Tech told me to FF 1-year-old (and more help)

Went to a seat check today for some Radian issues I was having. Not that they were solved. I guess it just moves front to back more than I'd like in our vehicle. Sigh. But anyways...

The carseat tech (she was an actual one) told me my tot who is not even 2 should FF because "look where his knees are; look where they are going in a crash." And she showed me. Yes, he's squished into his Advocate CS 70 b/c it doesn't have much legroom and he's tall at 34 inches. Yes, he's probably break his legs. But I said no way am I FF. I'm just a carseat obsessed mom, and she's a tech with training. How is our information so different? I never heard of being concerned about the knees??????

She inclined his seat (the Advocate) to 45 degrees with a pool noodle, "trying to get his legs away from the seat." Is this necessary? I don't know if my 6'4" husband can even drive the vehicle now. I did have his seat at 45 incline but when I tighten the latch, of course, it went way up. I kind of liked it more upright b/c the kids can crawl under it easier, too. Do I need to leave the noodle?

While pulling out, one of our FF Radians had the seat hanging over the seat of the car a bit and looked reclined. They had re-installed it (my install was PERFECT but they had to get the seat info from the back). Hmmm...I asked about the recline and the latch had gotten stuck behind there. Yikes! I was about to drive off like this.

One of the guys asked if I'd installed my own seats, and he said I'd done a great job. That was nice, at least.

Check your seat manual and see if a noodle is allowed, secondly when u crash the childs legs usually fly upwards not into the seat...(depending in point of impact of course.. But look at come crash test videos)

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

Yep, every rf crash test I have watched shows the whole seat and child moving backwards with legs flying into the air.

I would be upset if they messed with another seat and didn't say so... and let you leave with it still uninstalled!!! Even the informal check I had with one police tech at 2am while working, he said he could check my installs, but not reinstall them... and reminded me several times that I needed to rebuckle them.(he was a friend, but had no consent forms, and I won the bet about having them in right lol)

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If it's the radian she put the pool noodle under, that is not allowed.

I would take the noodle out. If your ds was comfortable the way he was before it's fine. She probably put it back to a newborn angle which is both impractical in some cars and hated by some kids

I'd have pointed out that her advice goes against everything that research and recommendations from the AAP and from actual crashes we see posted about prove.

yes, LEGALLY he COULD be rearfacing, but to SUGGEST that to a parent willing to KEEP him rearfacing just makes me sick.

I'd report her if possible, suggesting she needs some education.

bnsnyde said:

Went to a seat check today for some Radian issues I was having. Not that they were solved. I guess it just moves front to back more than I'd like in our vehicle. Sigh. But anyways...

The carseat tech (she was an actual one) told me my tot who is not even 2 should FF because "look where his knees are; look where they are going in a crash." And she showed me. Yes, he's squished into his Advocate CS 70 b/c it doesn't have much legroom and he's tall at 34 inches. Yes, he's probably break his legs. But I said no way am I FF. I'm just a carseat obsessed mom, and she's a tech with training. How is our information so different? I never heard of being concerned about the knees??????

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Bolding is mine.

The curriculum teaches RF as best practice, but there are still some techs that are hung up on the leg issue. I am pretty sure that she was not taught that his legs will break, but its a personal hang up.

You are correct that his legs are a non-issue, and that you do not need to keep his seat at the full 45 degree recline angle. Was your seat too upright, between 35 and 45 degrees? The base is in the reclined position correct? If so then you can take the noodle out and reinstall it more upright.

What are the issues that you are having with your Radian?

Thanks, everyone. I'll probably take the noodle out.

I already posted about the Radian, and I am concluding that you just can't get a great seatbelt install in the third row outboard of a Honda Odyssey 2011. I tried many time (taking everyone's advice), and that's the reason I went to the seat check. They did not do a better job. My install was actually tighter. The seatbelt stalk simply is not fixed or solid enough to prevent the seat moving front to back, no matter twists or anything. It's not a lot, and if I gently tug the base nothing happens. I just want it to be perfect but it's not going to happen.

Guess I want a Superlatch someday if they fix those, b/c using Latch I can get an awesome install!!! And my kid is 45 lbs. And we're going to need another Radian anyway in the next year or so as our family grows and kids grow.

I once had a tech insist that ALL rear-facing kids must use the very bottom slots and ALL forward-facing kids must use the very top slots (I kind of wonder what he thought all those other slots were for), put a locking clip on my MA (on plain view of the rf lock-off), and insisted that my 20-month old (this was dd, several years ago) must be a 45-degree angle. Both of my kids have always hated being reclined more than necessary (they must get that from me; I sit bolt-upright), and had an insta-tantrum as soon as I put her in. He couldn't have been nicer and I wasn't about to argue with someone with actual training, so I just came on here afterwards to ask, and fixed everything myself (with about 4000 pictures that some of you all were nice enough to look at to make sure I didn't screw it up). I think that was the post where I asked if I was dumber than a monkey, actually.

I was just taught in my. Tech training that having a teeny bit of movement (less than an inch) is actually beneficial, we had to have a re-do in practice installations if we installed rock solid. They said it helped with distributing the crash force away from the child if the seat had that tiny amount of movement.

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A teeny bit of movement for FF, RF or both?
I think my RF seats have a little movement (it's just the way the Latch clip meets up with the Latch on the vehicle), but way less than an inch any direction.

But my FF Radians XT (not Superlatch) are latched and are totally solid and don't move a hair, and they are pressed into the vehicle seat. (Seatbelt the movement was too much).

Thoughts? I was under the impression that I should get a rock solid install and compress the seats into the cushion. And I really have this down now. I hope I didn't overdo it. (The tether, though, I didn't pull as hard as I could, just nice and snug).

lovemybabies924 said:

I was just taught in my. Tech training that having a teeny bit of movement (less than an inch) is actually beneficial, we had to have a re-do in practice installations if we installed rock solid. They said it helped with distributing the crash force away from the child if the seat had that tiny amount of movement.

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

Click to expand...

That's interesting to me, because in their videos and advice to customers Sunshine Kids keep insisting that it has to be rock solid and that not having it rock solid is why people are have Supelatch issues...not that I buy that, but that's what they're saying. But the manual says less than 1 inch.

My understanding is that in a crash the difference between 1" and rock-solid is negligible to nil.

My blvd 70 manual(assuming advocate is same) says that for RFing, recline setting must be on 3 (most reclined) and the angle can be anywhere from 30-45 deg on a level surface. You may use a towel or noodle to achieve proper recline if necessary, but if you are within the 30-45deg allowable range on recline setting 3, then you are good to go without the noodle!