Help! Safety 1st All-in-One and pool noodles

[pastrygirl]

My BIL just bought a Safety 1st All-in-One. The baby is 6 months old and rides in a 2008 Subaru Legacy sedan. The rear center seat has a huge hump, so I don't want to install it there -- the outsides of the base don't touch the vehicle seat at all. The hump is very narrow and tall. We tried outboard with LATCH but couldn't get the LATCH to even tighten! Inside or outside the car, that LATCH buckle doesn't get tight. Is it faulty?

With a seatbelt install, the base isn't playing nice. Installed in the most reclined position, it wasn't reclined enough for a 6-month-old (it looked about 30 degrees). So I put a pool noodle in the front, but that led to a major gap under the base. I put another one right behind it, but there's still a gap. If I put a third one, then the whole car seat is sitting on noodles. I have yet to do any installs with pool noodles so I'm not sure how they're supposed to work. The recline is perfect with one noodle, but the whole center of the base doesn't touch the vehicle seat. Can I even do two adjacent pool noodles, or are they supposed to be stacked only?

I tried to get him to get an EFTA or Scenera, but this is what he chose. If the pool noodles don't work, I'm going to strongly suggest that suggest he return it and get something else. (There aren't any Targets nearby, otherwise I would've had him look for a MA on clearance.)

[joolsplus3]

Since there are so many of these blasted things, can you link us to exactly which one it is?

[pastrygirl]

It's this one (http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_024W892694110001P?vName=Baby&cName=Gear&sName=Car+Seats). :o

ETA: Can I take off the base, or is that only for booster mode? It sounded like it was only for booster mode, but it was hard to tell.

[Mom2One]

I have the Intera, which is similar and I removed the base. It was a PAIN to install with it, but without it installs VERY nicely! I don't want to say for certain about removing the base on that seat because its not the exact same one.

[joolsplus3]

Oh...I'm sorry... :o

Well, the main trick is to just take the base off. You know how we adore the Uptown? It's the same seat but with no huge base (well, and no deathtrap headrest setting, no crummy booster option, and much taller top slots...). Probably one noodle will do it for the recline, I should think...unless they are squishy, then a pyramid will be great.

But you know...if the LATCH strap really is faulty...better to just return it now, right? :whistle:

[singingpond]

It looks like a typical 3-in-1, and the description corresponds also. In that case, it is usually easier to install without the base (and perfectly fine to use in harnessed mode without the base). Maybe double-check the manual? That would also give you the specific instructions for removing the base.

Katrin

[pastrygirl]

Thanks!! I removed the base. The only thing I could find in the manual is that it must be removed for booster use, but it didn't specify one way or another for RF.

I did end up using two pool noodles to take up some of the space in the front, since it's angled up. Without the noodles, the seat kept squishing down every time we tightened. That's a correct reason to use noodles, right? The vehicle seat does slope downward a bit. Two noodles are adjacent the the "level" lines are perfectly level. Center install with belt was perfect without the base. BIL is happy with the install and will bring the little guy by tomorrow so I can check the fit. :thumbsup:

[Misty-Bug]

this is what my AOE looked like.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Misty-bug/carseats/aug.2029.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f12/Misty-bug/carseats/P6150217.jpg

three taped together like a triangle. I was told not to go by the level on the side but not sure if that was right. I went by my sons head and how it would sit. I liked the seat but he outgrew it too fast.

[joolsplus3]

Great pics, Misty! Yeah, that recline line is like, lying down! It's crazy!

[ChristyJoelnSosi]

I had the same one, I however didn't like mine but when I used the noodles it was a solid install.

[pastrygirl]

Thank you! I was coming on here to post a request for pics with noodles. :)

Is the AOE the same as this Safety 1st one? It didn't say AOE. I would've balked louder if I'd known! I'll double-check the noodles today to see if I should've added a third. I'm still thinking about that LATCH thing, though. I don't know if he's going to want to bother returning/exchanging it. (He and the mom are not together, and it's a weird, WEIRD situation. I'm trying not to step on toes.)

ETA: I WISH they had a Target here so that we could find an MA for $135!!!!!

[pastrygirl]

One more question about this seat -- can it touch the front seats at all? I couldn't find anything in the manual prohibiting it. I didn't brace it, but it will touch once in a blue moon if my BIL needs to drive that car.

[singingpond]

One more question about this seat -- can it touch the front seats at all? I couldn't find anything in the manual prohibiting it. I didn't brace it, but it will touch once in a blue moon if my BIL needs to drive that car.

As long as the vehicle manual doesn't prohibit carseats touching, I believe the 3-in-1 seats are OK touching the vehicle seats. That's how we've usually had ours installed. Some newer vehicles (and a 2008 is certainly pretty new) don't want anything touching the back of the seat because it may interfere somehow with the function of the airbag sensors in a crash, IIRC -- hence the need to look at the vehicle manual also on this question.

