Question Did Bubblebum move its belt guides at some point?

steph2348

New member
I have been using a bubblebum infrequently for carpool situations between two other seats (Marathon and Radian). I have to say that I have never been thrilled about the way it positions the lap belt -- it looks a too high on the belly to me, and MUCH higher than the Graco backless Turbobooster we also have, which gets the seatbelt totally across the upper thighs, almost parallel to the ground.

I've often thought that this is a problem due to the placement of the belt guides -- they're too close to the back of the seat. The lapbelt would fit much better if I could turn the booster around (which of course I haven't).

In doing some googling on this and looking at google images of Bubblebums, I'm actually seeing that it looks like the Bubblebum belt guides are further forward on some of their seats. Maybe that's an artifact of the photos, but the ones where the belt guides are further forward sure look to me like they would work better than the one I have.

I really wish I could post some photos or links, but the forum won't let me because it says I don't have link privileges. But if you do a google image search for "Bubblebum" you can see scrolling through the results that the belt guides look further forward in some images than they do in others.

Does anyone know anything about this? I'm wondering whether to call Bubblebum and see whether they have redesigned to move the belt guides further forward.
 
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steph2348

New member
Finally able to post some pics to show what I'm seeing, though apparently just one at a time.

So, here's an image showing the belt guide further forward than it is on the Bubblebum I have:
bubblebum.jpg


Here's another pic showing the belt guide pretty far forward on the booster:

12059.jpg


And here's a pic showing about where my belt guide is located:

booster4.jpg


And finally, the current official pic from Bubblebum's website, which also shows the belt guide closer to the back, like my model has them:

product_image_6.jpg


Don't the belt guides look like they're differently positioned in these two sets of pics? I wish mine were further forward like the earlier pics -- I think the lap belt would ride over my child's hips rather than over her belly if they were. Makes me wonder which model was tested -- hopefully they would have had to retest if they changed the belt guide position?
 
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soph's mom

New member
I agree... Those are definitely different locations... Hmm... Wonder if you can get more info calling them?
 

Neatfreak

New member
That is so odd!

I found something interesting, though:

The website for the American version has the belt positioners like the last photo that you posted, as well as the photo of your actual Bubblebum: http://www.bubblebum.co/us/

The website for the EU-certified version (which is also the model that we own) has the guides at the front of the seat: http://www.bubblebum.co/

I wonder if the belt guide had to be moved to accomodate the label? (Though surely there would have been a better solution?)
 

cookie123

New member
Mine looks like yours. The belt guide is behind the label. It always provided a good fit for Hannah. May be a difference in vehicles, I suppose.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I saw a sign in a store in Ireland that stated that a Bubble Bum could be rented for 39 Euro per week. Holy cow! That's over $50/week! If they are actually getting that price for the Bubble Bums, that's a lucrative business!
 

creideamh

Well-known member
They definitely look different to me as well, which makes my "they're the same on both continents" statement (from them) incorrect. Eeek. Are you going to write to them and find out?
 

cookie123

New member
I just wanted to comment: having the lap belt so low that it is completely on the thighs and parallel to the ground is NOT good/ideal belt fit. You want the belt on the hips, touching the thigh, and down off the belly.
Here is a link with diagrams and descriptions.

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/pdfs/IIHS_Booster_Rating_Guidelines_0811.pdf


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To me, that looks very different from this, which seems to indicate flat on the thighs.

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html

And on this (bottom two pics) the good and poor look no different from each other. If you look at the crotch it looks exactly the same.

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/child_restraints/default.html
 

soph's mom

New member

tiggercat

New member
To me, that looks very different from this, which seems to indicate flat on the thighs.

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html

And on this (bottom two pics) the good and poor look no different from each other. If you look at the crotch it looks exactly the same.

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/child_restraints/default.html

That is somewhat contradictory. Flat on the thighs doesn't make sense to me from a logical point of view.
Note that in the link I provided, the measurement is from the top of the seatbelt, so it does want that lap belt low, but the yellow starts right about where you'd be approaching a parallel to ground lap belt.

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tiggercat

New member
Finally able to post some pics to show what I'm seeing, though apparently just one at a time.

So, here's an image showing the belt guide further forward than it is on the Bubblebum I have:

Here's another pic showing the belt guide pretty far forward on the booster:

And here's a pic showing about where my belt guide is located:

And finally, the current official pic from Bubblebum's website, which also shows the belt guide closer to the back, like my model has them:

Don't the belt guides look like they're differently positioned in these two sets of pics? I wish mine were further forward like the earlier pics -- I think the lap belt would ride over my child's hips rather than over her belly if they were. Makes me wonder which model was tested -- hopefully they would have had to retest if they changed the belt guide position?

In pic 3, is that your vehicle? It looks like the carseat beside the BB is installed FF with the latch strap through the RF belt path.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I think that's a BB marketing pic she linked to. But zomg, you're right, the RF belt path IS being used.

Note to carseat companies: make sure to have a CPST double check every photo your marketing department takes before they take it :p
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
FYI - they did reposition the lap belt guides but that was probably 2 years ago. The first batch of BubbleBums made for the US market had the belt guides that were further forward but all of them (globally) now have the guides that are positioned further back so the lap belt is placed more directly on the strong pelvic bone. Both versions pass all federal standards and crash testing but they made a running change somewhere along the line. All of the BubbleBums currently available for sale now should have the updated guides.
 

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