Is there a booster as narrow as the radian?

[Hazelnut]

We currently have 3 forward-facing radians in our Subaru Forester ('04). It's a tight squeeze but it works. However my 7yo's shoulders are about level with the top slot and he is 52 in. We tried getting the turbo booster in with the two radians and it didn't really fit. PLEASE tell me there is a booster that fits well in a 3-across situation?

[bobandjess99]

No. I'm sorry. The turbo is technically the same width as the radian, but as I'm sure you've discovered, the fact that you need to have extra space in there to be able to reach in between in order to BUCKLE the booster makes it not fit nearly as well.

What are the ages and sizes of your kids? Even though the radian is technically the narrowest seat, sometimes you can puzzle bigger seats together and get more room, because of the way the seats are shaped...for example, i can overlap certain combos of seats to fit them in places where 3 radians wont fit, even though some of the seats are much bigger than a radian!!!

[Hazelnut]

Yep it's the buckling that's the pain and why we kept him in the radian at this point. Well that and the fact that it fit! I wish he could stay in it longer, just for that reason. At this point I would be comfortable with him in a booster otherwise.

I was wondering about puzzling them together. My husband is the one who installs them (I have zero patience for it-and we get them checked) so I am actually kind of clueless about the fits. I just do the research.

My other boys are 5 years old and just about 3 years old. I would put my (45lb? ) 5yo boy in a booster if it puzzled in a better way. My almost 3 year old just went forward facing in his radian. We have a britax marathon we could potentially use again for him, ff'ing. We actually had that rear-facing in the middle and it fit *better* than the radian due to the puzzling, but he surpassed the rear-facing weight limit and then it wouldn't fit ffing. Maybe it would with the booster? I think my dh would die if I bought another carseat.

What do all the 3-across people do when the kids grow into a booster?

Thanks for your response. Also- do you happen to know if it's OK if his shoulders are at or very slightly above the top slot, if his ears are well below the top of the shell? I thought the head height trumped the other factors, but I'm not sure. He's 52 in. (limit 53 per manual). I tried to call Radian but haven't reached yet.

[bigteamug]

check your manual, but it used to be that Radian was one of the few seats that you could go have the shoulders over the top slot and still use it, as long as the ears are below the top of the shell...not sure if that has changed since I bought my first one.....

In mine, it's in the back of the manual where it talks about proper harness height and adjusting the harness height.

[Mommybree]

Originally Posted by Hazelnut

Yep it's the buckling that's the pain and why we kept him in the radian at this point. Well that and the fact that it fit! I wish he could stay in it longer. At this point I would be comfortable with him in a booster otherwise.

I was wondering about puzzling them together. My husband is the one who installs them (I have zero patience for it-and we get them checked) so I am actually kind of clueless about the fits. I just do the research.

My other boys are 5 years old and just about 3 years old. I would put my (45lb? ) 5yo boy in a booster if it puzzled in a better way. My almost 3 year old just went forward facing in his radian. We have a britax marathon we could potentially use again for him. We actually had that rear-facing in the middle and it fit *better* than the radian due to the puzzling, but he surpassed the rear-facing weight limit and then it wouldn't fit ffing. Maybe it would with the booster? I think my dh would die if I bought another carseat.

What do all the 3-across people do when the kids grow into a booster?

Thanks for your response. Also- do you happen to know if it's OK if his shoulders are at or very slightly above the top slot, if his ears are well below the top of the shell? I thought the head height trumped the other factors, but I'm not sure. He's 52 in. (limit 53 per manual). I tried to call Radian but haven't reached yet.

How much does your almost 3 year weigh? I have an almost 3 year old who weighs 35 pounds, and I have him rear-facing in a Graco My Ride in my husband's car. The My Ride might puzzle like the Marathon did rear-facing for you, so I though I'd suggest it.

[Hazelnut]

Thanks. He's 39.5 lbs actually, and really tall. So that probably wouldn't work now, as I see that's a 40 lb. rf'ing limit, right? We got the $200+ radian so he could rear face longer, but it stinks rearfacing in our subaru! Unlike the marathon, the radian makes the passenger seat stick way forward, even when it's rf'd in the middle. We put up with it for a while, but before a car trip turned it forward. I wonder how the myride would have fit. Is it a really big seat? I thought it was, but I may be confusing it with another I looked up way back when.

He 'll be 3 in a month, so I was more comfy with it now. Though I'd probably have kept it rf'ing if we didn't have space issue.

[Hazelnut]

Originally Posted by bigteamug

check your manual, but it used to be that Radian was one of the few seats that you could go have the shoulders over the top slot and still use it, as long as the ears are below the top of the shell...not sure if that has changed since I bought my first one.....

In mine, it's in the back of the manual where it talks about proper harness height and adjusting the harness height.

I *thought* i read this too, but wasn't sure if it was just hopeful thinking! I am going to keep trying to reach radian. This would be great and at least buy us a little time. Thanks!