Great Car Seat for Smaller Back Seats
August 1, 2019
This car seat is a great car seat, especially if your vehicle can only hold around three 17” wide (or so) car seats in a row. To accommodate a third car seat for our baby, we needed narrower car seats for our 5 & 3 year olds. We used to have Graco Contender 65’s for our two kids, but those car seats would not make room for a third car seat in our 2014 Dodge Journey. We bought this Diono Radian 3 RXT and it was a great solution to our problem.
Installation of this car seat is pretty easy. It also looks and feels well made. It’s a little heavier than my Graco Contender 65, but I understand because the Diono has a steel frame. My son loves the car seat, too. He loves the color and how comfortable it is. Due to the height, I would not recommend this car seat for rear facing in smaller cars, but it fits perfectly forward facing.
I like that this should be the last car seat I need to buy for my son because it will eventually be used as a high-back booster from 50-120 lbs.
Overall, this car seat is great and I love it. Our kids may not have cup holders at their disposal anymore due to the car seats being side-by-side, but that is not that bad of a problem for us. In my opinion, this is a great investment and we will reap the benefits for years to come.
Pros
- - Narrow base
- - Comfortable material
- - Great color
- - Easy install
Best Uses
- - In smaller back seats when three narrow car seats are needed, forward facing only.
- - A vehicle with deep back seats would be ideal for rear-facing.
Cons
- - Cup holder can be difficult or annoying to remove and install.
- - Some people may not like how heavy it is.
- - In our SUV, a 2014 Dodge Journey, the cup holders cannot be used on the doors side, if the car seat is installed in the passenger or drivers side seats. The cup holders cannot be used with car seats in all three seats.
- -In our SUV, if the car seat is set up as rear facing, the front seats will have to be moved forward significantly. I am 5?9? and I have to move my seat far enough forward to a point where I am uncomfortable. It is also uncomfortable for my wife, who is 5?3? and pregnant.