Sunshine Radian 80

[WDWorBUST]

Tell me about the sunshine radian 80. I'm looking for a new seat for DD to have in our 2nd car - but I want one that will last her past her Britax Marathons. I really like the Regent - but it just looks so much bigger than the radian. I know Britax is considered top notch - but I had never heard of the radian before this board. So tell me about it if you have any experience with it or have any knowledge of it.

 

[super_crunch]

How old is your daughter?

I have Radian 65's for both of my kids in my dh's car...and a Marathon and a Regent in my car. They provide about 1.5" or so more growing room than the Marathon, so it isn't significant.

My first piece of advice, it to look into the Radian 65 rather than the Radian 80. It is about $100 cheaper, and has the exact same harness height as the 80. (so it will only get you further if your child is over 65 lbs...and it is very unlikely for a child to reach 65 lbs, let alone 80 in that seat) My 6 year old has about 1.5" of room left in the Radian 65 and she is only 40 lbs.

Both of my kids prefer their Britax seats because they are much more comfortable...and both dh and I prefer them also because they are so much easier to install than the Radians.

That being said, they are still great seats...especially if you have 3 kids and need to fit 3 carseats in the back seat of a car.

 

[lclark0621]

My first piece of advice, it to look into the Radian 65 rather than the Radian 80. It is about $100 cheaper, and has the exact same harness height as the 80. (so it will only get you further if your child is over 65 lbs...and it is very unlikely for a child to reach 65 lbs, let alone 80 in that seat) My 6 year old has about 1.5" of room left in the Radian 65 and she is only 40 lbs.

Now that entirely depends on the child. My DS is 4 & 43 lbs right now. So there is a good chance he will reach teh 65 lb weight limit in his car seats. And I always planned on moving him out of his Marathon before the 65 lb limit. I know the "limit" is 65 lbs, but once he reached 60, I plan on no longer using the Marathon.

DS has a Regent in my car & LOVES it. It is a big seat though. But that one isn't going anywhere.

In DH's car it is the Marathon, but we are planning to get him the Radian 80 soon for DH's car because the Regent wont fit in his.

 

[thepeach80]

4 and 43# is not a big child (that's exactly what my 4yo weighs). AJ has gained about 5# a year since he turned 1, so if he does that again he'll be 8 before he hits 65#. BUT, he only has about 2" left before he'd be even w/ the top slot of the seat so will be way too big by 8.

We have a Radian 65 and ITA w/ the opinion to look at the 65 vs the 80. I have lots of pics of my kids in that seat and the seat itself if you want to see them. It can be tricky to install so that is the biggest drawback of the seat, but if you can figure out the tricks it's not so bad I think. We haven't had any real problems w/ it, but I'm also a tech. IT's a great travel seat b/c it does fold so carries easier (though it's heavy) and will be one of our carry ons on our trip next month.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Sammi is almost 41" now barefoot and she weighs about 37 pounds. She will be 4 on November 1st. You may remember all my questions regarding boosters before and I have decided to go with what my gut was telling me all along - I want to keep her harnessed as long as possible. I would like a third seat for our other car. We have a Jeep Liberty as our "family" car and that's what we go in as a family. But it's a pain at times making sure we leave the right car at home in case whoever is there with Sam needs to go somewhere. And if I'm going to invest in a third seat at this point I'd really like it to take her to the point she doesn't need one anymore. On the install of the radian - do you have any experience with it in a Ford Escort? An OLD Ford Escort That little car is 11 years old and has 170,000 miles on it but still going strong. We plan on keeping it for another year (Hopefully, keeping fingers crossed it makes it) and then getting either a Ford Fusion or Mazda 3 - do you know of any problems with the radian in either of those cars either? It seems like a better option for us than the Regent because of size. And if I'm understanding you guys correctly the 65 has the same top slot heighth as the regent or the 80 either one - right? I don't think she will be over 65 pounds before she is 8 or 9 even so that is a good point that the 65 will probably work just as well for her.

 

[tanyaandallie]

The Regent and the Radian do not have the same top harness slots. Both the Radian 65 and the Radian 80 do have the same top harness slots. They are 18 inches but they do allow children to use the top slots once the shoulders have passed the top slots so it gives you 19 inches. The Regent has 21 inch top harness slots so does last longer. The Radian will take the average child to 6 or 7 years of age, the Regent even longer.

I am not sure on the compatability issue. I know the Radian does have compatability issues, though so you want to make sure it will work in your vehicle before you fork over the cash for one.

 

[Princess Roo]

We have a marathon and a radian and love both. I have read that the radian can be very difficult to install correctly in a car without LATCH, so we have it in our LATCH car. With it in the middle of our Saturn L-series, it leaves plenty of room for an infant carseat on one side and an adult on the other side, which is what we really needed. If we end up getting a minivan as our next car as planned then we will get a Regent for that, since room won't be as much of an issue and our son is really tall.

Regarding the 65 vs. 80 pounds, herehttp://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm is a link to the growth charts many pediatricians use (at the bottom of the page). You can see where your child currently is %-wise and make a decent estimate of what age they will hit those weights at. An 8 yr old that is 65 pounds is right on the 75th percentile line. A 7 yr old at 65 pounds is above the 90th percentile.

 

[thepeach80]

On Radians and compatibility. http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=18235 A radian will get you to 6 or so probably depending on how your child is built, but you'll still need a booster later.

 

[WDWorBUST]

There are just too many choices....now I'm leaning back towards a regent. The good thing is I don't have to buy a new seat right now. She has Britax Marathons in both mine and my mom's cars that were bought in 2004 so they will most likely last as long as she will fit in them. It would just be nice to have one for the car for those times it would be handy - but it's really not a necessity.