Diono - Radian® 3QXT FirstClass™ SafePlus™

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.

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

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".

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

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.

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.