Please help me with my First Years True Fit!!!! He cannot be safe in it!

jingordo · Mar 18, 2010

I just bought a First Years True Fit Premiere. My husband installed it. I took [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9LwamfXFqY"]this video[/ame] and [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uwmOaHuqLY"]this video[/ame] because I didn't think it looked right. We got it checked by a technician last night and he said it looked fine (although they did change the recline a little bit). My son was not in the car- my husband took the car after he went to bed.

I tried it again today and I still cannot get the straps tight enough. I can get my hand in between the straps and his chest. The bottom straps are almost across his thighs- I thought they would be more around his hips. Does that sound right? The straps are tight on his shoulders and thighs but not his chest.

Today, I had his daycare provider look at it and she said it doesn't look right.

I called the company and they are researching it. I called another inspection station to see if they would check it with him in it tomorrow after school.

I don't get it...this seat had the best ratings on the national highway whatever.....for ease of use and installation.

Ugh- I don't know what to do!

Thanks for all your help!

wendytthomas · Mar 18, 2010

Boy is he a happy and cute kid!!

The chest clip needs to come up quite a bit. It needs to be at the nipple/armpit level, not at his belly.

You check for strap tightness at the shoulders.There may be a gap at the belly. That's fine. If you can pinch anything at the shoulder it's too loose (and with the shoulder pads on, check just where the strap comes out of them).

How old is he? It doesn't need to be at a 45 degree angle for a baby with head control, and he looks to be about nine months or so? Seven?

The bottom straps across his thighs is fine. You want all lap belts/straps to be high on the thighs or low on the hips. Their job is to hold him down should he try to move upward, not hold him back. So having them on his thighs is fine.

HTH!

Wendy

NannyMom · Mar 18, 2010

Wendy gave you good advice on checking for harness tightness. Can you reach your hand around the back of the seat, and pull the harness tighter? I have the same seat, and usually have to do that. However, I don't loose and tighten every time I put my daughter in the seat.

The True Fit always looks over reclined even when it's not. However, he looks to be an older baby, and has good head and neck control. He can have the seat more upright. When parked on flat ground, is the level indicator ball on the 2?

His head looks fine. He has more than 1 inch above his head. However, if you'd feel more comfortable you can put the top head portion back on.

Mommy0608 · Mar 18, 2010

The True Fit can be installed more upright, up to 35 degrees from vertical.

The straps look a tad bit loose to me, but like Wendy said, you need to check at the shoulders. At one point though in the video where your finger is under the shoulder pad, it does look slightly loose to me, and I don't think you should be able to pull the harness out at the chest. Sliding your hand under is fine, but it looks like you have enough slack to pull it outward away from his body.

When you are tightening the harness, how are you doing it? Are you just pulling up on the harness adjuster strap (the strap that comes out between his feet)? If so, and it's not tightening enough, try this - reach around behind the seat with one hand and grab the harness at the splitter plate (the metal plate that both ends of the harness are attached to). Then with the other, hold the chest clip so that you can guide the harness up and to prevent the chest clip from getting too high on his neck. Pull down on the splitter plate from behind the seat while guiding the harness with the chest clip with the other hand. Does this make sense? This is how I tighten the harness on my True Fit. With a little practice, it becomes much easier.

Oh, and do raise the chest clip up to armpit level, as Wendy mentioned. This will help ensure that the straps stay up on top of his shoulders rather than sliding off. The straps are rather far apart at the shoulders compared to other seats, and tend to want to slip off the shoulders, especially as the child is nearing the next higher harness position. Keeping that chest clip properly positioned will greatly help this situation. :thumbsup:

What a cute little guy!

Maedze · Mar 19, 2010

Oh, gosh, he is absolutely darling

Every one else hit all the relative points. To recap:

1. His chest clip is too low. Push it up to his armpit level.

2. To check tightness, pinch horizontally on top of the shoulders. If your fingers slide off the webbing, you're fine. Most harnesses will gap at the belly. That is NOT reflective of safety, just how a harness fits :thumbsup:

3. It is safe for him to be reclined at a 45 degree angle. However, it's also safe (actually a little safer), to be slightly more upright once he has the head control to protect his own airway. You can put the seat upright as 35 degrees.

Please post back and let us know if the tips helped! (And really, thank you for sharing a clear, specific video, it really takes away any guess work about a question

)

Pixels · Mar 19, 2010

If you're worried that his head is too close to the top of the seat, you can put the removable upper seat back on. It's allowed to leave it off if he is below the line (he is) and below 22 pounds, but it's allowed to put it on at any point.

Kat_Momof3 · Mar 19, 2010

everything wendy said! she nailed it all... just had to post that I would say the same thing.

I'd also go ahead and put the headrest on if you're concerned about protecting the top of his head from anything coming from the front in a frontal crash.

really, the recline is fine... you CAN put it more upright, but it is not overreclined.

the chest clip needs to be at armpit level (think of it as a line connecting the two dots... the dots being his nipples) and you should only check for slack with the pinch test.

