Does the CA LX recline in ff'ing mode at all?

Looking for a second seat for DD so I need some recline. Doesn't have to be a lot, not as much as the my ride, just some.

I don't know how much natural recline it has.

It does have a FF recline adjustment, but that is explicitly for making the seat fit the vehicle seat better. So, if you have a vehicle seat that reclines, I'm guessing it would be ok to recline the vehicle seat a click or two and then recline the CA to match that recline.

At one point Dorel did allow their seats to be FF recline for SN kids. Despite that statement, you might try calling them and seeing if they would allow the seat to be reclined for a SN child (you'd want to talk to a CPST - I don't know if they have any w/ SN training, though).

Another to consider is the Evenflo Symphony 65 - you can use the second recline position for ff up to 40 lbs, plus it has tons of leg support. Just throwing it out there

There's also that essential air, which has to be very reclined in harnessed mode.

I forgot to mention I'm going for slim as well. Sorry!

Well I called safety first and got possibly the most unknowledgeable CS person ever. First I was trying to determine if the model on walmart.com was actually an LX, since you could see it had a base and a handle for the recline adjustment, but nowhere in the description did it say "LX". She kept insisting ALL the CA models had the adjustable recline and none of them had a "flip foot". We went round and round for like 5 minutes before she realized yes some of them have a flip foot.

So anyway, I got to my actual question of whether or not it can be in partial recline mode while ff'ing. I explained that C is SN and doesn't have good head control. She actually got a little condescending with me! She was like "well you know regular car seats are just not made for kids like your daughter and you should probably look into a SN one". Wow. For one thing, she's ridden in a graco JUST FINE for the last 2 years, both rf'ing and ff'ing. And second of all not everyone gets SN car seats covered and have to make do as long as they can. Sorry for wasting your time with my questions. And thirdly, we DO have a SN car seat but the thing is a beast and inconvenient and I'd like something slimmer and lightweight. After I told her that this would be a secondary car seat she still kept saying that I needed to settle for a SN seat. :thumbsdown:

Gosh I'm just asking for SO much, aren't I?

Anyway she said it can only be used to help it install better, basically help it lay flush with the back seat. So that probably won't help us at all.

I'm tempted to go try it anyway. Charlie is a little less floppy than she used to be. Maybe we'll get lucky.

That's too bad she was so unhelpful. In SN training they tell you to try conventional restraints first - they're easier to use, often easier to install, cheaper, more accessible, etc.

Does the vehicle seat (where you'll be using the seat) recline at all or have a natural recline? If so, I'd recline the seat a little and then maybe the CA would fit better reclined than more upright.

The CA does recline in FF mode. There are 4 settings on the base. Even most upright, it's got a decent recline. In the #3 setting, it's great. The recline combined with the headwings would be awesome for a kiddo with low tone.

The issue isn't necessarily whether it reclines or not but that the manual explicitly states that the recline is to be adjusted only to improve the install. OP called Dorel and the less than helpful rep reiterated this rule.

Ok so here's a question. Knowing the recline is only supposed to be used to improve the install and keep it flush with the back seat, how would YOU ALL feel about bending the rules slightly to accommodate a SN child? We're not talking putting a huge gap in between the seat and the seat back, but maybe just a little one. From techs to a former tech (who would always use the seat perfectly otherwise). PM is welcome if it's not something you feel comfortable saying here.

I'm not sure what all cars we'd be using this in. She rides in a my ride in one of her nurse's cars. She still has a little room to grow in that. She had just about outgrown it in my car, but sits differently in it in her car. Her seats recline. But I'm fairly certain she won't need it in her car for 6 months to a year. She's rf'ing in her other nurses car, in a momentum she shares with her nurses 1 year old son (obviously not at the same time ). I'm not sure if her seats recline at all. Again, she's probably fine for 6 months to a year in that one. So right now we're looking at just my car (I'd like to be able to transport 3 across and put the traveller up for a while, probably through the summer, since DS is getting older and I'm starting to carpool his friends more) and no, my seats do not recline at all. In fact, they seem super duper upright to me. :thumbsdown:

I've even considered getting a radian and just using it rf'ing since she'd probably fit for EVER in it. I'd get no use ff'ing out of it though, since it's way too upright for DD. It's just she has these jelly legs that flop ALL over the place and getting her in and out of a rf'ing seat is a pain (I'm super impressed her nurse continues to use it rf'ing since her son is over 1 and she could have turned it....she took my rf'ing to 2 rec to heart ).

For a SN child only, I would be okay with bending the rules. (In fact in my SN class they said you could use Dorel seats reclined and Dorel had okayed it at that point. It's possible whomever you talked to just wasn't very knowledgeable about SN issues.) I wouldn't want a huge gap, but perhaps a small one (if the install is still tight. If the vehicle seat reclines at all, I'd probably recline it a tiny bit so that they do match up.

christineka said:

There's also that essential air, which has to be very reclined in harnessed mode.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's a good thought. Unfortunately its top harness position is 16.5 inches, same as the MyRide. While there may be the phantom seat effect, I doubt it's enough to make it worthwhile as a purchase at this point.

I would be okay using the CA reclined for a SN child. Use your judgement and make it reasonable. Don't recline it any more than necessary for C and the vehicle.

Thanks everyone! I'm excited to go try out this seat now. Unfortunately, C is sick so it might be a week or 2. :thumbsdown: When I really thought about it, it didn't seem like such a big safety issue. I mean, the regular complete air doesn't have "help" making it match up in different vehicles, and it's almost the same seat, so there's going to be a small gap in some cars. I can't imagine a regular complete air would pass testing with a small gap, but the LX would fail if the user didn't match it up exactly. I don't know. I'm tempted to just order it. It's so hard to drag C in and it of babies r us these days and it would be easy to return it to Walmart if I can't get an acceptable install.

I would probably be fine using it in recline mode in C's case, knowing they've okayed it for SN kiddos in the past. At the same time, I'd probably try to work my way up the Dorel "food chain" until I got an official ok. Try CS again and ask for a supervisor, then ask for a number for a tech at corporate... Or try a feedback form on their site.