I need some advice, pretty please. We just traded in our 07 Odyssey in on a tank, not really but pretty close We got the 07 ESV Escalade. It is more roomy than the van, but we still can't get our 3 Recaro Como's all in one row. This makes getting by Jericho's and what ever other one that has to be in the 2nd row to get the girls back to their seats in the 3rd row really hard.

My question. Would you buy those slim, and super spendy, Sunshine Radian's....or would you move to high back boosters, that I think are slim enough to fit three to a row?

The triplets are almost 3 1/2 now and are good sized, Lily 37 lbs, Hayden 41 lbs and Xander 42 lbs, if that factors in at all.

Thoughts and opinions appreciated.

Our Blog http://tripmomma.blogspot.com/

First, congrats on your new ride; I think you'll love it! I've alternated between the Escalade and GMC XL Denali for several years and wouldn't drive anything else. We've survived a head on collision with a deer, toted around a Runabout without a hitch, and carried oodles and oodles of equipment in the gi-normous cargo area. I'm currently driving a 2010 Denali with three car seats--a Britax Marathon flanked by two Radians in the third row.

When my trio were smaller, we had Britax Roundabouts three across in the third row. We graduated to the Radians which have been tremendous in my opinion. The triplets are now out of them, but my small for their age twins now use them and they just turned 7. (our state law mandates booster or car seat use until age 8). To me the biggest deciding factor was the Radian's five point harnass...I just feel that ups the safety factor enough to justify the cost. If you are deciding between the Radians and a high back booster which just uses the lap belt, I'd choose the Radians any day. With your trio being just three, you'd still get plenty of use out of them.

Enjoy your 'tank!'

Ellyn and the lucky 13!





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I think they are way too young for boosters. I would go with something that fits with a 5 point harness.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

We've got Radians XT adn really like them so far. I'm not sure if the standards are different in the States - the child needs to be 40lbs for a booster here. The Radians are good to about 65Lbs I think.

hope that helps - good luck.

Janet
G - 12/07 35 weeks
GGG-04/10 30 weeks

Thanks so much ladies.
I wasn't thinking of boosters with only the seat belt, I know the kids aren't ready for that. I was thinking of 5pt boosters if at all. Though I haven't researched them yet so I am not sure they come that way and if they would fit 3 to a row. Sounds like the Radians are the way to go anyway.

One more question...do any of the Sunshine Radian's work 3 to a row (or 2 flanking a Recaro in the middle??) or is there a certain model that I need to get?

Thanks again!

Our Blog http://tripmomma.blogspot.com/

I had the Radians three across in the third row of both my Escalade and my current Denali. I don't know the Recaro dimensions, but like I said in my previous post, I have two Radians flanking a Britax Marathon.

Ellyn and the lucky 13!





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Its not the weight as much as the height with the booster. What you don't want is the seat belt cutting into their necks because on a collision, the seat belt can (a) pull across their necks which can be fatal; (b) the seat belt sitting on the stomach can cause internal bleeding. I'm sorry its probably more than you want to know but I was a paralegal at a car's legal department and we saw these kinds of injuries. So, stay in the car seats as long as you can.

Teach the older kids to climb from the back if you cannot fold a seat in the second row. It's really a pain to get to the kids in the back row but definitely safer at this age than a booster.

Enjoy the new car.

P.S. I got into a fender bender a couple of months ago, a Nissan hit me, and she had major damage on her car, my Yukon Denali XL had very minor scratches, no dents. As much as I do not like that I drive such a tank, they're safer.

Thanks guys. I think we are just going to do the 3 Radian's...hopefully Santa will bring us a little extra cash that we can spend on them

Our Blog http://tripmomma.blogspot.com/

If you're buying 3 you should be able to get a discount anyway, and since Sunshine recently changed its name, you should be able to get these at a discount. I'm not sure what kind of prices you are seeing, but I paid less than $180 recently for the 80SL (I only needed one as its for the second car) which is up to 80lbs and generally more $$ than the 65SL which goes to 65lbs.

On a sidenote, good to hear that about the Denali and the Escalade.