Diono - Radian 3QX SafePlus

Background: We have a minivan and a second car on its last leg, mazda 3. We have 3 kids, one in a forward facing and two in boosters. We want to find a mid size car that will fit everyone plus some cargo space for a hockey bag. Every newer car we look at we can't seem to get the car seat in the middle seat. The issue is the distance between the center seat belt bases. On my mazda is 14" between them so we can get a forward facing car seat buckled and the other two kids in booster seats can still buckle thier seat belts. The Kia Ev6 and the new Ionic 5 only have 9" between them. Nobody's ass can fit in that. Combines this with the new seat belt bases are rigid with no flexibility. First image is the mazda 3 center seat. Second image is all new cars, it seems. Question: if you have 3 kids with car seats, what second row car fits 3 across?

It works in the mazda3 since the center seat belts are 14" apart and the seat belt bases are flexible. New cars seem to have very skinny widths, 8" between belts and the bases are rigid so the car seat covers the seat belt bases part. The Dino is still 14"wide. Thanks

Thanks. All the cars we looked at are at least 51" at the hips. The issue is the location of the seat belt bases plus on newer cars the seat belt base is rigid and not flexible. Literally the seat belt bases were only 9" apart on the center seat. No car seat would fit between that.

I’ll second this! I had three Diono seats in the back row of a Subaru outback for a few years. It worked rather well!

We have a 4.5 year old and 2.5 year old twins. We transitioned from the uppa baby Mesa to Diono Radians for all three kids once our twins were out of the Mesa. The radians are great and fit 3 across! Overall really happy with the choice. We do have six car seats (3 each car) 😬 it is SUCH A DAMN PAIN to get them all in and out if you’re 3 across… so I would say it is well worth the $ if you can swing separate car seats for each car. It takes us at least 20 minutes each time and usually some sweat involved.

I have 3 of these across the back of my 2015 Outback. They are a little tight to go in but sit perfectly once in place.

We had 3 Diono Radian car seats fitting in the backseat of a Subaru crosstrek. What’s tricky is when you need some to be rear facing because they lean back far. For that situation they sell a piece of foam that slides under the seat to safely adjust the angle.

We bought a Diono Radian with a backpack travel bag. It folds up and is relatively portable. It’s definitely not lightweight or cheap, but it’s substantial enough to feel safe and we use it in our second car as an every day car seat. There’s cheaper and lighter options, but we’re semi regular travelers so having something solid and comfortable for the kid is worth the extra money and weight. The car seat is a lifesaver on the plane. It’s not explicitly required but strapping her into a familiar seat makes the experience way less stressful. There’s no chance she’d sit still without it.

I believe the Diono Radian is narrow enough to fit three across in most cars. We used to do it in the middle of a Honda civic hatch with a booster on one side.

Yeah, we ran a Radian in the middle with a Civic hatch and it had room for a booster next to it.

We have a Chicco and a Diono radian and I think the diono is much easier unless you’re installing it RF because the extra strap (required in US) is hard. Now my 4.5 is FF it’s the easiest seat all around.

The Diono radians are great for fitting 3 across in mid size cars. We had a lot of them, but I don’t think we ever used 3 across since at least one of my kids was in a booster at the time. We have 2 cars that can fit all three kids in one row: a 2023 Wrangler that and a 2016 Youkon XL (it has a middle bench, which is nicer if you want the extra seat). The Diono Radians also fit in the back seats of a 996 generation Porsche, but it only has 2 seats back there… my oldest can go in the front seat now in a pinch though so it can still get all the kids if that’s the only car I have available, as long as they don’t have a lot of stuff.

Agree nuna rava is super easy BUT It’s $$$ and def not a grandma spare type car seat. Diono radian is front facing 5pt harness and I find it easy to install, have it in my husbands car and often have to take it out when we are driving other adults. Chico kid fit high back booster very easy to install. Just attach to latches and pull tight at the front. FWIW I bought a Graco transitions as an extra for grandparents and anytime they take it out and reinstall themselves it’s insanely loose and not right at all. It takes a lot of effort on my part to get it tight enough.

This was a few years ago when buy buy baby was still a physical store and I walked in asking this question and the employee in the car seat area said “this is literally your only option: 2x Chico key fit for twins and diono radian for toddler then upgrade to diono radian for twins once they size out of baby car seat” The key fit had adapters which we could attach to our uppababby vista stroller but to fold it up and fit in the trunk we had to take it all apart every time. We did it and it was fine if annoying. These fit three across in a CRV but we very quickly upgraded to Honda odyssey

Try the Diono radian seats. We put 2 of those with harness then 1 booster on an edge in an Accord.

Really?! Maybe I’ve had them for too long but I spent a week popping my rear faced diono in and out, and a road trip flipping it back and forth from front to rear (we had a rotating door of nieces nephews joining us so we played musical car seats between venues) and I’ve got it down to about 30 seconds with the anchor install (I’ll admit the seatbelt install is more of a pain).

