This is the narrowest car seat I have been able to find. We have been able to fit 3 seats across in our Subaru Legacy - I don't think we'd be able to accomplish that with any other seat. The seat is heavy, but solidly-built, and I felt comfortable bringing two seats with us when we traveled internationally (we put the five year-old in a booster for travel purposes). Adjusting the straps is straightforward. Our two four year-olds are able to buckle themselves in and out (though not adjust the straps), which may be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

AlisonAtherton

USA

I love, love, love this seat.  I adore the slimness of this (side to side).  Definitely not as obtrusive and bulky as other carseats.  I also like the higher weight limit of 65 lbs.  Many go up to 40 lbs and then you have to buy yet another seat.  It is less expensive to spend a bit more on a higher weight limit carseat upfront rather than spending less and having to buy more over time.  It is also FAA approved, so for those who travel via air a lot, then this seat will accomodate you just fine.  On the downside, this seat is a bit heavy because of the super safe steel frames.  So, if you are going to be carrying it around alot, then it could get a bit tiresome.  It's a huge benefit to be able to fit three of these across the backseat of a car...many seats cannot do this.  I have never regretted my decision to buy this seat.  I would whole-heartedly recommend this seat to anyone who asked. Ease of Installation This seat is very easy to install with latch. However, it can be a bit tougher to get a tight fit when it is time to install with the seat belt. I have to twist the belt buckle 3 times (max you should do according to police/certified installers) to get a tight fit with my seat belt. Child's Comfort Never heard a complaint. My child's head does flop forward when she falls asleep since the side wings don't go out that far, but it doesn't seem to bother her as much as it does me. Design Absolutely LOVE the low profile and narrowness of the seat. Is not as bulky as other seats.

buyitjody

Richardson, TX

We have 2 of these particular seats and also a Radian80 and I love them. I love that they are low profile but still protect my children. I also love that I can fit all three carseats across the middle backseat of my 2005 Durango with no issues what so ever. One of my favorite features is that the seats fold for storage (or transport) and they all come with carry straps for when ever you need to carry them. The uposltry is very soft with the micro suede and I love that the buckle has a pad to make little ones more comfortable. This seat is about as heavy as bigger seats but however I don't mind that because the weight is attributed to the metal plates that reinforce the carseat. Another great feature these seats have is the safestop stapsysem. When a vehicle is in an accident the safe stop relieves some of the shock and trauma to the child caused by traditional carseats by giving about an inch of slack when enough g forces are applied to the safety straps with the safe stop installed. (after 40lbs you must uninstall it though). Over all I just love these carseats. P.s. My kids are 4yo twins and a 6 year old and they all still have room to grow in them.

kittykat10111981

Havelock, NC

Sunshine Radian Carseats are great.  They are very well designed.  Unlike most carseats, they have a steel frame and not just a hard plastic, which I think makes them safer than other carseats.  They also fold for easy travel on planes,etc., so you are not stuck with the dilema of whether or not and how to bring your carseat.  The cover is a stain resistant ultra suede which is comfortable for your child through various extremes of weather.  It is also easy to take off the frame for washing - which I have to do frequently.  I can just throw the cover in the washing machine after it gets messed up, no hand scrubbing.  The carseat is comfortable enough that my child frequently falls asleep in it.  Last year I was in a car accident caused by a texting driver that was "moderately severe" in insurance lingo and my child was completely unharmed in her Sunshine Radian (I am still dealing with my injury).  Of course, I replaced that carseat with another one exactly the same.

qwertmom

Santa Monica, CA

We have been using this carseat since my son was about 6 months old--first rear facing and then forward facing.  It has been a great carseat.  Very sturdy and reliable.  My son is 2 1/2 now and can easily crawl in and out of it which is nice not to have to heave a 35 lb toddler in and out of a seat. My only complaint is that it is very straight up and down in the forward facing position and I think this is uncomfortable for him on long car trips.  He rubs his lower back and says "carseat ouchie". It is low profile though so two medium size adults can sit in the back with it for short trips.  We haven't used the feature that allows it to fold in half but it seems that it will make airport travel easier.  The material is very easy to clean, and has not stained despite many car snacks.  My son is large for his age, and it doesn't look like he will outgrow this carseat for a long time.  Sometimes a weight limit is high, but it is virtually impossible to cram a kid of that weight into the seat--this is not the case with the Sunshine Radian.   Overall, I would say it has been a good carseat and I would probably buy it again assuming we can figure out what is making it so uncomfortable during longer trips.  I am guessing it is because the seat is so straight up and down and has no lumbar support.  This is the only negative we have found with the seat.

