DD has almost outgrown her Graco infant seat so I need to get her a convertible. I'm looking at the Britax models or Sunshine Kids radian. Anyone have pros/cons of these? I'm looking online researching but it's overwhelming! Thanks!
We have both the Radian and a Britax Marathon. I like both. Right now my 3 year old is ffing in the Radian. I want to keep him harnessed for as long as possible and I like that he's not even close to outgrowing it. DD is still rear facing so she's in the Marathon. We had a Radian rear facing in our car but found that the Marathon took up less room so we switched. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either one.
DD can still RF in a rasian at 3.5yo (and did RF until last month). I like the seat but it does take a TON of room RFing. She'll probably be in it until she's 5 and she's fairly tall for her age.
We also have both. When Mathis outgrew the infant seat, we bought the SS Radian. We liked it so much better than the Britax that we sold the Britax from Ray's car and put both kids in my car in Radian's, with one Britax in his. They're both good seats but the Radian has a longer life expectancy, I think. I also feel like the Britax might have been a bit more comfy for a baby around Allie's age but only for a couple of months. Truitt by far prefers to sit in the Radian (4 year olds have opinions about everything. Geesh)
we have 2 of each and prefer the Radain seats. They just seem cooler in the summer months (not a ton of bulky padding) and more stream lined. They also sit lower. Having both, our preferance is the Radian. I have both our kids FF.
V-The XTSL has an adjustable headrest and deeper side pockets (supposedly better side impact protection). I am thinking maybe I should just get it since presumably I'll have the seat for several years...may as well get the top of the line one. In the product specs, it looks like the seat is several lbs heavier than the 80. Not sure if that really matters though...
Re: Convertible Car Seat-Britax or Sunshine Kids
I don't know anything about the XTSL but definitely go for the 80 over the 65. You'll probably get 2 more years use out of it, at least.