Oh yeah I’ve seen one of those! I’ve only ever had the dionos because we go three across a small car (and then the big family van) but I’ve had one in a booster since our third was born so I haven’t had to figure out three genuine car seats yet.

Honestly I think people blow it out of proportion how tight it is. Keep in mind that the average time an infant is in their initial car seats in the rear facing position is 1-2 years. Possibly if you had two infants both rear facing it could be tight. My kids are 4 and 7 now and we are approaching 4 years in may with our 2021 cx5. Had the uppababy Mesa for infant, older child in britax blouvard. Now younger has britax and older has the diono radion. Im 5'11" and my spouse is 5'7".

The Diono Radian is a great car seat, and slim enough you’ll be able to get 3 in the back row.

Make sure you get the Slimfit3LX. The "regular" Slimfit is actually too wide for 3 across.   In order to get 3 across in almost every vehicle, you'll need to use the seatbelt install for all 3 seats. That allows you to pull the side seats closer to the door to maximize space. (You also must seatbelt install when the child hits the maximum weight for lower anchors as well-- often but not always 40lbs-- so it's wise to get familiar with doing that as eventually you will need to do it all the time.)   With rental cars, you'll want to look for the biggest vehicle you can to maximize the likelihood of the seats fitting. So a large sedan instead of an economy or compact, for example.   3-across installs I've personally had good luck with:   - Chicco Keyfit, 2 RF Slimfit3LX   - 2 RF Slimfit3LX, FF Chicco MyFit   - RF  Slimfit3LX, FF Diono Radian, RF Slimfit3LX  Keep in mind that the Slimfit tends to tilt slightly when installed rear facing with the seatbelt. This doesn't affect the safety as long as it is tightly installed (moves less than an inch at the belt path when you give it a handshake with your non dominant hand). But don't be surprised when it happens! It's just an annoying bug with that particular seat. Forward facing it's doesn't have that issue.

We have three car seats in my wife's Ford escape. Dionio radian in the middle and the seats on outside are Evenflo. Only the middle one is a slim cat seat.

100000% We travelled a lot with ours when she was teeny, and the car seat was great. She would get comfy and knock out. Not to mention, they’re safer in case of rough air

I can’t remember what we used when she was teeny. We used the Diono radian when she was old enough to be out of a bucket seat. We used it as our regular car seat, too. It has an FAA approved sticker on it. It’s a bit heavy because of the frame, but it came with a shoulder strap to make things easier. They have videos on how to set it up on the plane My brother swears by the Doona for his new baby when they fly. It’s pretty cool; turns into a stroller!

The radians don’t harness to 75 lbs OR make usable boosters for most situations.

No, but it doesn’t make a usable booster for most situations and wouldn’t make sense for OP. it is a convertible (rear and forward facing) with a booster belt guide affixed to the side. The diono radian has never made a good booster. Diono does make nice boosters, but their convertible seats aren’t really as long lasting as many others and shouldn’t really be considered to be multi-mode seats that are functional in all aspects. edit: I am a car seat tech with over 15 years of experience with Dionos. I’m very familiar with them. All car seat manufacturers say their seats meet or exceed current applicable standards, for the record.

Ugh. I researched the crap put of multi mac a few years back. We can't get them in North America. I even explored the possibility if having a friend in Europe buy and ship it, but apparently, you can get in pretty big trouble for that, so we gave up and bought 3 of the diono radians

I was able to get two of the Diono Radian seats forward facing and a rear facing Nuna with the base in the back seat of our CRV. It was TIGHT but it worked

This is the answer, I used them in almost the exact same configuration in our outback, forester and Tacoma

We've had 2 versions of the Diono Radian over the years. I have not tried it in the 3 across, however we kept with the radian for our latest child (after owning one for many years) because you could at least do airport travel with it. They have a fold flat feature where the seat part folds up into the back that makes packing it in a bit easier. The hard part is that they are heavy.

Can confirm, got the Diono Radian 3 across the back of a Subaru Impreza once upon a time.

I can’t imagine not putting my kid in one. It’s so dangerous not to. The only person in critical condition in the Toronto delta crash was a lap child. Diono radians are stupid easy to get on a plane- they fold into a backpack and can handle the tray being lowered. They’re amazing. We got one just for travel and made it our main seat bc if it’s high safety rating.

I use a car seat until mine are in a backless booster. Did it with all three of my kids and my youngest is 3. Buy a folding luggage cart thing and get some bungee cords at the dollar store. Bungee the cat seat to the cart and pull through the airport. I even put it through the xray machine attached to the cart. Comes apart easily to install the car seat. If you were being asked about gate checking, it likely has to do with what seat you brought. Was it a really large one? Diono Radians (they fold up) and Cosco Scenara's (super inexpensive) are the best two.

Nice! We use the Diono Radian for flying so I just use a regular luggage cart. The bungee cords only take me a few seconds to secure so nbd.