Hi there,
We are about to buy a car seat for our 1 1/2 year old little girl. We don't actually have a car, but need a car seat for use in taxis, on airplanes (in 6 months when she's 2 yrs), etc. Does anyone have the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 convertible car seat? It says it folds and is okay to use on airplanes. The only negative thing we've read is that it doesn't fit all cars, but we assume any car seat might have this problem and since we don't have our own car we can't buy the seat to fit the car.
Also, since it says it goes up to 80 pounds do you think it would be just way too big for a 25 pound kid (says you can use it from birth)? We won't be using it much, so it should last for a while, but don't want it to be unsafe at this age.
Thanks for any feedback you have on this product, or anything you'd recommend instead.
H.
I love my Radian! as far as travel, I have a cart that I use with it. It fits great in the car which makes it great for smaller cars. They have great ratings and a nice look. I recommend this seat to all my friends.
We use the Radian 80 presently for our 19 month old son (27 lbs). He has been in it since around 8-9 months with no problems. The seat has been great so far. The only downfall is how heavy it is-just over 20 lbs I believe. If you have double carrying straps, you can put it on your back and wear it like a backpack which makes it easier for travel, etc. Also like how narrow the seat is. I could fit three in the backseat of my Chevy Malibu if I needed to!
We have it, and since your daughter is already past the rear facing age it should be fine. We had trouble with it in the rear facing position because it is big for a smaller car, but once in forward facing position it works just fine!
As for the size of your kid, my daughter used it from the time she outgrew her carrier car seat at 5 months or so, so I wouldnt worry the straps can be moved up and down... once you get the hang of taking it in and out of cars its not so hard either, especially with the latches! good luck
I don't have any personal experience with this seat but here's some links you might want to check out - this site is frequented by many certified child-passenger safety techs (CPST's) so they've got a lot of experience fitting different seats in different cars:
Review of Sunshine Kids Radian 65 (BTW the 65 and 80 are basically the same size, the 80 has more padding and a higher weight limit, but most kids will outgrow it by height somewhere between age 6-8 and won't need the 80 lb. weight limit):
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=6263
Review of Sunshine Kids Radian XT:http://carseatblog.com/?p=1066
Convertible car seats can be a bit large for newborns/infants, but you should have no trouble fitting your 1.5YO in one.
You might also want to be aware that although the Radian folds for travel, it is a fairly heavy seat b/c it has a metal frame.
One seat that many folks including car seat techs use for travel is the Cosco Scenera (retail ~$50) or Safety First Uptown/Avenue (retail ~$75-$90) - it's lightweight and moderately priced but is safe and fairly easy to install. The Uptown/Avenue has taller harness slots than the Scenera and more padding so it'll last longer before it's outgrown.
I have two of these for my boys and love the seat. That being said, it is a bit heavy and although it folds a bit of a monstrosity for travel. We take other car seats when we travel. Additionally, I have found it harder to install than other seats we have (specifically the Britax Roundabout.) We travel quite a bit and do not take the seats on the plane with us, it has made more sense to have the boys sit in the seats and have more room. If you are really looking for something specific for travel, you might want to check out a Britax and then get the gogo kidz adaptor that allows you to wheel the seat. You don't need to take off the wheels to install it in the car and the installation is very quick.
We purchased two of these seats, and we love them. They are so narrow that they fit much more easily in the back of our vehicle and allow room for a third person to sit with our two girls. The seat is very tall, so that our 4-year-old has plenty of room to grow with it. Our 2-year-old loves the seat, also, and it fits her snugly and safely.
The other feature I really appreciate is that the front panel has a velcro feature that allows you to easily thread a the seat belt through in a car without the latch system or on an airplane.
It does fold and works for us for airplane travel, but it is very heavy to lug around the airport.
Overall, it's a great seat.
We have the Radian 65, having decided that, even with our big boys, the 80 was probably overkill. It's a heavy seat to lug through airports, but the folding feature is nice. The one time I tried to install it on an airplane I ended up giving up and putting the seat in the overhead bin. It may be the same as installing any other seat on an airplane, but I found it very hard to feed the buckle end of the belt (the long strap part is attached to the big buckle part) through the seat, and then when I pulled to tighten it, it unlatched. Probably without feeling rushed for time it would work OK.
We like the seat but it is definitely our second car seat compared to the big, cushy, with cup holders, converts to booster, that our nearly 3 year old uses most.
Hi H.. We have this carseat it was the third one for our daughter, who is now 4 1/2. We wanted a five point harness longer before moving to a backless booster. Now that we have a second child (he's still in the infant seat), we're glad we have this seat because it can be his second, and final carseat.
Bonus for this seat is that it is very narrow and allows us to have two carseats in the back and still have room (tight squeeze, though) for another person in the back.
Downside to this seat, however, is that it is VERY heavy. It's marketed as a portable seat that is great for travel, and while you COULD take it with you, you probably wouldn't want to. I did take this with me while on a trip to the east coast and pregnant and it was just way too much to lug around (pregnant or not).
Hope that helps!
We have the Radian 65 and have had our son in it since he was about 20 lbs. He fits great in it and still does at 30 lbs but as far as travel goes, I don't think I'd want to. It's pretty bulky, heavy and hard to manuver, although fits great in our Hyundai Santa Fe, I never look forward to having to take it out and put it in someone else's car - it's a pain. Just a heads up - good luck!
We have 3 of the Sunshine Kids Radian 65 (very similar to the Radian 80. We originally bought them to fit across the back of our Dodge Neon when our oldest 3 were 6 months (and 20 pounds), 3 and 5. Our five year old could have used a booster but he often would slump over when he fell asleep so we preferred to keep him in a carseat which is safer. They are narrow and fit easily into our car and were easy to use with and without latch. The seat is long but has multiple heights for the straps so it isn't a problem with a smaller child. I have never used it with a newborn, I prefer the carrier type seat we have but my September 2007 daughter has used it since she was 9 months old and she is very small for her age and fits jsut fine. She is currently 18 pounds and still rear facing. I have taken it on airplanes and had no trouble. This is the first time I have actually been able to put the armrest down with the carseat installed. I was able to fit my then 21 month old in the Radian seat in the window, then my 3 week old in her infant carrier seat and then myself in the row easily. I have flown with bulkier carseats and they often overlap into the seat next to them which is usually mom's seat. It is heavy but folds flat which makes it easily go through the metal detector. We also have carried our child and used the stroller to tote the carseat in the airport. As far as taxi's go, if you are goign to have to tote the carseat all around on your errands then you will either end up being really buff or really tired. Right now we use the carseats for our 18 pound 1 1/2 year old and our 40 pound 3 year old and my sister is borrowing the third to fit between to boosters in her back seat.
