Why?! Honestly People!

I was at BRU today looking at umbrella strollers for Emi and wanted to check out the Onside Air while I was there.

There are a set of grandparents looking for a seat for their 13 month old granddaughter. They asked me if I knew anything and I said that I've done some research but was by no means an expert. I asked how old the child was and how tall/weight. They told me her age but had no clue on her stats. They wanted to spend less than $160 and I suggested the Air Protect as I personally like the seat and it's on sale for $129 and it can RF to 40 lbs yada yada.

Well no she's forward facing because she's a year and 20 lbs :doh: and they have no plans to ERF. Ok well what about the Maestro. Not the highest harness heights around, but makes a decent booster when she's old enough seeing as there is no sense in you buying a convertible seat. And look it's on sale for under a hundred!

Well no, said grandpa, it has feet and it will tip on the 60/40 split of my Escape. Um, if you can't get a good install in the centre, put her outboard. You already have her outboard(not sure what she was in) so not a big deal.

Nope, not gonna happen. What did they buy? Some EB thing for $50 more, because it has a round base. Why?? Why, oh why?! Even grandma said that she had not recommend next to it in the catalog they brought along but couldn't remember why.

*sigh* I mentioned to them to get the install checked at one of the firehalls. Hopefully they will.

At least you ran into them buying a new seat instead of at a garage sale. It's a start. Maybe some of the info that you gave will click in later when they aren't in such an overwhelming setting.

You know, most people will take information and use it, but some won't - some do their own thing even after listening to everything you say - or find some reason to disagree with you.

The funny thing is, that the EB the dad went with is a wide base and in the event they need it in a vehicle that has any kind of contouring - bucket shaped seats, it's not going to fit. And the top headrest position can't be used with the harness making it a very short harness. Factor in the horrid booster that it makes, and it's an over-priced seat with compatibility issues that is outgrown too early - they'd be better off with an infant/child seat like the EFTA than it to be honest.

I really don't like the EB child/booster seat and wish TRU would quit carrying it. People buy it because of the Eddie Bauer name - and because they come along and recline the seat in the store and go "oh, my baby will sleep well in this" :doh: What they don't realize is that in most vehicles you can't use the recline adjustment, and it's going to be a pain to use right from day 1. Of course it's not obvious without reading the manual that the top headrest position can't be used with the harness - which also makes it deceiving as to the harness height. I just truly wish we didn't carry them...

So anyways, I feel your pain. FWIW, you were right about the Maestro for the price and the child - and I'd be pretty certain that it would've fit just fine in the center position because it's a pretty narrow seat. I'm sorry they didn't take your advice, but at least they listened to it - hopefully they take and do some research on their own now - or at least read the manual and try to use the seat properly.

snowbird25ca said:

I really don't like the EB child/booster seat and wish TRU would quit carrying it. People buy it because of the Eddie Bauer name - and because they come along and recline the seat in the store and go "oh, my baby will sleep well in this" :doh: What they don't realize is that in most vehicles you can't use the recline adjustment,

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We were parked by a van yesterday at a shop. The family came to get in to the van and when I looked over I could see 2 of the Dorel 3-in-1 seats in the middle row seats, FF in full recline. They had the vehicle seats reclined to match the seat back angle but it just looked so incredibly off.

selinajean said:

We were parked by a van yesterday at a shop. The family came to get in to the van and when I looked over I could see 2 of the Dorel 3-in-1 seats in the middle row seats, FF in full recline. They had the vehicle seats reclined to match the seat back angle but it just looked so incredibly off.

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Yeah, it isn't right to recline the vehicle seatback just so that you can recline the carseat. An increasing number of vehicles are specifying the recline position for the seatback so in many cases now this won't be possible for parents to justify at least.

I have no difficulty recommending against the recline of the seat - we know chest G's are higher when a seat is more reclined, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's more force on the crotch of a child who is in a seat with significant recline... We know adults in a reclined seat are more likely to submarine under the lap belt, so it makes sense that a child would load more in to the crotch strap when reclined ff'ing vs. more upright...