Diono Radian RXT as a booster

=Lee=B

Anyone using the Radian RXT as a booster seat?  We are about to buy this seat (when we find a sale) but I've heard negatives about it's use as a belt positioning booster.  We are way long off from using it as a booster but I am curious if anyone is successfully using it that way.

amandaleigh1

I am a long way from having a kid big enough for a booster seat, but the sales person who sold me our radian said that the RXT will likely be outgrown before you can really use it booster style. If your child gets so tall that his shoulders come up against the head wings then it is time for a different seat. For this reason, we chose the R120. Since it doesn't have head wings, in theory, it can be used longer or for a taller child. Now whether any of them is any good as a booster remains to be seen...

ebp913

The thing is that in order to use it as a booster your child must be 50lbs.  By the time most kids are 50lbs they will have outgrown the seat in height and that height doesn't have to do with the headwings.  It has to do with how tall the shell of the seat is and where the top of the seat hits your child.  Basically there is no seat that's going to get you to through the booster years and also be a good convertible seat.  Focus on the infant and convertible seat and deal with the booster when you get there.  Boosters can be very inexpensive also so I just wouldn't worry about it til you get there.  

=Lee=B

ebp913:

The thing is that in order to use it as a booster your child must be 50lbs.  By the time most kids are 50lbs they will have outgrown the seat in height and that height doesn't have to do with the headwings.  It has to do with how tall the shell of the seat is and where the top of the seat hits your child.  Basically there is no seat that's going to get you to through the booster years and also be a good convertible seat.  Focus on the infant and convertible seat and deal with the booster when you get there.  Boosters can be very inexpensive also so I just wouldn't worry about it til you get there.  

 

Thanks!  I like it as an infant/child seat so that's why we are getting it.  My husband is an engineer though, and he plans EVERYTHING so I was curious because I know that 7 years from now when she needs a booster if this doesn't work he will be disappointed it went against his plan lol.  Knowing it likely won't work as a booster I will refrain from talking about it's booster ability so he's not set on it to much.  He's gonna have FUN with LO when she is a toddler and isn't going with plans heehee.

BTW, I had heard that it didn't work because the belt guide is tucked within the padding under the headwing and it gets snug there so the belt doesn't retract...making it unsafe. 

Angela814

ebp913:

The thing is that in order to use it as a booster your child must be 50lbs.  By the time most kids are 50lbs they will have outgrown the seat in height and that height doesn't have to do with the headwings.  It has to do with how tall the shell of the seat is and where the top of the seat hits your child.  Basically there is no seat that's going to get you to through the booster years and also be a good convertible seat.  Focus on the infant and convertible seat and deal with the booster when you get there.  Boosters can be very inexpensive also so I just wouldn't worry about it til you get there.  

Yep. We have the older version, but I think it's about the same size. DD1 is tall and outgrew it around 5 years but only 45 lbs. You can get a good high back booster for $50-100, so I think it's more important to just worry about getting a good convertible seat.

amandaleigh1

Angela814:

ebp913:

The thing is that in order to use it as a booster your child must be 50lbs.  By the time most kids are 50lbs they will have outgrown the seat in height and that height doesn't have to do with the headwings.  It has to do with how tall the shell of the seat is and where the top of the seat hits your child.  Basically there is no seat that's going to get you to through the booster years and also be a good convertible seat.  Focus on the infant and convertible seat and deal with the booster when you get there.  Boosters can be very inexpensive also so I just wouldn't worry about it til you get there.  

Yep. We have the older version, but I think it's about the same size. DD1 is tall and outgrew it around 5 years but only 45 lbs. You can get a good high back booster for $50-100, so I think it's more important to just worry about getting a good convertible seat.

I might be one of the lucky ones to use my radian as a booster as my 11 month old is 25 lbs and not tall, at all. But quite a chunk. He's now in second lowest harness slot. This info if all good to know though. Thanks for sharing!

Angela814

LauraT25:

I have never heard anywhere that the Radian does not position the belt safely, it is more that the harness and the booster are outgrown at the same time.  A very small fraction of kids will meet the weight minimum for the booster and still fit in the seat.  The good news is, dedicated boosters are inexpensive (like, starting at $13, cheap) and you won't need one for a loooong time.  I kind of wish Diono would drop the booster function altogether, because it's a great convertible and the longevity of its harnessed function is so good that it really is worth the price when you have a tall kid, but so many people get hung up on the fact that they are 'losing 1/3 the use of the seat' when they find out it doesn't really work as a booster.

It's because they added the booster function and jacked up the price by $100. We bought our Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL for $220. The list price on the Diono Radian RXT is $340.

gimmietimmies

Angela814:

ebp913:

The thing is that in order to use it as a booster your child must be 50lbs.  By the time most kids are 50lbs they will have outgrown the seat in height and that height doesn't have to do with the headwings.  It has to do with how tall the shell of the seat is and where the top of the seat hits your child.  Basically there is no seat that's going to get you to through the booster years and also be a good convertible seat.  Focus on the infant and convertible seat and deal with the booster when you get there.  Boosters can be very inexpensive also so I just wouldn't worry about it til you get there.  

Yep. We have the older version, but I think it's about the same size. DD1 is tall and outgrew it around 5 years but only 45 lbs. You can get a good high back booster for $50-100, so I think it's more important to just worry about getting a good convertible seat.

Ditto to all of this. My 5 and 7 year old would have outgrown these before they hit 50lbs (we have the SSK Radians), and were too young to be booster ready when they outgrew them ff. Average height kids will be able to go to a hbb, kids on the taller side or less ready side around age five or less. We went right into Frontiers.

hmp1

I bought our Radian to keep DS rear facing as long as possible. He is 2.5, 90+% for height) and still has plenty of room to rear face. Once he out grows the seat rear facing, we will put him in a Frontier so he can be ff in a 5 point harness until he is over 7. I paid $200 for our Radian r120 and am perfectly happy with being able to use it until he is around 4 before buying a different seat. We paid more than that for our infant seat + extra base and only used it for 6 mo.