Car seats that do NOT have front adjusters?

geberika

CPS Technician
Are there many -- specifically infant buckets -- still on the market?

A midwife friend of mine just mentioned that she keeps seeing clients come to the birth center with car seats that don't adjust in the front, and the parents inevitably do NOT make the harness straps tight enough.

Suggestions for what to do when she runs across this?
 
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TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Pretty sure that many of the Graco Snugrides that come with travel systems have a rear adjust still. :thumbs down: It boggles my mind because my DD's Evenflo infant seat had a front adjust in 1997! Back then I didn't even realize that rear adjust was an option, let alone it being an option over 14 years later.
 

Pixels

New member
Graco 22s and I think some Evenflos? Oh, and I think the Comfy Carry. The cheapest models are generally rear adjust. If the parents are shopping based on price primarily, they are probably going to end up with a rear adjust. I can't say I totally blame them, when I was shopping for my first bucket we picked one based on the shape of the handle. Just didn't know what the differences were or what we should be looking for.
 

staryla

New member
In 2008 we picked our bucket seat based on the shape of the handle too! It was an Evenflo with a rear-adjust which was our bane for the next 6 months. When our son was about a month old was the first time I saw a carseat with the front adjust and I was just about blown over by how easy it looked!

As to what to do...yikes. When the kiddo is a newborn there is so very little space in a properly tightened harness that the buckles take up more room than the harness and getting the newborns arms through an unloosened harness is well near impossible.

I'd make sure she tells them how tight it SHOULD be. Probably to get it tight enough they would have to actually adjust from the rear each time ( we didn't do this, but we also didn't know any better and our harness straps were probably too always too loose). Umm...maybe ask if they can return it?:rolleyes:
 

christineka

New member
Graco sr22, evenflo discovery (older, not expired embraces), cosco designer 22, and the safety 1st comfy carry. Then, there are the graco assura and cosco something similar, which are program seats.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
What I would do if I were a midwife...

When my clients first came to me I would hand out a "short list" of recommended car seats and also include a list of NOT-recommended car seats as part of the packet of information I give to new expecting parents.

It would go something like this:

I have compiled a list in order to make my clients' lives easier in the first months after their children are born. Although all car seats are safe if they fit properly and are used correctly, I have seen many clients end up with car seats that are cute but don't fit, or are very difficult to use correctly. Here are a list of seats I have found my clients have had the least trouble with for their newborns. If you have any questions, (and here list information about seat checks or local CPSTs or whatever resources might be good).

Infant Car Seats:
Safety 1st Comfy Carry Elite
Safety 1st Comfy Carry Elite Plus
Chicco Keyfit
Safety 1st Onboard
Safety 1st Onboard Air
Britax Chaperone

Convertible Car Seats:
Cosco Scenera
Graco My Ride
First Years / Learning Curve True Fit
Combi Coccoro
Maxi-Cosi Pria

Seats to avoid for newborns:
Cosco Comfy Carry
Graco Snugride 22 (the ones that do not have the adjustment "tail" in the front)
Baby Trend Flex-Loc
Safety 1st Complete Air (Convertible)

It seems to me like when parents are first expecting, they tend to consume more information in the first few months... by the time they're rushing around trying to actually prepare for baby, they're not terribly likely to sit around and read and shop. The time to get them is before they go to Babies R Us and use the registry gun to zap everything with a cute pattern on it.

Not sure what I'd do after the seat is already chosen, unfortunately.
 

christineka

New member
I do not agree with not recommending all the rear-adjust seats. Used properly, they are fine and safe. I've played/worked with several of the rear-adjust infant seats and the comfy carry is really easy to use, even with rear-adjusters. Since the infant seat has the back exposed, it really isn't a big deal to tighten in the back. Many of the rear-adjusting seats are a pain to change harness heights, but the comfy carry is just as easy as most front adjusting seats.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Well, in the experience of the OP's midwife it sounds like she's seeing a much higher rate of mis-use with rear-adjust seats.

Personally I might be fine using a rear-adjust seat. But based on anecdotes about them being used correctly less often than front-adjust seats, I'm pretty comfortable trying to steer parents away from them if possible.
 

staryla

New member
I wish someone had warned us about the rear-adjust. I figured a car seat was a car seat and despite spending probably 40+ hours reading about baby-carriers (Moby wraps, mei teis, babyhawks, beccos, geckos, lions, tigers and bears) I read one (!) review about how the Evenflo stroller handle made steering one-handed easy. So I bought the travel system from Walmart and lived to regret it.

