2 Q's - Top Tether Too Tight & Re-RF 3yo?

[jadefaerie]

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I am looking for advice on the following:

1) Can you ratchet the top tether too tight (esp FFing)?

2) Should I bother trying to re-RF my 36-38# 3yo? If so, should I attempt to top tether in RFing position?



Background if you're interested:

#1- I have 2 Britax seats from 2005/2007 and neither of them "lock" in an upright position, only in recline. Britax is essentially telling me that this is possibly due to them being top tethered too tightly while in the recline position. Is this possible? Because if it is, I surely did it. I pulled the top tether as tightly as I humanly could, which with the Britax is usually really, really, REALLY tight. And I didn't know the true difference with the recline positions, so I always reclined back for better sleeping positioning.

#2- I'm thinking of replacing my now-defective Britax with another Radian XTSL for my 36-38# son who turned 3 in May. He's been FFing since he was just over 1 since we didn't really know better and he was one of those carseat criers in RFing as a baby. If I were to get the Radian, I could potentially RF him for, what, another year? Not sure if it's worth it or not for real. I'm worried my 43# 5yo will want to RF, too, but I'd hate to have to weigh her every morning before we get in the car to see if she's broken the threshold plus she gets carsick pretty easily. Seems silly to RF her now that she's finally 5 (she's now in a new Radian XTSL herself for extended harnessing.)

Thanks!

[hrice]

I would purchase an XTSL to re-RF a 3 year old in a heart beat!

And yes it is possible to over tighten a tether. You should pull the slack but you don't want it so tight that it changes the recline angle of the seat. Overtightening can lead to breaking the recline mechanism on your seat

[Maedze]

Yes, in fact, that's THE reason that the recline adjustment function breaks on Britax convertibles. It's not necessary to over-tighten a tether particularly in the rear facing position. You just need to remove the slack.

I would absolutely buy a convertible to rear face a 3 year old, although leaving him forward facing in a top tethered seat is an acceptable decision as well.

I would absolutely NOT buy a convertible to rear face a 5 year old outside of specific medical criteria (i.e., recently fractured neck or genetic disorder making child prone to bone or spinal injuries).

[pippi2077]

What about getting your 5y a Nautilus or Frontier85? And moving the 3y to your current radian.

[catchthewind]

I did buy a new seat to keep my almost three year old rear facing. I'm hoping to keep her rf until four, and after that it'll be pretty much up to her whether she wants to be ff or rf (though I'll probably encourage rf for longer drives for safety reasons and especially if she still sleeps on longer drives).

[jadefaerie]

Thanks, everyone. This is helpful. I'm not sure if I'm just drinking the water or if I'm really doing what's best sometimes

Originally Posted by pippi2077

What about getting your 5y a Nautilus or Frontier85? And moving the 3y to your current radian.

I would, but I *just* got her this new seat and it was slightly traumatic getting her in it in the first place. Plus the issue was, originally, space. We need to do 3 across in a tight backseat (2006 Corolla). Her Radian will go to the baby (due any day) when she's ready for a booster in a year or (hopefully) 2, so it's not a total waste to get a second Radian at this point. Just money we don't have for ANY new carseat (sigh)

[hrice]

You can get an XTSL for $239 here http://www.justkidsstore.com/prod/su...0-radian-xt-sl with code "KIDS20"

There may be better deals with price matching through diapers.com also.

[vrclay]

Originally Posted by jadefaerie

I am looking for advice on the following:


#1- I have 2 Britax seats from 2005/2007 and neither of them "lock" in an upright position, only in recline. Britax is essentially telling me that this is possibly due to them being top tethered too tightly while in the recline position. Is this possible? Because if it is, I surely did it. I pulled the top tether as tightly as I humanly could, which with the Britax is usually really, really, REALLY tight. And I didn't know the true difference with the recline positions, so I always reclined back for better sleeping positioning.


Thanks!

I had this problem with one of my seats and they sent me a new one. I had only used it RFing up until turnign it so I had no idea it did not lock. It was never tethered Rfing so my malfunction was not caused by too tight tethering.

[jadefaerie]

Originally Posted by vrclay

I had this problem with one of my seats and they sent me a new one. I had only used it RFing up until turnign it so I had no idea it did not lock. It was never tethered Rfing so my malfunction was not caused by too tight tethering.

The seats are out of warranty, so they're "willing" to replace one for $125 + $40 shipping. I figure for that much money, I'm better off replacing with completely different seats since the Britax ones take up too much room in my backseat at this point, and don't last as long (size-wise) as the Radians.

If it were in the warranty period, you're darn tootin' they'd be sending me new ones for free

[aeormsby]

Did you turn the MA upside down and push down at the front of the base while holding the release lever in to see if you could get it to lock into the upright position? I've had mine not want to lock into upright after RF for a longer amt of time, but never had them not lock in when I pushed the base into upright. (and I know I've seen other people mention having to do that too).

[jadefaerie]

Originally Posted by aeormsby

Did you turn the MA upside down and push down at the front of the base while holding the release lever in to see if you could get it to lock into the upright position? I've had mine not want to lock into upright after RF for a longer amt of time, but never had them not lock in when I pushed the base into upright. (and I know I've seen other people mention having to do that too).

Not specifically, no. I will though! Can't hurt at this point, that would be great. I tried to work it pretty hard and gave it a decent go, but not as seriously as I probably could/should.

(It's actually a Boulevard, but I'm sure that won't make a difference heh).

Thanks!

[Cryssy Jane]

Originally Posted by aeormsby

Did you turn the MA upside down and push down at the front of the base while holding the release lever in to see if you could get it to lock into the upright position? I've had mine not want to lock into upright after RF for a longer amt of time, but never had them not lock in when I pushed the base into upright. (and I know I've seen other people mention having to do that too).

I did that when she was at my house. I couldn't get the blvd to lock in anything but the rear facing position.

[jadefaerie]

That's true, she did! She worked really hard at it, too. Dammit. I'm kinda mad at Britax ATM. Grrr.