Like many parents, I’m very particular about the type of car seats I buy for my kids. While I’ve never been in a car accident, I simply don’t want to have any regrets in case I ever am. I just can’t imagine putting my kids into a car seat that fails on them when they really need it!

Unfortunately, my fears have a basis. There are numerous stories all over the internet about how seat belts used with boosters have failed when they were needed the most - in the middle of a car accident. Someone I know lost their 10 month old baby because the car seat belt failed when their car lost control and rolled.

Because I never want to worry about it while I’m driving, I’ve researched all kinds of car seats and their safety. I’ve learned that keeping a child in a 5-point harness for as long as possible is the safest thing to do, and only two car seat brands allow for this feature in their car seats. Those brands are Britax and Sunshine Kids.

While the Britax car seats are fantastic, I decided to buy the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 seats. These have wonderful safety ratings as well, and fit my needs better than the larger Britax seats. My kids will be able to sit in the Radian 80 seats until they are 80 pounds, double the normal weight limit for the cheaper car seats! The Radian 80’s also have some other great features I like as well.

Internal steel frames - sunshine and heat won’t make these car seats less durable

Convertible - this car seat will last as long as my kids–from infant thru booster seat age. The seats work rear-facing and forward facing as well.

The harness belts don’t fold up - cheaper car seats tend to have harnesses that fold up and get really hard to handle

LATCH - you can secure these car seats to your car via the LATCH system so you don’t have to worry about your own seat belts failing in a crash. (Seat belt failures happen far too often!)

Foldable - while the Sunshine Radian 80 car seats aren’t the lightest thing to pack around due to the internal steel frame, they do fold up and can be worn like a backpack if you need to carry it somewhere like for airline travel.

Narrow - you can actually fit three car seats in a row in the back of a minivan if you need to. That works real well for me now that I have added another baby to our family. All three kids sit together in car seats from ages 0 to 8 years old!

My kids and I all enjoy the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 car seats. They think they’re cool and comfortable, and I know they’re as safe as they can be. Makes for a great combo that is well worth the little extra money!