Monday, October 12, 2009

My fight with the Radian is over, and I won.

I tried installing a Radian in my van, before I bought one. I think it installed pretty well after a few tries. Unfortunately, I didn't attach the RF tether, or put Sofi in it.

I bought a pretty pink Radian. I installed it, attached the tether, and put Sofi in. Attaching the tether reclined it a little more, and so did Sofi's weight :( I got tips from others online that had successfully install it in the center seat in this van, and it just wouldn't work for me :( I'd pretty much given up :(

Then, I got a message from another carseat crazy friend. She had a different way of installing the seat. So, I went out today and gave it a try. I reclined the vehicle seatback all the way, and put the base of the Radian forward of the hump on the van seat (there is a hump at the seatbite that covers the lower anchors). Didn't think that would work at all, there was a ton of space between the seatback and the Radian (even with the seatback put back up). I pulled and pulled the LATCH strap to tighten. It was still too loose :( I put the strap through the belt path to pull at a different angle, and it wouldn't tighten :( I had my husband pull, and it wouldn't tighten :( I took it out of the belt path to pull from the top again, I knelt on the Radian and bounced a little and pulled alot. And It got tight! I put the vehicle seatback up again, and voila! I attached the tether and had Sofi climb in. The seat reclined just a tad more, but not too much :)



I WIN! Sofi now has a new carseat :) She looks like she has less legroom than in the Titan, but alot more room to grow heightwise.

6 comments:

Dahlia said...

Is it a Sienna? I'll have to put my radian back in mine for my youngest in May when I hand her SS1 down. The recline issue won't be such a big deal until she gets bigger, but I had a huge problem with it with my 2yo.

CarseatNanny said...

Yes, I have an 8 passenger 2008 Sienna. It's difficult, but it can be done. I think the old Radian boot works better outboard, but won't fit well center. But it's less than 45* now in the center :)

Dahlia said...

Ok. I have a 7 passenger, old boot. I'll have to try it this spring. Making mental note not to forget. Putting it on the hump part seems so counter intuitive!

CarseatNanny said...

It's not on the hump. If so, maybe only a tad. Your seats are the same as my outboard seats. The top left picture is actually the old boot RN outboard (I couldn't find the right pic of the center install). JUst make sure the boot is forward of the latch and it looks pretty good I think. Not too reclined.

Dahlia said...

Thank you! I'm moving ds2's CA to the back row temporarily this weekend because we have an out of town guest who will be more comfy in the captain's chair. So I may try the install just for fun to see if I can get it to work.

Yes, installing car seats is fun, LOL!

Jennifer said...

Hooray! I'm so glad you got it to work