Britax RF to 35 lbs

dhardawa

Active member
I got a new set of specs, pictures, etc. from Britax over the weekend. (For those who don't know, I'm a retailer so I get this stuff on occasion.) There is a weight limit spec sheet that lists all the convertible seats with an asterix on older ones like the Roundabout, Marathon, etc. and a note that by the end of 2007, all will have a 35 lb rear facing weight limit. I know on other boards, there have been conflicting replies from Britax, but I have it in writing now!
 
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joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Wheeeeeeeeee! I wonder why TRU is saying the new BV "Meghan" is only to 33 (but it also says from birth in one spec..not 5 pounds, birth)...

SO exciting to have this finally be 'official'! Thanks!!!
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Does that mean that the existing seats will be able to be used to the higher limit? That would be cool.
Oh you know their lawyers are so strict now, they'll never agree to that (remember when they let us use the RA till 33, then they said nope, sorry, it says 30, 30 it is...) :thumbsdown:
 

dhardawa

Active member
Wheeeeeeeeee! I wonder why TRU is saying the new BV "Meghan" is only to 33 (but it also says from birth in one spec..not 5 pounds, birth)...

SO exciting to have this finally be 'official'! Thanks!!!

I assume it is because asof right now, it is 33 lbs. Megan is just a new cover, not a new seat.
 

dhardawa

Active member
Does that mean that the existing seats will be able to be used to the higher limit? That would be cool.

I wondered that myself and there is no detail about it being retroactive. For me personally, I know there have been no shell changes so I'm okay with making the parental decision to go to 35 lbs on my older seat.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Yeah, but you know, we are in late 2007 already... :D (Leah's torso will never grow again, she's going to be in the RA till she's 4 RF at this rate, I'm in no real rush).

:)
 

melniemi

New member
I wondered that myself and there is no detail about it being retroactive. For me personally, I know there have been no shell changes so I'm okay with making the parental decision to go to 35 lbs on my older seat.

I got all excited about this and then I went and weighed my 3 yo dd and she was 35#:( Oh well, at least baby can rf longer!!
 

JessicaS

New member
That would be SO COOL if they made it retroactive. I would be stoked! But I doubt they will, also.

Even if this means Anna would technically be SAFE RFing in the MA to 35 lbs., I still wouldn't do it if they don't make the changes retroactive due to voiding the warranty. :(
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
That's great they're raising the rf'ing limits to stay competitive - and more kids will benefit as a result. :) I would bet they won't make the changes retroactive because they never even considered it when the ff'ing weight limit in Canada changed from 48lbs to 65lbs. They actually quit shipping seats so that retailers would use up their old 48lb stock while they switched over to production of the 65lb ones. (Which makes me wonder if there was a small difference, but that's another topic...)

Anyways, they'd have to issue stickers & new manuals to registered owners, and I doubt they're going to go to that expense - plus those seats weren't tested at the higher weight (technically speaking.)

I wish manufacturers would get on the ball & give higher rf'ing limits on CDN seats. (And no, there's no legislation stopping them, if they wanted to & the seat met standards with higher limit, they could do it. Based on communication I've had with Transport Canada anyways. :thumbsup: )
 

TXAggieTech

Active member
I weighed DS last night at my moms and he was 31.5, today at DH's dr appt he was 36.5so we stopped at our vet (fancy scale, very accurate) and he was 33.3 lbs. DH and I discussed it and we are good with keeping him RFing until 35 lbs.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I weighed DS last night at my moms and he was 31.5, today at DH's dr appt he was 36.5so we stopped at our vet (fancy scale, very accurate) and he was 33.3 lbs. DH and I discussed it and we are good with keeping him RFing until 35 lbs.

How old is your ds? I would honestly recommend against this decision. I see that you're a tech, so I'm sure have weighed the decisions... but you're basing the decision on a spec sheet stating that future seats will be approved to 35lbs without knowing if there's any physical difference in the seats.

Plus between 3 different scales, there's a large variation - I would trust a dr.'s scale over a home scale, and would probably still go with the dr. scale over the vet scale.

Sorry, but to me this doesn't seem like a parental discretion area since it's going over the stated weight limits of the seat & he is possibly over even the 35lb weight limit based on the dr.'s scale. I know most of us don't look forward to turning our kids ff'ing, and sometimes the idea is scary... but at 36lbs the decision really doesn't fall into parental discretion arena - and I have to admit it somewhat bothers me to see a tech say they're making a parental decision so blatantly outside the limits on the current seat.

There's no way to know if the seats have been changed, or if there's a change in installation instructions that accompany it - right now it hasn't happened, and existing seats should not be assumed to be ok to a 35lb limit. :twocents:

Sorry if I sound harsh, but I know that when parents are reading posts, posts from a tech tend to carry more weight. To a parent who reads that a tech is choosing to use a seat beyond the recommended weight it either sends the message that a) we don't think weight limits really matter, or that b) our advice can't be trusted if we ourselves are going against manufacturers directions.

Neither one of these are safe messages to send to parents, and this is why I felt the need to address the comment.
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
If you have a scale that says he's 36.5, why would you even take that risk? It's one thing to make a parental decision to go to 35, but quite another when your dr's scale - which is most likely calibrated regularly - says that your child is over.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
...but quite another when your dr's scale - which is most likely calibrated regularly - says that your child is over.

I'm not so sure about that. I got significantly different measurements between two different doctors' offices on the same day--almost 4 lb different for a child who was under 50 lb!

I still wouldn't use the seat when there's a significant probability that the child is too heavy (even without considering the whole "your seat isn't rated that high" issue). I wish I could Nadia's been asking to go back rear facing, but she's at least 37 lb.

Still, the increase in weight limit will be nice this time next year when my oldest Marathon expires and I have to buy a new seat. Maybe I'll be able to continue the trend of keeping each child rear facing longer than the last. :cool:
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
:yeahthat:

I've had Joyjoy weigh as much sa five pounds less on other scales than she has on the doc's scale; and ALL the other scales said the same thing.
 

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