andie23232000

Seattle, WA

Ok, I LOVE the Sunshine Kids Radian 65 Car seat. Seriously, love. First of all, the car seat has a steel frame. Admittedly, this makes it super heavy. But I don't carry the car seat around often enough to really care about that. It is convertable, meaning that it will install front facing and rear facing. We did use it both ways, and it does take up a lot of room when rear-facing. I think this is true for most car seats, however. It is a sleek car seat that is not as wide as some other popular brands. They are much easier to fit into the backseat of a car for this reason... And you can fit three in the average backseat! Wow! The Radian 65 will safely allow you to use the LATCH system in your vehicle until your child reaches 65 pounds. Most other car seats have an upper weight limit of 35-40 pounds. This makes the Radian 65 a better value for your money, as you can use it longer. My kids also love the Radian 65. They find it to be comfortable and secure. The cushioning is just fine- my kids sleep in their car seats nearly every time we get in the car. They have never complained about any discomfort or pinching from the straps. Intially, my husband balked at the idea of the Radian 65, as it was a tad on the expensive side. He has come around, however. He typically installs them, and says they are easy to use with the LATCH and tether system. They are less expensive than the Radian 85, and more practical, since I know I won't be using a five point harness on my kids when they hit 85 pounds. They are easy to clean, and easy to adjust (just pull or let out the strap at the bottom of the car seat), and SUPER safe. They performed extremely well in the NHTSA crash tests, and cost less than a Britax. What's not to love?

stefanie647

Phoenix, AZ

I got this seat for my baby when she outgrew her infant bucket seat at age 6 months. It was easy to install and fit wonderfully in my Honda Pilot. This is a sturdy seat and folds up easily for travel. I love that it has a high rear facing weight limit. I'm thrilled with this seat so far!

discgolfnmom

Raleigh, NC

I purchased the Sunshine Kids Radian 65 after doing months of reviewing.  I already owned a Britax Marathon and loved the seat, but when it came time to replace our old Scenera, I wanted to review other options.  The Marathon is VERY wide and bulky and our brand new car has a narrow back seat with seat belts latches that are tough to reach.  I needed a seat that was narrow to keep from overcrowding passengers on each side.  I went to the store to look at the Sunshine Kids Radian in advance and was pleased with the aesthetics of it.  It looked like it would be a good fit.  We also did extended rear-facing car seats as it is MUCH safer for the child well beyond the minimum forward-facing recommendation of 20 pounds and one year of age.   Unfortunately, the Sunshine Kids Radian is NOT well suited for most cars rear-facing.  It's MUCH too long.  The required base clip on for rear-facing tilts the angle of the seat back and I do not see how this would fit in most small to medium sized cars.  A huge SUV, no problem, but it simply would not fit rear-facing in my mid-sized wagon - even in the middle row.  So we reluctantly had to turn the seat forward-facing before I would have liked.  The other issue with the seat is that it is very easy to fasten the chest clip incorrectly.  It will still snap close even if only one side of the clip is in the buckle.  Not good at all.  I'm very diligent about checking it now.  The other issue is that when forward-facing it sits flush with the back of the vehicle seat.  On the upside, it means it doesn't protrude very far forward, but on the downside, if you have flush seat belt latches, it's easy for the seat to bump the latch and UNBUCKLE the seat entirely.  VERY, VERY DANGEROUS.  I have to check the seat every single time I put my son in the car.  I'm not sure if this is an issue across all car brands, but if you have a Hyundai, be warned!  And yes, I've installed the seat correctly and had it checked by a certified installer.   Put the money towards Britax.  This seat just simply isn't worth it.

rubygirl

Jeffersonville, IN

The Sunshine Kids Radian Carseat is a really great carseat. We've had several different carseats now, but this is definitely the nicest. I had been wanting to buy one for awhile and when my husband was in a car accident and we had to replace the carseat that was in his car we used the insurance money to go towards this seat. i'm so glad we did. I just wish we had bought it earlier so my son could have stayed rear facing longer than he did. He was in a Britax Marathon before, which is also a great seat, but he's a big kid and we had to turn him forward facing at 2 years because he reached the max weight for rear facing in that seat. We could have gone longer if we'd had the Radian. My son loves this seat though, he says it's very comfortable and it's easy for him to get in and out of. I do think it's difficult to tighten down the straps on this seat though.

runi

Battle Ground, IN

We purchased the Sunshine Kid's Radian 65 after extensive car seat research. It was highly reccomended to me by several car seat techs and experts. I love this car seat. My main reason for choosing this seat, was at the time I purchased it, it had some of the highest top slots for the straps on the market. Since most children outgrow thier seat by height before weight, this means you can use it for a longer time. I wanted my boys to be a five-point harness as long as possible, so this was a great benefit to me. It's very slim, so it is an excellent option if you are trying to fit three car seats in a row. My kids have had an easier time buckling this car seat, which is nice when they get a bit older. They have been unable to un-buckle it, so no safety issue there for us. We have never used it with a child younger than one and half or so. I personally would not use it with an infant. It's not very padded, although my children have never complained about it being uncomfortable. There are two downsides. The first is that it is extremely heavy. There is no way I would take this seat on a airplane! The second is that I have found that it is very hard to get a good install in certain cars. This is due to where the belt path is located and the large plastic receivers that many seat belts have. This can sometimes be fixed by twisting the seat belt receiver strap, but sometimes even that won't work. Definitely try it in your car first, if possible. The fabric is sturdy and nice gender nuetral colors. It's an easy to clean suede-like material. If it works in your car, I would highly reccomend this car seat.

MommyofBoys

Undisclosed