strap adjustment ?

kitkatkc · Dec 23, 2010

Ok, this may be a sort-of dumb question, but when you put your child in/ take them out of their seat, do you loosen the straps every time?
DD was in a Recarro, and I almost never loosened the straps to get her in/out- she knew how to put her arms through and everything. Now with the MR, the chest chip can sometimes get caught on her clothes and twist the straps, so I have taken to loosening the straps to get her in, then re-tightening them. Is there anything wrong with this?

Also, on a related note, now that it is winter, I often have to have the straps a little looser to accomodate her clothing. I am not talking about a coat, but if I put her in a t-shirt then a sweatshirt (which, if I am correct, shouldn't have any compression issues) then the straps will need to be looser than if I have her in just a single layer. The same thing with jeans vs. leggings. Is it possible that I am tightening the straps TOO MUCH when I have her in a single layer, or is it appropriate to have the straps at different adjustments for different outfits?

wendytthomas · Dec 23, 2010

Laine's seat has a continuous harness, so no I don't.

It's fine to adjust for clothing. Or cloth diapers versus panties (nothing like having a baby wearing panties during the day and a double stuffed pocket for the night). They're not compressing.

Wendy

Pixels · Dec 23, 2010

When DD was in the bucket, yes we loosened every time to get her out and tightened every time to put her back. When we went to a convertible, we mostly stopped tightening/loosening, because it just wasn't as difficult to get her in and out. Lately she's fighting getting in her seat, so I loosen the harness ALL the way, wrestle her into position well enough to get the buckles done, then tighten. I also sometimes need to adjust for clothing or diapering differences, or just regular old growth.

There's no harm in adjusting each time, as long as it's tightened properly before you drive anywhere.

emtb79 · Dec 23, 2010

The "big kids" and I use that term loosely have their straps stay the same and they buckle themselves and then I check proper positioning. The babies have the straps loosened all the way to get them in so they dont scream when trying to put their arms in the straps.

aeormsby · Dec 23, 2010

I've always loosened & re-tightened every time they're in & out.

Mommy0608 · Dec 23, 2010

I do loosen and tighten every time. It's really a matter of preference, there isn't a right or wrong answer. For me it's just easier to get their arms in (especially when they are fighting me) and then tighten every time.

DD sits on the passenger side. When we go somewhere without DH (school, etc.), I turn around from the driver's seat, push the harness release button on her Frontier 85, and she leans forward to loosen the harness. Then while she's leaning forward, I can reach the crotch buckle and chest clip to undo them for her so she can climb out of her seat and crawl under DS's rear-facing Radian. She also hooks the harness over the armrests of her seat, so that they don't get buried behind her back when she gets in. That helps her get her arms in the straps and do the chest clip by herself when she gets in, then I do the crotch buckle and tighen. This is helpful so that I don't have to walk around to her side to get her out. I wouldn't be able to do this without loosening her harness every time she gets out of the seat.

It's also perfectly normal to have to adjust the harness slightly for different clothing, as long as it's not a bulky coat (which I know you said it's not). Naturally a sweatshirt or fleece jacket will need a little more room than just a t-shirt.

aeormsby · Dec 23, 2010

Mommy0608 said:
DD sits on the passenger side. When we go somewhere without DH (school, etc.), I turn around from the driver's seat, push the harness release button on her Frontier 85, and she leans forward to loosen the harness. Then while she's leaning forward, I can reach the crotch buckle and chest clip to undo them for her so she can climb out of her seat and crawl under DS's rear-facing Radian.

We do pretty much the same thing with DD/FR80/passenger side. She can get herself buckled and I can reach to tighten from the front seat. And I'll loosen & do the crotch buckle from the front and she can get the chest clip undone. (as long as she's feeling motivated

) Makes it easier than running around the vehicle 3 times to get both kids buckled in.

mommyfrog · Dec 23, 2010

I don't, but when my older kids were little everything was rear adjust, so that would have been really silly to do!! I never have before so why start now?

amelia222 · Dec 23, 2010

I always loosen, its just easier than trying to wiggle her arms through the straps.

Amy7707 · Dec 26, 2010

I always loosen because I feel like I'm bending DS's arms weird if I don't. And I find it easier to wrestle him back in since he's not a fan of getting into the seat. DH does the same.

cpsaddict · Dec 26, 2010

I loosen/tighten everytime in all my seats. I have a Classic Marathon, a Marathon 70 and a Scenera.

leighi123 · Dec 27, 2010

I never loosen Levi's harness, except when we travel and I need to loosen it all the way to fold the seat for in the airport. I've left his harness tight in every seat he has had and never had an issue getting him in.

I like leaving it as is b/c if he is wearing bulky-er clothes, I can tell weather or not they are too bulky by if he fits with the harness as-is or not. For example, his ski pants fit just fine without adjusting anything. They are poofy, but when he sits it smushes all the air out so I can buckle him. If I had the straps loose and then tightened, it wouldnt compress the air out in the same way leaving the harness looser. (I tested this the other day b/c I was surprised that the pants would fit!)

Its interesting how even a t-shirt can affect how tight the harness is, ds has been in his seat without a shirt and the straps are a little loose compared to just a light shirt on. I dont know if thats just b/c he is tiny or what but it makes me more comfortable to leave the harness on a setting that I KNOW is tight on light clothing, and then squish other clothing to fit (or take it off), rather than loosening every time.

urchin_grey · Dec 27, 2010

leighi123 said:
I never loosen Levi's harness, except when we travel and I need to loosen it all the way to fold the seat for in the airport. I've left his harness tight in every seat he has had and never had an issue getting him in.

I like leaving it as is b/c if he is wearing bulky-er clothes, I can tell weather or not they are too bulky by if he fits with the harness as-is or not. For example, his ski pants fit just fine without adjusting anything. They are poofy, but when he sits it smushes all the air out so I can buckle him. If I had the straps loose and then tightened, it wouldnt compress the air out in the same way leaving the harness looser. (I tested this the other day b/c I was surprised that the pants would fit!)

Its interesting how even a t-shirt can affect how tight the harness is, ds has been in his seat without a shirt and the straps are a little loose compared to just a light shirt on. I dont know if thats just b/c he is tiny or what but it makes me more comfortable to leave the harness on a setting that I KNOW is tight on light clothing, and then squish other clothing to fit (or take it off), rather than loosening every time.

That's exactly what I do with Bram. He's such a string bean though, that even a fleece jacket adds a lot of bulk and it just bunches up around his waist and hips. So I just leave the harness as-is and I always do the "coat trick" even with thin jackets. I don't even want to think about how much slack his wool coat would add. I had to get a 2T so the sleeves would be long enough, but otherwise you could probably fit two of him in there.

flutie128 · Dec 27, 2010

I only loose or tighten when needed.

strap adjustment ?

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