diono radian car seat?

[Figee17]

anyone have any experience with any of the models of these foldable car seats?


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[CarrieR]

What information are you looking for? How old & heavy is the child, and do you plan to use the seat rear- or forward-facing?

I am a car seat technician, and I own/use a Radian XTSL (predecessor to the Diono Radian RXT, I believe.)

 

[Figee17]

we would be using it for our 3 yr old, 28 lb little guy specifically for traveling. airplanes, rental cars, etc.
looking for any personal opinions. we have a graco nautilus and evenflo aleady but they are BULKY to travel with!


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[irky416]

We have a Radian and it is HEAVY! There is no way I would carry it around in an airport with luggage and a baby. If you only want it for travel, I would look for a lightweight one. We love it for the car, though!

 

[CarrieR]

My Radian is great for two things: 1) extended rear-facing and 2) fitting three seats across a car. Although it folds and comes with backpack straps, it is HEAVY! The frame is steel, and it feels like it! It is also really expensive for use just as a travel seat.

The only way I would recommend a Radian is if you plan to rear-face your son again in it. If you plan for him to stay forward-facing, then I would opt for something lighter weight, like an Evenflo Maestro. That one in particular has the same top harness heights as your Nautilus, goes to 50lbs, and my understanding is that it installs well on airplanes, allowing the tray table to come down and be used.

You could bungee it to an umbrella stroller & push it through the airport, then gate check the stroller and use the carseat on board.

I hope that helps!

 

[Figee17]

Thanks! These opinions DO help! I am going to order it and see if I like it.
Does anyone have any experience with using it with a BRICA Roll n Go accessory that you can attach to a car seat and wheel it around? We already have that so if I could use it with the Diono, that would be ideal!

Thanks everyone!

 

[wiigirl]

We have a Radian and it is HEAVY! There is no way I would carry it around in an airport with luggage and a baby. If you only want it for travel, I would look for a lightweight one. We love it for the car, though!

x2....a good lightweight one...

 

[rachellm]

I love our radian, but as everyone said it is heavy! When we got ours the first thing I said was that we're never traveling with it.

The seat weighs just under 25 lbs compared to just over 10 for the maestro.

 

[CaoilinnsMom]

I have traveled with a Radian for years. It is heavy, but I put it on a rolling cart that straps on and my daughter rides in it. I have never had to fold it to get through security, they do not even make me take it off the cart, they just inspect it as is. Off we go again to the gate. I take it off the cart and install it into the plane seat pretty quickly. The only real pain is getting on and off the plane, but we are talking what? Like 50 feet? it is totally doable.

 

[adc]

I bought a Costco for $40 at Walmart. It is lightweight, easy to install, and not too bulky. My other carseats...I dread moving them around!

The downside is that there is not much cushion in the seat. It may not be comfortable for extended travel. And, the cup holder is terrible.

When I bought the car seat in was in a zip up cover. Great for keeping in garage.

 

[Lisa71]

We did Britax frontier and loved it. We used the decathlon line prior.

 

[louisianab]

I second the Cosco option if this is going be exclusively for travel. Cheap, well rated and light weight. They also have pretty good weight limits for FF and RF. I think it is called a Scenera

 

[andigomeep]

We've traveled multiple times with our Radian. It isn't a hassle. We use ratchet straps to strap it to our rolling carry on. Simple. You do have to take it off to go through security but it literally takes my husband one minute to put it back together on the other side. It's narrow and fits perfectly on various different airlines seats easily. Plus it is a very long lasting extended rearfacing seat, my 40 inch just barely 3 year old is still rearfacing in it with, hopefully!, another year left.

 

[morethananyonex]

We love the seat in the car. It fits nicely in all the vehicles we've tried it in, especially with the angle adjuster (for RF). We want to RF our son until at least 4, so the seat is one of the longest lasting ones we can get our hands on in Canada. I love it compared to our Britax, that seems squishy and bulky by comparison.

We have yet to use it on a plane, but will be come February. We have a luggage cart from Target to take it through the airport, but I've read it fits very nicely on airplanes. It's heavy, but that's not a big issue for us because of the cart.

That said, one of the biggest selling features of the Radian is the ability to RF for so long. I'm not sure I would buy one as a travel seat only, I think there may be better options out there for a FF 3 year old.

 

[mdurette]

We traveled with our Radian for years. It is VERY heavy (well as far as car seats are concerned). I originally purchased the bag made for it. Was nice with straps and made it easier to deal with - but boy was that sucker snug and tight to get on. We then bought the current model of the bag - it was way too big.

All and all - it is an awesome seat, very safe and sturdy and in the end doesn't weigh anymore than your luggage.

 

[Figee17]

Just traveled with it and loved it! I barely noticed that it was heavy since we strapped it onto the car seat roller thing and DS rode in it through the airport. We didnt rent a car but wanted to use it on the plane ( fit great, even down the aisle!) and in the van to/from the hotel. What we underestimated loving before hand was the tiny amount of space it took up in the room when we weren't using it! Or other seats would have taken up so much room and have been bulky to maneuver. It also fit through the security screener which meant we didn't have to wait for someone to manually screen it.
Really happy we decided to go with this one. It just felt so much safer and more secure than some others and was easy to move around on the roller and SO easy to latch in/out.

 

[rillsung]

I ditto what others have said! I have 2 of them because my girls are 3 across. We bought the carrier to travel with it (and hopefully protect it from the airlines!) They are small but yes very very heavy.