Another Carseats Question - large baby

Hello,

I am doing research on carseats for a large baby about to grow out of capsule at 5 months and the following have been recommended to me. Can you provide your reviews of any of these?

1. Sunshine Kids Radian xtsl
2. Evenflow Symphony
3. Save and Sound Royale
4. Evenflo Momentum

I am looking for something that will be able to grow with my LO for as long as possible but most of the ones recommended to me are very much on the pricey side and I would love your thoughts.

Thanks very much
Bx

Lily is a large baby and I wish I had known about the Radian before we got her carseat! She's always been 98th%ile for weight and height. We have an Evenflo Symphony in one car and a Safe and Sound Royale in the other. The Evenflo we were told rear faced until 15kg but turns out it was only 9kg but the seat converts to a booster until about 20kg I think it was.

The S&S Royale rear faces until 13kg (DD is currently 11.5-12kg) and forward faces until 18kg.

Both are great and padded and have padded inserts for smaller babies. Tether straps (although the evenflo I have only has a tether strap for forward facing not rear facing.)

Only dislike with the Evenflo is that it didn't rearface for long and by 8 month DD outrgew it! Umm and it also has polystyrine (sp??) and plastic frame and we had to get new polystyrine for it after a month as it broke.

I would go with the Radian too provided it will fit in your car. We are just about to upgrade our car so we can fit one in.

A couple of other options which may not have looked at are the Brio (RF 0-25kg, FF 12-18kg $589) and the Safety 1st air protect(RF 2.3-18.9kg, FF 10-22.7kg $399 but have seen cheaper at Baby factory/Smiths City). Safety First do another one that doesn't RF for quite as long but you can use as a booster. Both seats are at Baby on the move which is where I got the prices from.

Currently DD is in a Safe in sound meridian which I really like except rear face for as long. She is 11.5kg at almost 19 months she sits below the 75th percentile I think, the seat only RF to 12kg. We need another seat anyway as we have #2 on the way so we will still get plenty of use out of the SnS.

Thanks everyone ... it sounds like the Sunshine Kids Radian is a good option. Now just have to see if it fits and find the best price.

Thanks again

The Radian is longer than most other seats we tried in the car, I think. Unless it has a greater incline than the others (which I don't think it does), we had trouble making it fit because there wasn't enough room between it and the seats in front (had to put it in the middle). We didn't have that problem as much with other brands.

Jacob's a long baby too, and he's got a lot of growing to go before he gets anywhere near the top (which would makes sense, given he's not a year old yet, but still)

Sally wrote: High9 wrote: Only dislike with the Evenflo is that it didn't rearface for long and by 8 month DD outrgew it! Evenflo symphony is RF until 16kg...average 1 year old is about 10kg. ETA link for Symphony weight limits.

Yes the carseat said 9kg on it for max rear facing and the manual had 15 or 16kg (can't recall now) but rung the manufacturer and they said to follow what the carseat said.

Cheers everyone. The local plunket has one for trying anyway but i like to do my basic research without leaving the couch.

ps Amme come back to your duedate thread!

I have seen pictures of five year olds in the Radian, Bowie, so I'm sure Max will be fine for at least a couple of years!

We've got the Evenflo Symphony 65's. I think they are great value for money.

They rear face to 15kg (according to the seat label and the manual), then forward face and then become a booster seat. So while the initial outlay is pricier than other seats we won't need to purchase any other car seats.

There is option to either use a seatbelt or the sure latch system and there is a tether for forward facing.

Initially I wanted the Radian but they didn't fit in our (large) 4wd - I could hardly believe it. But I figured if they didn't fit in our big vehicle then when the nana's & aunties had my girls the chances of the Radian's fitting in their cars were pretty low too.

High9 wrote: Danda08 wrote: We've got the Evenflo Symphony 65's. I think they are great value for money. They rear face to 15kg (according to the seat label and the manual), then forward face and then become a booster seat. So while the initial outlay is pricier than other seats we won't need to purchase any other car seats. There is option to either use a seatbelt or the sure latch system and there is a tether for forward facing. Initially I wanted the Radian but they didn't fit in our (large) 4wd - I could hardly believe it. But I figured if they didn't fit in our big vehicle then when the nana's & aunties had my girls the chances of the Radian's fitting in their cars were pretty low too. It's funny because that's the seat I have but on the seat it says rear facing until 9kg and the manual said 15 or 16 but when I rung Evenflo they said it was 9kg to go with...

I checked my seat today as I was worried I might have DD in seat over RF weight limit. Mine Definitely says RF 2.3kg to 15.8kg and FF 9kg to 29kg. So, an overlap with when you can RF and FF, but def can RF for long. That was on the sticker on the side of the seat. Good to be sure though!!