Oh, and not related to your install issues, but it's definitely worth pointing out to the owners of the seat that the harness cannot be used when the headrest is adjusted to the top position -- that position is for booster use only. There's usually a message to this effect imprinted in the plastic on the back of the shell, but with the front-adjust 3-in-1's no one ever looks back there. There is generally a warning in the manual also -- maybe find it, and run some highlighter over it, in hopes that it will trigger someone's memory when the child is tall enough (in a few years) that they are tempted to move the harness up that final notch.

Katrin

[Misty-Bug]

yes like the PPer said you can't use the highest adjustment in harness mode. That is why I got rid of mine. He just outgrew it.
no it may not be an AOE but it is the same design and shell. A tech will hopefully correct me or affirm it. But from what I have been told they are really one in the same.
the carseat can touch the seat just depends on whether or not by touching you mean the seat is being held down by the seat in front or not. It can touch but not have it impeeding the install. I found the seat to work the best without the base and with the noodles. But over time you need to replace the noodles due to compression.
If the LATCH isn't working though I would send it back. Cause that can be something wrong with the seat itself. Then if he has to take it back you can always help him to find something that does go a little higher for the head rest. He may have to get another seat down the road anyway. The common consensus is that kids outgrow this seat by height before poundage.
It is a decent seat though for RFing.
Pictures can be good too and help you with them

[snowbird25ca]

One more question about this seat -- can it touch the front seats at all? I couldn't find anything in the manual prohibiting it. I didn't brace it, but it will touch once in a blue moon if my BIL needs to drive that car.

Provided that the vehicle manual doesn't say anything to the contrary, the top of the shell can touch the vehicle seat in front of it. When adjusting the front vehicle seat backwards, you will need to have someone observe the carseat and make sure that the vehicle seat doesn't push the back of the bottom of the carseat up off of the vehicle seat. So basically, it can be adjusted so it barely rests, but not wedged in there.

He may have to get another seat down the road anyway. The common consensus is that kids outgrow this seat by height before poundage.
It is a decent seat though for RFing.

This is true for most seats - very few children get to the stated weight limit in any seat - even the MA and Radian are almost always outgrown by height before weight.

This particular model of the 3in1 does have a taller seat back - the slots are the same height, so top usable height he'll be looking at is around 15.5", but the back of the shell is taller in this particular model so realistically kiddo should fit this seat rf'ing to 35lbs with no difficulty whatsoever.

As for the LATCH strap, is it possible they tried to pull it on an angle? The belts get stuck in the adjuster really easy if they aren't pulled perfectly parallel to each other. They can also be more difficult to loosen the first time after coming out of the box. And just to add to that, LATCH installs in some vehicles are impossible unless the base has been removed, so if they didn't try LATCH again after removing the base, they may still be able to use it.

As for the recline, if the line is level to ground, then it is almost definitely over-reclined. I'd get rid of one of the noodles and it'll probably be fine. That line level to ground is really only for newborns, and even then because it's a visual interpretation by the person doing it, the seats almost always end up over-reclined when someone follows that line alone. So try and get a picture of the seat from the side while the vehicle is on level ground. I'd be 99% sure though from your description of the line being level to ground, that the seat is over-reclined.

[pastrygirl]

Oh, and not related to your install issues, but it's definitely worth pointing out to the owners of the seat that the harness cannot be used when the headrest is adjusted to the top position -- that position is for booster use only. There's usually a message to this effect imprinted in the plastic on the back of the shell, but with the front-adjust 3-in-1's no one ever looks back there. There is generally a warning in the manual also -- maybe find it, and run some highlighter over it, in hopes that it will trigger someone's memory when the child is tall enough (in a few years) that they are tempted to move the harness up that final notchYup, I saw that on the back of the seat and explained it to him. :)

[pastrygirl]

If the LATCH isn't working though I would send it back. Cause that can be something wrong with the seat itself. Then if he has to take it back you can always help him to find something that does go a little higher for the head rest.I did what I could... at this point it's up to him, and I doubt he'll return it since he's not using LATCH anyway. I'll continue to try through my MIL. I hope that some of the info I tell her leaks down to him, but I think it's information overload for her, too.

As for the LATCH strap, is it possible they tried to pull it on an angle? The belts get stuck in the adjuster really easy if they aren't pulled perfectly parallel to each other. They can also be more difficult to loosen the first time after coming out of the box.I didn't try LATCH again since we installed in the center. But I think I tried all forms of pulling that strap even when the car seat was out of the car, and I just couldn't get it to work. I let him know he should take care of it because you never know when/if you might want to use LATCH in the future, even if you're not using it now.

As for the recline, if the line is level to ground, then it is almost definitely over-reclined.It looked good to me -- the line wasn't quite level to the ground but was almost there. The noodles weren't adding any height, they were just keeping the seat from compressing more into the seat bight as we pushed down on the front of the car seat to tighten the seat belt. The noodles weren't stacked on each other; it was just one in front of the other. I doubt he can bring the car by again (not his car, and it's a weird situation)... but I'll see what I can do.