and they will not fit side by side. If I go this route, should my infant son be behind passenger seat and my older son behind driver seat?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[wendytthomas]

In the Sebring, do whatever is easiest for you. Neither side is safer.

For the Outlander, did you brace the Radian against a front seat? You can definitely do it against the driver's seat, and very likely you can against the passenger seat. So get the Radian where you want it, and then shove the front seat back into it. You cannot lift the bottom of the Radian off the car's seat, it must stay on, but it can be brace into a front seat. Sunshine Kids allows it. Also, if you add weight to the feet area of the Radian, you may be able to get it more upright. Also play around with seatbelt versus LATCH. Sometimes one gets the seat more upright than the other (and not consistently. For some it's LATCH, for some the seatbelt).

Unless the techs had experience with Radians, I'd be a bit wary of their recommendations. The Radian is a beast in and of itself.

And what does the removable base have to do with it? It's easy to recommend a seat that doesn't have one. Ummmm, the Graco Smart Seat does. Some 40 pound AOEs do (we don't recommend them anyway). Otherwise, no convertible has a removable foot/base. Britax, Evenflo, Graco, most of Dorel (which is Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer, Maxi Cosi, Cosco), Learning Curve/First Years/Lamaze, Combi, all of them would meet that criteria of non-removable base. They all still must be in the recline mode when rear facing.

I would also try to keep your baby in the middle, but I wouldn't stress a baby on the side.

Wendy

 

[radroxx]

By "brace" do you mean pushing it as far in with one of the front seats? If so, then no. The front seat wasn't even touching the Radian. Tech's said as long as I'm RF, I won't be able to get a good angle because of the raised cushioned on outer seats. One of the tech's added her weight on the bottom of the Radian, but they still weren't comfortable with the angle.

Here is a photo showing what my Outlander back seat looks like. The tech's just couldn't get the detachable base on the Radian to stay flat enough no matter what they tried.

 

[wendytthomas]

How far up did they have your front seats? With that backseat either the Radian should have been braced, or if they were so reclined your front seats were gone.

Try putting the Radian on the bottom part of the seat, not the little hump at the seat bight. As long as you have less than 1" of movement at the belt path you're good.

Wendy

 

[radroxx]

There wasn't much room for the passenger in their seat because the Radian was pretty reclined. I'll try fitting the Radian in there again. I'm comfortable with both car seats installed in my Sebring right now, I would just like to keep my infant in the middle seat. Thanks for the advice!