mom of six
Active member
So…I am sure this is true of many of you in the car-seat-obsessed world…but I have been having a secret affair with a car seat.
I didn’t need another car seat. Really, I didn’t. But the lure of a new seat was getting to me more than I could handle.
So, I started rationalizing…as I was doing the morning dishes I came up with all sorts of reasons I needed to do a car seat mix-up.
These are some of the reasons I remember
• My oldest two daughters (13 and 11) have developed hips and they do not fit in the 3rd row of our 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan along with a FR85 and a Radian.
• Then twins are five and a half so maybe I should consider booster training.
There were many, many more reasons and at the time they were very rational, but now, I can’t remember what they were.
My affair was with the Harmony Defender 360. OK, now that you have stopped laughing, yeah, a Defender. Not a gloriously expensive, luxury seat. Nope. A Walmart-only budget seat.
I convinced myself that I should sell the Frontier 85 and replace it with the Harmony Defender. Sounds rational, right. That was until I realized that DD4, who is 5.5 years old, weighs 60 lbs. Buy a new seat that will harness for only 5 more pounds to replace a seat that would harness her for another 25 lbs? Yep, rational!!! But the FR85 is SOOOOO wide (sigh).
So I bought one to try it out. I thought maybe DD4 could use it in booster mode. We gave it a whirl, but when all is said and done, it was just a one night stand. The Harmony Defender is headed back to Walmart.
However, it a different time, with kids of different ages it would definitely have been a seat I would have been happy to own.
Edit: Sometimes a one night stand turns into true love. I had the car seat sitting in my kitchen for almost a week waiting for a "good" time to take it back. I just couldn't bring my self to do it nor could I think of a reason to keep it. Then I realized that since it has a taller harness height than the Radian I could use it for SC and he would likely get an additional year harnessed. I have two lap only position in my van and with 6 kids all positions are needed so I will need him harnessed until we can afford our dream Nissan NV!!!
We used in for our trip this weekend and it was officially christened. But I am glad to report that the cover comes off easily and washes up pretty good. I also noticed as I was wiping the straps that they seem stiffer than some translated to mean not twisty. One downside, we have it next to a BPB and the little knob/bolt that attaches the back to the base is in just the wrong place for buckling the booster. It is doable, but not easy.
Here is my review:
The range of fit is pretty amazing.
My first model is SA. She is 5.5 years old, 48” tall and weighs 60 lbs. Her current ride is an FR85 in harness mode and she has 2 positions left.
In the Defender’s harness mode the adjustable shield (should read headrest) was on the last position However, I was not able to buckle her in due to the super short crotch strap. We tried, but her legs kept getting pinched as we tried to buckle the harness. I also noticed that we were almost to the max of the harness length. The splitter plate was hitting the back of the seat as we tried to buckle her in.
In booster mode the fit was great. I think she has two positions left on the head rest. As far as belt fit, I think the head rest could be down one notch but then I felt like her shoulders were going to hit the wings.
I tried it out in the back of a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan which has notoriously difficult seatbelt/booster compatibility issues. The fit was awesome.
Since the belt guide for the HD is on the wing of the head rest(rather than on the back) it lines up perfectly with the path of the seat belt and allows it to move freely. SA is a new booster rider but she was able to learn how to buckle herself into the HD very quickly. There is not much of a gap between the arms of the HD and the seat pan which makes for a nice over-the-thighs belt fit but it makes it kind of difficult to unbuckle. You cannot just unbuckle and pull or the seat belt’s latch plate gets caught between the arm and seat pan. To release it the seat belt must be pulled forward out from under the arm. Not always easy for an impatient preschooler. On my leather seats it was pretty tippy slippy and the seat is kind of heavy. It would be nice if it could be latched in booster mode.
My second model is SC. He is 5.5 years old, 46.5” tall and 46 lbs.
His current ride is a Raidan 65 and he has about an inch left before he maxes out the harness by height. In the Defender he was on the second to the last notch in harness mode.
Here it is with the headrest in the hightes position.
We were able to buckle him into the harness even with the short crotch strap but it did not look comfortable. He could not buckle himself because the crotch strap was just too low.
As he was trying I had the harness loose and I could again hear the splitter plate hitting the back of the seat. Once he was in and tight he did still have a few inches of harness length left. The harness adjuster is SMOOTH!!! Just as smooth as the FR85 and a dream compared to the Radian.
