Maintaining the correct angle RFing

[Unregistered]

I have a Toyota Tacoma 4 door and have been having problems installing a convertable seat RFing as DS outgrows his infant carrier. Someone said that since he is over 12 mo. I don't have to worry about keeping the 45 degree angle.

Does that mean the line on the bottom of the seats (that says this should be parallel to the ground) does not have to be parallel to the ground? If it does need to be parallel what are approved spacers? I have tried the 3 sided spacer from BRU and it is not big enough (when the car seat is secured it pushes into the truck cushions enough that the line isn't parallel.

We have tried the Triumph Advance (worked pretty well but the nobs for the harness dig into the seat back too much and are unusable making the seat unusable), the Alpha omega elite, and the Titan.

Thanks

[bensmom]

What infant seat have you been using?

Generally a child that age can sit more upright when rear-facing, which means that the line does not need to be parallel to the ground. It can be more upright, but not more reclined.

To help with recline, with most seats, you can roll up a towel or use some foam pool noodles (that might be what you're describing as the spacer). Did you need noodles or anything for your infant seat?

[unityco]

An older baby with good neck control can be reclined in a convertible seat at any angle between 30° and 45° (except for the True Fit. It can only be used between 35°-45°.) The lines on your seat likely indicate a 45° recline, so if you used a lesser angle, it would not be parallel to the ground, and that would be okay.

Some seats that are well-liked around here are: Cosco Scenera, Safety 1st Avenue, Safety 1st Uptown, Evenflo Triumph Advance (which you tried,) Learning Curve True Fit, Sunshine Kids Radian and the "big" (65lb) Britaxes like the Marathon. If you post back with your price range and other considerations (will you have more children and need to fit other seats, do you need to move the seat a lot, will you fly with it, etc.) we can help you narrow your choices more.

HTH! :)