Britax Regent/2005 Mazda MPV Finally Smiling

[SarahP]

Howdy Everyone -
I went back out to the van today and tried with DH's help to put that Regent in the 3rd row. We pushed, shoved, tightened, turned upside down(not really), twisted the seat belt stalk, tried outboard, tried center (goofy lap belt, tail attached to main belt, not loose) and everything we could think of and just could not get a solid install in the 3rd row. There was probably only about 1.5" of wiggle at the belt path - not good enough for me.
So we asked DS if he'd like to sit in the middle row with his RF baby sister (in a marathon) and he said yes. So he is latched with the new enhancements that arrived and well -- if you try and move his seat, the van seat moves. That is good for me -- If you try to move the marathon, however, the whole van moves. The Regent is Latched and Tethred, so we are good for another 7.5 lbs. He is nearly 6, so we will se.
To accomplish this, we put DD1 in the 3rd row in her FF marathon in the outboard position. She is seatbelted and tethered and her seat does not move either. It is going to be a bit of a pain as she does not do her won straps yet, but -- They will all be safer this way. Hopefully we will figure something out for the Regent by the time my son reaches 48 pounds.
Thank you to all who have provided information, directly or indirectly on this issue. I've really learned alot the past couple of weeks!:):):D

[azgirl71]

Glad you got a solid inatall :)

[SarahP]

Thank you. I feel much better! Before the enhancements, I had my son LBP in his Regent in the back and it was solid, but as you can see (maybe) in the photos I posted elsewhere on this board, the seat was not quite upright -- about 5 degrees off.
The seats are all in, and when we take a friend along we still have a spot available for a car seat or an adult!

[AngelaA]

Hi Sara,
I have a 2004 MPV and was wondering how much room there is with the Regent in the 2nd row. In looking at how large the Regents are, it just doesn't look like it would fit in the seat or that there would be much leg room for a larger son. My son is 4 years old, 37 pounds, and about 42 inches tall. I'm contemplating whether or not to get him a Regent and move the Radian to our other car. Right now we only have a seat for him in one car, so hubby and I have to car switch depending on who is picking up the kids from wherever they might be. I know he has plenty of growing room in the Regent but it seems there won't be much leg room at all. He is currently in a Radian 65 and we have a good install with that using Latch (haven't tried with the seat belt yet). I tried looking in the owner's manual for the Latch weight limit. Did you find a place specifically where it states the Latch weight limit is 48 pounds? We'd like to use the Latch as long as possible and going to 48 pounds would be great.

Thanks again for your post. Not too many people here have MPVs and it's nice to read a post from someone with similar installation issues.

Angela (new car-seat.org member)