Does this look too reclined to you?

[canadiangie]

Not really a CDN issue, but these are CDN kids and seats, so I thought I'd put this here. :)

Does this look too reclined to you?

It's a Radian so of course it's not the easiest seat to get more upright. I have walked my friend through the steps to get it more upright. It's installed in a Mazda 5 by the way. Baby is 8mos give or take, good head control, able to sit upright unassisted.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q285/lazydaisy_2005/zosiaizy.jpg



ETA: toddler in pic is about 33lbs and will be staying ff.

[hipmaman]

Policy first, pls make it's ok to have her kids' picture posted here.

And about your question. I can't tell with the TF well, but might look like it might be okay. The Radian however looks too reclined to me from this angle. Is it tethered? If it is, perhaps don't tighten it too much so that the recline angle would be even more. It does look reclined a tad too much for my liking.

[canadiangie]

Oh of course I asked permission! It's fine that I post their pics... she emailed me asking for an opinion, and I said I'd ask the opinion of a few to be sure I was seeing correctly. :thumbsup:

I just wanted to make sure it's not my eyes... it really does look a little too reclined, doesn't it.

[snowbird25ca]

Radian definitely looks too reclined to me.

The Mazda 5 has LATCH - does she have the boot sitting on the LATCH anchors? She's not using a seat protector or anything is she? I saw a seat protector being used in a vehicle I parked beside and it had a Radian installed - I have never seen a Radian over-reclined the way that one was because of the seat protector. :eek:

I know it's possible to get the seat more upright on her vehicle seats. Defrost has a mazda 5 and has taken some comparison pictures of the seat more upright and more reclined. Having done some checks in mazda 5's I really can't see why it would be over-reclined as much as it is in the picture unless there's something else going on - the boot sitting on top of the LATCH anchors would definitely do it... any chance you can get your hands on the seat to see it in person?

[mommycat]

You already have comments on the Radian, so I won't repeat. BUT: I might be wrong, since it is a picture, and it's hard to tell, but I get the feeling that the TF is too reclined. Could you ask her to make sure that the recline bar on the bottom is flipped to the back for FF, and that the back of the seat is flush against the vehicle seat back? And that the vehicle seat is not reclined? And one more - it looks like maybe the straps are below the little girl's shoulders - make sure she has them coming out at or above for FF. You obviously know all these things but I wanted to make sure since the focus is mostly on the Radian that the other seat wasn't getting missed. :)

Great choice on her seats! :D

[snowbird25ca]

You already have comments on the Radian, so I won't repeat. BUT: I might be wrong, since it is a picture, and it's hard to tell, but I get the feeling that the TF is too reclined. Could you ask her to make sure that the recline bar on the bottom is flipped to the back for FF, and that the back of the seat is flush against the vehicle seat back? And that the vehicle seat is not reclined? And one more - it looks like maybe the straps are below the little girl's shoulders - make sure she has them coming out at or above for FF. You obviously know all these things but I wanted to make sure since the focus is mostly on the Radian that the other seat wasn't getting missed. :)

Great choice on her seats! :D

Looking at the TF in relation to the vehicle seat I believe it is in the upright mode because the back of the shell midpoint seems to be touching the vehicle seat. Perhaps the vehicle seat is reclined extra though? It's hard to tell for sure with the TF because of the angle of the picture and the TF installs with a natural recline anyways.

I was wondering about the strap height as well, but I think it might be a case of the coat making it deceiving as to where the straps are actually sitting on her... Based on how the rest of her fits in the seat I would expect her to still be under position 3 by at least a tiny bit.

I didn't mention it last night because I figured you might've mentioned it already Angie, but for the benefit of lurkers I figure I should mention it now... the coat on the ff'ing toddler looks like it might be bulky to be kept done up underneath the harness. Has your friend done the test with tightening the straps with the coat on, then taking the coat off and putting her dd back in the seat to see if the straps are still tight enough? If the coat is making the harness seem like the straps need to be raised up, then it's quite likely too thick to be worn in the carseat. (So hard to tell when you're not there to see it in person though.)

Will you update us when your friend has a chance to check and see what's going on? I'm curious as to what the solution was with the Radian. I'd hedge bets on it being the LATCH anchors, but obviously couldn't say for sure. :thumbsup:

[canadiangie]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. :)

I've emailed my friend the link to this thread so she can read what everyone thinks. It's so nice to be able to get other opinions on this stuff.

Trudy, I've mentioned thick winter wear, but I'm not sure if she's ever done the coat test. Thanks for explaining it. :thumbsup:

I'll keep you all updated...

ETA: I may PM Defrost for her comparison shots of the Radian rf

[mommycat]

Looking at the TF in relation to the vehicle seat I believe it is in the upright mode because the back of the shell midpoint seems to be touching the vehicle seat. Perhaps the vehicle seat is reclined extra though? It's hard to tell for sure with the TF because of the angle of the picture and the TF installs with a natural recline anyways.

I was wondering about the strap height as well, but I think it might be a case of the coat making it deceiving as to where the straps are actually sitting on her... Based on how the rest of her fits in the seat I would expect her to still be under position 3 by at least a tiny bit.
I wasn't sure if that was the vehicle seat back I was seeing at the back of the TF, it felt like it was pretty dark to see. I guess I just haven't been looking at my seats too closely lately, though, because I looked at mine after work last night and it looks pretty reclined, as you say. If I saw a picture of mine I might question myself! :o

I like how you are looking at the "big picture" for the strap height. I don't think I retain enough relative info to get a feel for general fit vs harness fit. I hope with more experience I will start picking up on stuff like that. :thumbsup:

[Defrost]

Here's a link to my Radian upright/reclined thread:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=32350

It was fairly easy to get it that upright in the Mazda 5, 2nd row. I just started out with it pulled about an inch away from the bight, and then pushed down above the boot, just like in the pics in that thread. Note that it's a seatbelt install; though I don't recall using LATCH making any difference.

Also, I installed the new Radian XT rearfacing in my vehicle, too, and it was insanely upright. Much easier to get it upright! I'll see if I can find the pics of that...

Ah, here we go. The picture quality isn't great, sorry - it was very cold and very dark!

http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=696182&postcount=51

[canadiangie]

Thanks Debbie! :D