My last model is B. He is 2.5, 35” tall and about 34 lbs. His current ride is a Radian 65 rear-facing on the third slots.
When the HD was still in the house I asked B to try it out and he said he couldn’t because it was too big. Yay for ERF kids!!! I did finally get him to try it out in the car. I do not know for certain what position the head rest was because he was not in the mood to play for long. I am guessing he was on the 4th position. I remember thinking that the lowest position was pretty low and I wondered what kid would really fit with the harness at that level. The harness fit was acceptable even with the short crotch buckle.
It is installed in the center position of the 3rd row bench of the Dodge Caravan. That seat is a 50/50 split bench with some rather prominent plastic hinge covers. I was able to get an acceptable install in that position based on the “less than one inch of movement when tried at the belt path with the non-dominant hand” but it was not my favorite. The front edge slid around a lot as well as the back of the seat even with the tether tightened. It was probably because of those hinges. I then tried it in the passenger outboard position with two twists on the buckle stalk and the install was a dream. The belt bath in the shell is open but there are not openings in the cover so to access the belt path I had to reach in where the cover opens up to accommodate the adjustable shield. A bit awkward.
I have ordered a longer crotch buckle. I e-mailed Harmony on May 1st with my request. I received a reply on May 3rd saying it would be sent out right away. On May 7th I received another e-mail saying it had been sent out on the 3rd and should arrive in 7-10 days from that date. As of May 11 it still had not arrived. ETA it finally arrived on May 16. It fits my son much better and he is now able to buckle himself.
Putting it together was not too difficult. It took me about 7 minutes. The hardest part was finding a place to put it while I assembled it. It was heavy and awkward. The car seat comes out of the box with the seat shell and the back shell detached from each other but they are connected by the harness. It was kind of a big, dangling mass. There is a rod that has to be threaded through the back to attach the seat to the back and it require the use of 2 screwdrivers at the same time to tighten its screw. On each side (near the kids elbow) there is a bolt that has to be installed. That part does not require any tools. However, I could see it as a tempting lure for a curious sibling. (must disassemble)
Overall I would recommend this seat in a minute. I think it is a seat that would be easy to install in a majority of cars and will fit a wide range of kids in both harness and booster mode. The biggest downside is the short crotch buckle but Harmony has provided a solution for that (even if it takes 2 weeks to get it).
I didn’t need another car seat. Really, I didn’t. But the lure of a new seat was getting to me more than I could handle.So, I started rationalizing…as I was doing the morning dishes I came up with all sorts of reasons I needed to do a car seat mix-up.
These are some of the reasons I remember
• My oldest two daughters (13 and 11) have developed hips and they do not fit in the 3rd row of our 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan along with a FR85 and a Radian.
• Then twins are five and a half so maybe I should consider booster training.
There were many, many more reasons and at the time they were very rational, but now, I can’t remember what they were.
My affair was with the Harmony Defender 360. OK, now that you have stopped laughing, yeah, a Defender.
Not a gloriously expensive, luxury seat. Nope. A Walmart-only budget seat.I convinced myself that I should sell the Frontier 85 and replace it with the Harmony Defender. Sounds rational, right. That was until I realized that DD4, who is 5.5 years old, weighs 60 lbs. Buy a new seat that will harness for only 5 more pounds to replace a seat that would harness her for another 25 lbs? Yep, rational!!! But the FR85 is SOOOOO wide (sigh).
So I bought one to try it out. I thought maybe DD4 could use it in booster mode. We gave it a whirl, but when all is said and done, it was just a one night stand. The Harmony Defender is headed back to Walmart.
However, it a different time, with kids of different ages it would definitely have been a seat I would have been happy to own.
Edit: Sometimes a one night stand turns into true love. I had the car seat sitting in my kitchen for almost a week waiting for a "good" time to take it back. I just couldn't bring my self to do it nor could I think of a reason to keep it. Then I realized that since it has a taller harness height than the Radian I could use it for SC and he would likely get an additional year harnessed. I have two lap only position in my van and with 6 kids all positions are needed so I will need him harnessed until we can afford our dream Nissan NV!!!
We used in for our trip this weekend and it was officially christened. But I am glad to report that the cover comes off easily and washes up pretty good. I also noticed as I was wiping the straps that they seem stiffer than some translated to mean not twisty. One downside, we have it next to a BPB and the little knob/bolt that attaches the back to the base is in just the wrong place for buckling the booster. It is doable, but not easy.
