Pixels
New member
Manual notes:
Mini review:
The seat base and body portion of the back are blow-molded. The head portion is not blow molded, but includes a section of EPS foam directly behind the head.
Only one crotch strap position and length. You push down on the button to release the crotch buckle, not in like on most seats. The buckle pad surrounds the buckle completely, impeding easy access to the button. The buckle beeps for 5-7 seconds after releasing so that you know it's been undone. The battery is not replaceable, but the buckle is safe to use with the battery dead. The battery is supposed to outlast the seat expiration.
Three harness slots. The bottom slots are a bit narrower than the higher two. The bottom slots leave about 2.25 inches between the straps; the second and top slots leave about 3 inches between the straps. 11.5 inch bottom slots with the insert in, 15 inch top slots with the insert out, with the middle slots approximately centered between those two heights. Six headrest positions.
The headrest is almost but not quite all the way up in this pic.
Installation with long belt path, seatbelt, was not bad. The manual says to take both the lap and shoulder belt and place it where the lap belt is supposed to go, then after it's routed and buckled to grab the shoulder portion and force it up into its proper position. Um, no, that's not what I did. The shoulder belt on the retractor side seemed like it wanted to slip up and off of where it's supposed to go.
Installation with long belt path, LATCH, not the easiest. The first difficulty was figuring out how to deal with the little strap on the LATCH strap that keeps you from losing the LATCH strap. It's not long enough to go around the side and thread the LATCH strap. Instead of starting from the front of the seat like you do with the seat belt, you have to start at the back and thread each hook through its side, like this:
Then the next challenge is getting the hooks attached to both lower anchors. It is difficult because the LATCH strap is almost long enough. Another 2-6 inches would have been quite helpful. Once they were attached, it was not too difficult to get the seat properly tightened. Due to the long belt path, the tension indicator on the LATCH strap was showing green long before the seat had less than an inch of movement. Even after the seat was quite tight (some movement but less than an inch side to side, none at all front to back), I could pick the seat straight up off the vehicle seat and pass my arm under the seat. I didn't actually connect the top tether (required with all long belt path installs) since it was just a test install, but I imagine I could actually pick the seat up off the vehicle seat using the tether if I tried.
Short belt path installation did not work for me/this vehicle at all. With the seat belt, even after it was very tight, I could grab the seat with one hand at the belt path and move it forward several inches. I tried several times, but never did get anything close to an acceptable install. With LATCH, the anchor and adjuster are just too long. Even though my anchors are buried about an inch behind the bight, the adjuster was pulled up and hitting the belt path, preventing me from getting it tight enough. I was sitting in the seat, leaning this way and that, bouncing in the seat, and never got it tight enough. A shame, since my vehicle has a 40 pound tether weight limit and short belt path is required when the tether is not used, effectively giving this seat a 40 pound weight limit in my vehicle.
The LATCH strap, tether strap, and both harness straps have tension indicators that show green when it's tight enough. It worked well on the harness, and should work well on the tether as well. It was useless on the LATCH strap, since long belt path it showed green even though the seat had too much movement, and short belt path it was buried behind the seat and not visible.
Now for the action shots. DD is 3y3mo, 30 pounds, 35.5 inches.
Head rest all the way up. Oops.
Disclaimer, we do NOT ride in the car with a helmet on. She was riding her trike in the driveway and I grabbed her for the picture.
She is right at the middle harness slots:
When she grows a smidge she will need to move up to the top slots:
Booster mode: Note, this child meets the minimum weight and age limits, but is several inches too short to use this as a booster. The shoulder belt fit is poor, but that's to be expected with a child so far below the minimum.
Lap belt fit:
Shoulder belt is up on the neck, but as noted, she is much too short for this seat as a booster. Including this picture mainly because it's the only one I have of her with the head rest in the proper position.
This seat is possible to carry without it falling apart. You have to lift up on the back before rotating it to get the back off. If you thread the LATCH strap through short belt path, attach it to the LATCH storage, and snug it up, it's impossible to lift the back up and therefore it will never fall apart on you when carrying it.
Overall, this seat is a miss. The low top harness slots and low top booster position mean this seat will be outgrown quickly. The difficult short belt path installation and the requirement to use short belt path when the seat is untethered will cause incompatibilites. It is an extremely narrow seat and may have some limited application for short-torsoed children when narrow is a necessity.
- seating positions with frontal airbags must be avoided if possible
- do not dress your child in bulky clothing
- 22-50 pounds, 29-48 inches, capable of sitting upright unassisted, top of shoulders at or below top harness slots for harness mode
- Baby Trend and the AAP recommend using it in harness mode as long as the child fits.
