As of tomorrow evening, I should have in my possession a new Britax RA50 in Kathryn. :: happy sigh ::

The Radian will not rear face in our van. Not without much turmoil anyway. I have tried, and y'all know how I go after car seat installs, and it wasn't happening. Hubs said he would try, but, really, it wouldn't work anyway because we'd have to move the front seats up and that's not good. And...that might not alleviate our problem because the seat is too tall and would still bump the driver's seat. It won't fit directly in between. Just a bad fit all around.

So, I begged for a new seat. And I really wanted to go back to Britax. And then it came on sale. :) Yay!

Yay! :D We have that problem with the rear facing Radian too. We only have one spot in the van where it will work, and it sacrifices a bit of leg room in the front seat at that.

I have a friggin' 12 passenger van. And the Radians can only install in 2 of those seats. And ONLY forward facing.

THAT bites. :(

I knew it was known for install issues going in, but still. It bites.

Hey Tara!! How is the Britax working out for you? I'm rehashing our car seat situation. Again. Debating ditching the bucket because I only use it for about 3-4 months anyway. (Hate carrying that thing around!) I'm looking into a rear/forward facing combo. Babe will be in one of the bucket seats in the middle row of our van, so width is not an issue. Babe will likely get to live in that spot forever, so long term it isn't an issue either.

Hubby isn't in any rush to make a decision... seeing as we're set for a homebirth this time around, he figures he's fine even if we have to send him out after babe is here to buy one. [whatwacko] Me, not so much. If we hit Easter and I don't have a seat for this little one, I'm going to seriously start stressing. lol

BTW... we still don't have a bucket to use, which is certainly factoring in here. I am having a hard time with the thought of spending so much on something that will be used so infrequently. :/

I hear ya on the bucket dilemma. I waffled with LilBit...but I went with it. I figured I got just enough use out of it...my babies would sleep in it while I shopped. They've never done well with being disrupted to put them in a wrap then take them back out. But still, I waffled because it was a lot of money for little use.

Anywho..so, you're considering a convertible you can use from birth?

The Radian has low slots that can generally accommodate newborns well. And the MyRide65 does as well...do you have that one up there? Graco MyRide? (I obviously need to hone my Canadian seat knowledge ;) ) First Year's TrueFit might also be an option.

Oh, wait, the new Radians, by Diono, have higher lowest slots...by a full inch or more..so, I'm not sure how well that will fit a newbie. The older Sunshine Kids Radians fit well though, from what I've heard.

Sadly, Britax convertibles do not accommodate newborns very well.

But on that note...loving our RA50 :) I was actually considering a rearrangement in the van now that some have more practicing buckling their own belts. LilBit's seat presently bumps against the front passenger seat. That annoys me. I'd rather it be in the middle, free and clear. But I couldn't do that before due to other children's issues.

But anyway, we like it. It's easy to get her in and out. Deep enough for me to feel good about her protection, but not so deep it's hard to lift her up into the van, up and over a car seat side...and she doesn't feel so claustrophobic either. :p I really think she was getting annoyed with that closed in feeling of the KeyFit there right before we switched. She loves how she can see everyone/thing now. :) Sooooo happy to be back with Britax!

I'll double check Canadian options for ya.

Oh....wait....forgot about the MyRide crotch buckle...it was tooooo far out. It was much too far for LilBit at 1yr, let alone for a newborn !?! Unless I missed a crotch buckle position...but others have mentioned the space as well.

Kim if you lived closer..I would give you Zakariah's seat. He is almost out of it, he is almost 29 inches. If you want to pay for shipping you can have it

Hmm... lots to think about. Tara, the Radian is certainly still an option. I was just looking into other options simply because rear facing, I have to move up the front passenger seat and it doesn't give me much leg room. I'll do it if it is the best solution, but if I can find something that isn't quite as tall then I think *I'd* be happier. We really only *need* Radians in the back row. That said, I could easily move Callum or Alanna out of theirs (old model) for the babe and put them in one of the newer ones.

Bummer about the Britax! As for the others, I'll look into them. I'm not big on buying the cheapest model on the market - although I don't need to buy the most expensive on the market either! I just want to know I'm getting the best I can for the kids, yk? And buying a convertible, I'd like to know I'm getting one that I won't need to replace before we upgrade to a booster. :)

Lori - how generous of you!! :D I just have no idea how expensive shipping is from Ontario (right??) I just know that Canada Post is *so* expensive. :/