Here is my review:
The range of fit is pretty amazing.
My first model is SA. She is 5.5 years old, 48” tall and weighs 60 lbs. Her current ride is an FR85 in harness mode and she has 2 positions left.
In the Defender’s harness mode the adjustable shield (should read headrest) was on the last position However, I was not able to buckle her in due to the super short crotch strap. We tried, but her legs kept getting pinched as we tried to buckle the harness. I also noticed that we were almost to the max of the harness length. The splitter plate was hitting the back of the seat as we tried to buckle her in.
In booster mode the fit was great. I think she has two positions left on the head rest. As far as belt fit, I think the head rest could be down one notch but then I felt like her shoulders were going to hit the wings.
I tried it out in the back of a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan which has notoriously difficult seatbelt/booster compatibility issues. The fit was awesome.
Since the belt guide for the HD is on the wing of the head rest(rather than on the back) it lines up perfectly with the path of the seat belt and allows it to move freely. SA is a new booster rider but she was able to learn how to buckle herself into the HD very quickly. There is not much of a gap between the arms of the HD and the seat pan which makes for a nice over-the-thighs belt fit but it makes it kind of difficult to unbuckle. You cannot just unbuckle and pull or the seat belt’s latch plate gets caught between the arm and seat pan. To release it the seat belt must be pulled forward out from under the arm. Not always easy for an impatient preschooler. On my leather seats it was pretty tippy slippy and the seat is kind of heavy. It would be nice if it could be latched in booster mode.
My second model is SC. He is 5.5 years old, 46.5” tall and 46 lbs.
His current ride is a Raidan 65 and he has about an inch left before he maxes out the harness by height. In the Defender he was on the second to the last notch in harness mode.
Here it is with the headrest in the hightes position.
We were able to buckle him into the harness even with the short crotch strap but it did not look comfortable. He could not buckle himself because the crotch strap was just too low.
As he was trying I had the harness loose and I could again hear the splitter plate hitting the back of the seat. Once he was in and tight he did still have a few inches of harness length left. The harness adjuster is SMOOTH!!! Just as smooth as the FR85 and a dream compared to the Radian.
My last model is B. He is 2.5, 35” tall and about 34 lbs. His current ride is a Radian 65 rear-facing on the third slots.
When the HD was still in the house I asked B to try it out and he said he couldn’t because it was too big.
Yay for ERF kids!!! I did finally get him to try it out in the car. I do not know for certain what position the head rest was because he was not in the mood to play for long. I am guessing he was on the 4th position. I remember thinking that the lowest position was pretty low and I wondered what kid would really fit with the harness at that level. The harness fit was acceptable even with the short crotch buckle.
It is installed in the center position of the 3rd row bench of the Dodge Caravan. That seat is a 50/50 split bench with some rather prominent plastic hinge covers. I was able to get an acceptable install in that position based on the “less than one inch of movement when tried at the belt path with the non-dominant hand” but it was not my favorite. The front edge slid around a lot as well as the back of the seat even with the tether tightened. It was probably because of those hinges. I then tried it in the passenger outboard position with two twists on the buckle stalk and the install was a dream. The belt bath in the shell is open but there are not openings in the cover so to access the belt path I had to reach in where the cover opens up to accommodate the adjustable shield. A bit awkward.
I have ordered a longer crotch buckle. I e-mailed Harmony on May 1st with my request. I received a reply on May 3rd saying it would be sent out right away. On May 7th I received another e-mail saying it had been sent out on the 3rd and should arrive in 7-10 days from that date. As of May 11 it still had not arrived. ETA it finally arrived on May 16. It fits my son much better and he is now able to buckle himself.
Putting it together was not too difficult. It took me about 7 minutes. The hardest part was finding a place to put it while I assembled it. It was heavy and awkward. The car seat comes out of the box with the seat shell and the back shell detached from each other but they are connected by the harness. It was kind of a big, dangling mass. There is a rod that has to be threaded through the back to attach the seat to the back and it require the use of 2 screwdrivers at the same time to tighten its screw. On each side (near the kids elbow) there is a bolt that has to be installed. That part does not require any tools. However, I could see it as a tempting lure for a curious sibling. (must disassemble)
Overall I would recommend this seat in a minute. I think it is a seat that would be easy to install in a majority of cars and will fit a wide range of kids in both harness and booster mode. The biggest downside is the short crotch buckle but Harmony has provided a solution for that (even if it takes 2 weeks to get it).
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