- 30-100 pounds, 42-50 inches, 3+ years for high back booster
- BT and AAP recommend using as a HBB as long as the kid fits
- do not use the insert in booster mode
- 40-100 pounds, 42-57 inches, 4+ years, top of ears below top of vehicle seat or head rest for backless booster
- BT and AAP recommend using backless booster until 57 inches before switching to vehicle belt alone
- only use LATCH in a seating position recommended by vehicle manufacturer for LATCH and has 11 inch (standard) spacing
- only use vehicle front seat if specifically allowed by vehicle owner's manual
- LATCHable up to 50 pounds (harness weight limit)
- LATCHable in booster mode up to 100 pounds
- when installing with tether, "front entry" (long belt path) MUST be used
- when installing without tether, "rear entry" (short belt path) MUST be used
- LATCH or top tether may be used in high back booster mode
- harness and high back expire after 6 years
- backless booster expires after 10 years
Mini review:
The seat base and body portion of the back are blow-molded. The head portion is not blow molded, but includes a section of EPS foam directly behind the head.
Only one crotch strap position and length. You push down on the button to release the crotch buckle, not in like on most seats. The buckle pad surrounds the buckle completely, impeding easy access to the button. The buckle beeps for 5-7 seconds after releasing so that you know it's been undone. The battery is not replaceable, but the buckle is safe to use with the battery dead. The battery is supposed to outlast the seat expiration.
Three harness slots. The bottom slots are a bit narrower than the higher two. The bottom slots leave about 2.25 inches between the straps; the second and top slots leave about 3 inches between the straps. 11.5 inch bottom slots with the insert in, 15 inch top slots with the insert out, with the middle slots approximately centered between those two heights. Six headrest positions.
The headrest is almost but not quite all the way up in this pic.
Installation with long belt path, seatbelt, was not bad. The manual says to take both the lap and shoulder belt and place it where the lap belt is supposed to go, then after it's routed and buckled to grab the shoulder portion and force it up into its proper position. Um, no, that's not what I did. The shoulder belt on the retractor side seemed like it wanted to slip up and off of where it's supposed to go.
Installation with long belt path, LATCH, not the easiest. The first difficulty was figuring out how to deal with the little strap on the LATCH strap that keeps you from losing the LATCH strap. It's not long enough to go around the side and thread the LATCH strap. Instead of starting from the front of the seat like you do with the seat belt, you have to start at the back and thread each hook through its side, like this:
Then the next challenge is getting the hooks attached to both lower anchors. It is difficult because the LATCH strap is almost long enough. Another 2-6 inches would have been quite helpful. Once they were attached, it was not too difficult to get the seat properly tightened. Due to the long belt path, the tension indicator on the LATCH strap was showing green long before the seat had less than an inch of movement. Even after the seat was quite tight (some movement but less than an inch side to side, none at all front to back), I could pick the seat straight up off the vehicle seat and pass my arm under the seat. I didn't actually connect the top tether (required with all long belt path installs) since it was just a test install, but I imagine I could actually pick the seat up off the vehicle seat using the tether if I tried.
Short belt path installation did not work for me/this vehicle at all. With the seat belt, even after it was very tight, I could grab the seat with one hand at the belt path and move it forward several inches. I tried several times, but never did get anything close to an acceptable install. With LATCH, the anchor and adjuster are just too long. Even though my anchors are buried about an inch behind the bight, the adjuster was pulled up and hitting the belt path, preventing me from getting it tight enough. I was sitting in the seat, leaning this way and that, bouncing in the seat, and never got it tight enough. A shame, since my vehicle has a 40 pound tether weight limit and short belt path is required when the tether is not used, effectively giving this seat a 40 pound weight limit in my vehicle.
The LATCH strap, tether strap, and both harness straps have tension indicators that show green when it's tight enough. It worked well on the harness, and should work well on the tether as well. It was useless on the LATCH strap, since long belt path it showed green even though the seat had too much movement, and short belt path it was buried behind the seat and not visible.
Now for the action shots. DD is 3y3mo, 30 pounds, 35.5 inches.
Head rest all the way up. Oops.
Disclaimer, we do NOT ride in the car with a helmet on. She was riding her trike in the driveway and I grabbed her for the picture.
She is right at the middle harness slots:
When she grows a smidge she will need to move up to the top slots:
Booster mode: Note, this child meets the minimum weight and age limits, but is several inches too short to use this as a booster. The shoulder belt fit is poor, but that's to be expected with a child so far below the minimum.
Lap belt fit:
Shoulder belt is up on the neck, but as noted, she is much too short for this seat as a booster. Including this picture mainly because it's the only one I have of her with the head rest in the proper position.
This seat is possible to carry without it falling apart. You have to lift up on the back before rotating it to get the back off. If you thread the LATCH strap through short belt path, attach it to the LATCH storage, and snug it up, it's impossible to lift the back up and therefore it will never fall apart on you when carrying it.
Overall, this seat is a miss. The low top harness slots and low top booster position mean this seat will be outgrown quickly. The difficult short belt path installation and the requirement to use short belt path when the seat is untethered will cause incompatibilites. It is an extremely narrow seat and may have some limited application for short-torsoed children when narrow is a necessity.
