Britax answer...

lourdes

Well-known member
I call britax before I had the answer here, I ask for advise because I was having installation problems with my DD car seat in RF and was thinking of returning it and getting a britax, first the told me that my DD is not suppose to be RF because of her age, told then she was skinny and they say it didn't matter, they also told me that bracing wasn't a big deal, that if they allow it was the same with other seats as long as the car seat wasn't making to much pressure to the front seat. I am really impress with the respond that I received, a also told them that I tested the frontier with my DD and she was "lost" in it and they say it was ok because she met the standards of the car seat. Of course my DD will stay in ERF for now and I don't know for how long but I think this was not the answer a was suppose to get.
 
ADS

Stelvis

New member
I would email Britax customer service and tell them who you talked to and what they said. It sounds like that representative could use further training.
 

bella_1818

New member
I had to call last week for something else and got a terrible CS person. Later I got to talk to both Daphne and Tracy and they were both awesome. You might try calling back and asking for one of them.
 

KaysKidz

Senior Community Member
Honestly, at 3.5yrs old, I doubt too many car seat manufacturers are going to recommend a rf'ing seat unless it is a special needs child. And as long as she's over 25lbs, she does meet the criteria to use a FR85. My 30lbs 4yr old uses a FR85 and isn't 'lost' in the seat. It fits him beautifully, and he has used it for over a year.

That said, their response seems unprofessional and a bit irresponsible (re: bracing). But for her age/size (assuming she's at least 30lbs), it is not out of the question to recommend a FF seat.
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Honestly, at 3.5yrs old, I doubt too many car seat manufacturers are going to recommend a rf'ing seat unless it is a special needs child. And as long as she's over 25lbs, she does meet the criteria to use a FR85. My 30lbs 4yr old uses a FR85 and isn't 'lost' in the seat. It fits him beautifully, and he has used it for over a year.

That said, their response seems unprofessional and a bit irresponsible (re: bracing). But for her age/size (assuming she's at least 30lbs), it is not out of the question to recommend a FF seat.

:yeahthat: We need to remember that there's car-seat.org world and the real world. In the real world, most people are shocked that the "new" rear-facing guideline is to age 2. In the real world, most people still turn their kids forward before age 2. Most parents have no idea how to tell if their child even still fits in a rear-facing carseat properly. That a child over age 3 is still rear-facing is a concept that is still foreign to a lot of people, including CSRs at carseat manufacturers.

I don't think what you said was told to you is out of line. I can see a CSR being concerned that their product wasn't being used correctly, but tone is everything when dealing with others. And as for the bracing, I don't think it's that big of a deal. I think it's an overused term and there are lots of other things that affect carseat performance more, but that's my opinion.
 

lourdes

Well-known member
My DD weights 27 pounds in a good day, if she gets sick she goes down 1 or 2 pounds. What I didn't like about this it was the fact that she try to made me change my mind on the RF-FF situation, if she still fits RF and it is properly restrain there is not a reason why she can't be RF. I will email britax but I am not going to give the name of the rep because I think is the company responsibility to train their employees with the latest info about RF and if they have seats that allow ERF they have to know about it. But I also understand that it is one thing this website. I don't think that where I life are people doing ERF or EFF, here babies go FF at 1 and to boosters at 3 or before if they go to booster at all. And bracing is something onheard of, the first time I read the word was here, 2 weeks ago, before that I had never heard that car seat can touch the front seat, I am still having a hard time installing my complete air at the right angle and not bracing, now someone mention I can't use the seat protector so for me this site has give me a lot of information but sometimes is too much for me to handle. For everyone how wants to know, I like in Puerto Rico.
 

luckyclov

New member
I'm a fairly hardcore CPS advocate, but I'm going to be honest, I probably won't have a RF'ing 3.5 year old. Two is the new bare minimum (within limits of the seat, of course) and I think Britax was supporting that (the "original" Frontier was a 2/25 minimum) far before it became the new *written* bare minimum. If (general you) wish to continue RF'ing past the age of 3, that's wonderful. But I don't think considering FF'ing *at* 3 is crazy, for a typical child, either. I'm not disputing that RF'ing isn't safer, I just don't think it's unreasonable for a manufacturer/rep to mention a FF seat, especially when there may be a question of another seat potentially being misused.

That aside, I totally agree that you should follow-up with someone else at Britax about your conversation. Britax normally provides very professional and knowledgeable customer service, but it does sound as if maybe this particular rep could use some additional training.

You've got their phone number. Should you wish to send an email instead, their (US) email address is: us-customerservice@britax.com .
 

lourdes

Well-known member
Thanks for the email address, I don't think FF at 3 is crazy, but in me DD case she is not your average child, but you have a point, nobody is obligated to have their children RF after 2.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
A 27# 3.5yo is just as safe FFing as a 47# 3.5yo (although I wouldn't get a Frontier, I'd get a Nautilus so if she gets a tummy bug she'd still be safe in the seat). As long as the child meets the minimums for the seat, age matters far more than weight.

I agree that they should not have told you that your child "should not be rear-facing", but also agree with the others that the Frontier was a perfectly reasonable recommendation.
 

lenats31

New member
Bracing on or just touching front seat adds stability and helps prevent the seat from hitting the front seat in a crash.
 

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