Angle Adjuster for 10 month old?

We've had our new RXT installed for about a month it's very reclined... similar to the angle of our beloved kf30 (which she outgrew by height at 8.5 months). These days she likes to look around/out the windows, etc and she is fighting against the seat to sit more upright when we harness her in. Is the 1 year old and up requirement for the angle adjuster a hard and fast rule or just a suggestion?
Maybe it's an issue with our car's seat angle but it seems like the rear facing 'foot' on the RXT over-reclines for a seat that's supposed to allow your kiddo to remain rf as long as possible.

It's a suggestion... They had to draw the line somewhere. I got one when DD was 10-11 months and didn't worry at all.

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From another thread re: angle adjuster under 1 http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=2139611&postcount=35

It is not a suggestion, it is a rule from the manufacturer.

I think we really open up a can of worms when we tell people it's ok to ignore manufacturer's instructions.

If I had to use the AA in order to make the seat fit, I might personally choose to go against the manufacturer's instructions as long as I understood what those instructions are for and made an informed choice. But honestly, if the seat fits and isn't over-reclined (past 45 degrees) without it, I would wait until the child was a year old before installing it.

When the tech rep says publicly that it's ok to use it under 1 provided the baby is ok with the angle, I'm ok going against the words on the packaging.

Wendy

Thanks I'm going to go ahead and order one. My 10 month old is bigger than some 2 yr olds which is why I wondered if it was a rule but if the rep said it's acceptable I'll just try it out and see how she likes it at this point.
I'll post pictures once I get one then have the install checked as a reference for 3-series coupes.

I understand that, Wendy, but then we run into issues like when I bought my CA (before I was a tech) and I'd been told on this and other forums that it was OK to ignore the level line and it would be a great fit in my Civic, because some customer service rep told someone once that it would be OK more upright and that the level line was only a "suggestion" and was intended to be the newborn angle only... then Dorel comes out with a bunch of cryptic statements implying that your car was going to melt into a puddle and burn your child to a crisp if the level line wasn't followed (oh, but when pressed about it, they admitted it passes crash tests more upright, but still wouldn't change their advice). I never would have bought that seat if I had known I'd need to ignore the manufacturer's instructions/warnings to make it fit in my car. There are plenty of other great choices out there with reasonable instructions I could have bought instead.

As a parent with a 10 month old, might I use an angle adjuster in some circumstances? Maybe. As a tech, am I going to advise a parent to use one against the written instructions without suggesting the parent contact Diono directly and asking? Not unless absolutely necessary, and I'd try to avoid it in writing in a forum that might lead someone else to say, "My 10 month old was fine," and then "My 8 month old was fine" and then "My 6 month old was fine" and then before you know it you have someone putting a Radian with an angle adjuster at a 30 degree angle for a newborn on the way home from the hospital.

The company had to draw the line somewhere. Is the line a little blurry? Yeah, but it's still a line. Is the OP "wrong" for making the choice to boost up a very reclined Radian for a 10 month old with good head control? Probably not. I'm not going to try to convince HadleysMom to change her mind like I would if she were determined to turn the Radian FF at this age. But I just think we need to be more careful before we pass out "It's only a suggestion" advice all willy nilly.

Sorry, I've been out and about. But it gave me time to think about your answer. And I thought of a couple of things.

1. If the angle adjuster took the seat from X degrees to Y degrees, I might be more hesitant to recommend it under a year. But what it does it sits it more upright. So that may be 30 degrees in some cars, it may take it so that it's "only" 45 degrees in others. I don't see the difference, based on the age of the child, of changing that angle if you would have no problem installing that child at that same angle in a different car. In my Nissan a Radian went in around 35 degrees with no effort whatsoever. Putting it more reclined would have been tough. In a VW Eurovan's third row the AA would get it acceptable. In that car I'd use the AA from birth. It would take the seat to 45 degrees, up from 55 degrees. So yes, provided the baby can handle the angle -- whether you're using the angle adjuster or simply installing it in a car with more sloped backseats -- I'm fine with the Radian sitting more upright.

2. If it was one off the cuff comment about "yes it passes testing at 30 degrees" I'd feel more reluctant (but I still would) to recommend the Complete Air to parents. When I know that their new seats are structurally EXACT to the current lineup, then I have no problem telling parents that it's safer for the seat to sit more upright. If they had done a redesign and it was a new shell that'd be different. But they didn't. It's not. They're putting a new sticker on the side.

Wendy

wendytthomas said:

2. If it was one off the cuff comment about "yes it passes testing at 30 degrees" I'd feel more reluctant (but I still would) to recommend the Complete Air to parents. When I know that their new seats are structurally EXACT to the current lineup, then I have no problem telling parents that it's safer for the seat to sit more upright. If they had done a redesign and it was a new shell that'd be different. But they didn't. It's not. They're putting a new sticker on the side.

Wendy

Click to expand...

It is not safer for the CA to be more upright. We have been told over and over by the manufacturer that while it does pass more upright, it performs best at 45. Therefore 45 is the safest angle for that seat.

Wendy - I agree with you on the angle adjuster as far as how I would use it myself. My concern is just that we be careful about making blanket "It's only a suggestion" statements. If it were being used with an older baby (not quite a year) to correct a seating position in which the seat over-reclines, I honestly wouldn't have a problem with it. I just get nervous about potentially starting rumors that eventually lead to people believing that the angle adjuster can be used for children of any age in any car.

And I think the CA thing has been beaten to death in other threads... I was only trying to bring it up as an example.