SusanMae · Mar 19, 2010

We have the exact same seat. Here's how my son fits in it...looking from the rear hatch.

Susan

Mom on a Mission · Mar 19, 2010

See how you feel after moving the chest clip up and then retightening. Part of the problem may be if your baby is narrow in the shoulders. Mine had that problem when he was younger. If the chest clip was not secure and high, it always seemed as if the shoulder harnesses could slide off if he shifted to either side. We dealt with it until he was bigger, but I wouldn't buy the same seat again for a narrow shouldered child.

jingordo · Mar 19, 2010

Ladies...thank you so much for your replies!

I posted this last night but since I was just registering for the first time, this post didn't get posted until this afternoon. I was such a nervous wreck about this seat. I stopped a poor policeman at Dunkin Donuts this morning to ask him if he knew if his station checked car seats. Poor guy was just trying to drink his coffee!

Anyway, when I picked my son up from daycare today, I had all the other moms outside with me trying to figure out what to do and I *think* we figured it out. Once I cannot pull the strap anymore to tighten the harness, I need to almost ratchet (not sure if that's the right word) it, by making quick short pulls upward. It almost cranks it tighter. After I did that, I feel much more comfortable with how it looked/felt. I am still going to take it to the police station tomorrow morning to have to rechecked.

By the way, I know that the chest clip was too low. When I took that video, I had just gotten home, took him out of the seat to run in the house and grab my camera. When I put him back in, I just did it quickly without really moving the chest clip to how it should be because I knew it didn't really make a difference anyway.

Again- thanks for your help! If you have this seat, are you really happy with it? I'm still wondering whether or not I should keep it. That whole problem gave me a lot of trouble and I feel like it should be easier to use. I hope I don't run into more trouble.

Thank you for your kind words about Matthew- I think he's the cutest too! By the way...my peanut is going to be ONE on the 31st.

jingordo · Mar 19, 2010

Pixels said:
If you're worried that his head is too close to the top of the seat, you can put the removable upper seat back on. It's allowed to leave it off if he is below the line (he is) and below 22 pounds, but it's allowed to put it on at any point.

He is below the line and below 22 pounds, but you are right...I could always put it on if it would make me feel safer.

jingordo · Mar 19, 2010

NannyMom said:
Wendy gave you good advice on checking for harness tightness. Can you reach your hand around the back of the seat, and pull the harness tighter? I have the same seat, and usually have to do that. However, I don't loose and tighten every time I put my daughter in the seat.

The True Fit always looks over reclined even when it's not. However, he looks to be an older baby, and has good head and neck control. He can have the seat more upright. When parked on flat ground, is the level indicator ball on the 2?

His head looks fine. He has more than 1 inch above his head. However, if you'd feel more comfortable you can put the top head portion back on.

Yes...the level indicator is on 2.

wendytthomas · Mar 19, 2010

The tug tug tug is normal and how the seat works. Sorry, thought you were doing that and it still wasn't tightening.

I love our seat.

Wendy

jingordo · Mar 19, 2010

wendytthomas said:
The tug tug tug is normal and how the seat works. Sorry, thought you were doing that and it still wasn't tightening.

I love our seat.

Wendy

No I wasn't...I'm a doofus!

Do you do the tug tug tug with the chest clip attached or without? I can get it a little tighter if the clip isn't attached.

Maedze · Mar 19, 2010

jingordo said:
No I wasn't...I'm a doofus!

Do you do the tug tug tug with the chest clip attached or without? I can get it a little tighter if the clip isn't attached.

As a general rule with almost all convertibles, I find it easiest to tug the harness to the correct position and then buckle the straps and fasten the chest clip, then try to tighten when everything is all ready done up.

My first born Bean is also a Matthew

wendytthomas · Mar 19, 2010

With, otherwise I'd have a hard time getting the clip done up. I tighten it last.

But I also rarely tighten it much. I just use the continuous harness to have enough slack. Days like today, though, where she wore a jacket this morning and didn't this afternoon, I need to give it a couple of quick pulls.

Wendy

jingordo · Mar 19, 2010

wendytthomas said:
With, otherwise I'd have a hard time getting the clip done up. I tighten it last.

But I also rarely tighten it much. I just use the continuous harness to have enough slack. Days like today, though, where she wore a jacket this morning and didn't this afternoon, I need to give it a couple of quick pulls.

Wendy

I love the continuous harness for that reason and I plan to just unbuckle and rebuckle now that I figure out where it should be. I was just so happy that I figured it out, that I was tightening and loosening it for my happiness level and we just sat in the driveway doing this. If my kid could talk, I'm sure he would have told me to quit it and let him out so that he could play!!!!

featherhead · Mar 19, 2010

Wow, he is a cutie! My dd2 will be one on April 9th, so just a few days younger. I'm glad you got it figured out:thumbsup:

Please help me with my First Years True Fit!!!! He cannot be safe in it!

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