Back to what the midwife could say - she should explain to them how to adjust it from the rear and tell them that they should probably be doing that every time (maybe when the kid is bigger and there is more slack in general they will not have to loosen/tighten each time). I had never, and still have never, seen anyone ever adjust an infant seat using the rear-adjust feature. It never crossed my mind to do so. I do remember reading about tightening the straps in the manual, but I thought that was a one-time deal-similar to setting the harness height. I only realized the difference after stumbling on this website and by that point I had a convertible carseat on order and wanted to take our infant carrier out to a field and take a few whacks at it with a bat (Office Space anyone?).
 

Brianna

New member
I was the only one that ever adjusted J's rear-adjust Evenflo Discovery 5. Everybody else left it loose because it was too much work to tighten. I wish they would do away with rear adjust altogether.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
Actually comfy carrys can be front adjust, my kmart carries them, and they are a fab seat for newborns. The designer 22s that come as a stand alone seat are front adjust also.

Pretty much any travel system under $150 is going to come with a rear adjust seat, regardless of brand. Most evenflo travel systems are rear adjust unless you get the top of the line ones and the same with cosco/safety 1st.

I would recommend just never messing with the harness unless the baby grows. I used a rear adjust seat with my first two and it never occured to me to be constantly adjusting the harness and I'm still pretty much that way. I get it set to where it needs to be tightness wise and I leave it there. Especially with a rear adjust seat it's easy because alot of them are continuous harnesses so you can pull it back and forth to get the baby in.
Posted via Mobile Device
 

Pixels

New member
What I would do if I were a midwife...

When my clients first came to me I would hand out a "short list" of recommended car seats and also include a list of NOT-recommended car seats as part of the packet of information I give to new expecting parents.

It would go something like this:

I have compiled a list in order to make my clients' lives easier in the first months after their children are born. Although all car seats are safe if they fit properly and are used correctly, I have seen many clients end up with car seats that are cute but don't fit, or are very difficult to use correctly. Here are a list of seats I have found my clients have had the least trouble with for their newborns. If you have any questions, (and here list information about seat checks or local CPSTs or whatever resources might be good).

Infant Car Seats:
Safety 1st Comfy Carry Elite
Safety 1st Comfy Carry Elite Plus
Chicco Keyfit
Safety 1st Onboard
Safety 1st Onboard Air
Britax Chaperone

Convertible Car Seats:
Cosco Scenera
Graco My Ride
First Years / Learning Curve True Fit
Combi Coccoro
Maxi-Cosi Pria

Seats to avoid for newborns:
Cosco Comfy Carry
Graco Snugride 22 (the ones that do not have the adjustment "tail" in the front)
Baby Trend Flex-Loc
Safety 1st Complete Air (Convertible)

It seems to me like when parents are first expecting, they tend to consume more information in the first few months... by the time they're rushing around trying to actually prepare for baby, they're not terribly likely to sit around and read and shop. The time to get them is before they go to Babies R Us and use the registry gun to zap everything with a cute pattern on it.

Not sure what I'd do after the seat is already chosen, unfortunately.

Why did you put the BT Flex-Loc on the not recommended list? It fits an average newborn just fine and is front-adjust.

Actually comfy carrys can be front adjust, my kmart carries them, and they are a fab seat for newborns. The designer 22s that come as a stand alone seat are front adjust also.

Pretty much any travel system under $150 is going to come with a rear adjust seat, regardless of brand. Most evenflo travel systems are rear adjust unless you get the top of the line ones and the same with cosco/safety 1st.

I would recommend just never messing with the harness unless the baby grows. I used a rear adjust seat with my first two and it never occured to me to be constantly adjusting the harness and I'm still pretty much that way. I get it set to where it needs to be tightness wise and I leave it there. Especially with a rear adjust seat it's easy because alot of them are continuous harnesses so you can pull it back and forth to get the baby in.
Posted via Mobile Device

The Comfy Carry is a rear adjust seat. The Comfy Carry Elite and Comfy Carry Elite Plus are front adjusts. But the one that is called simply the Comfy Carry is a rear adjust.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
Ok, I stand corrected, kmart does carry the comfy carry elite. But it's still only $70 for a front adjust seat with an insert and low enough slots to fit a newborn well so I don't know what's not to love. Honestly, I just thought it was the basic comfy carry because it was kmart and it was so cheap.
Posted via Mobile Device
 

mimieliza

New member
Okay, I used a rear adjust Snug Ride by choice with my DS and once you get used to it, adjusting the harness each time is really not a big deal.

If you have a parent misusing a rear-adjust seat, can you show them how to adjust it quickly and easily? You might want to get one to play with so that you are comfortable with it - once you figure it out, it is really not hard.

Oh, and FWIW, I would take a rear-adjust seat out of the car each time - adjusting the straps is easy if the seat is out of the car.
 

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