Check Belt Fit for me, please

lanwenyi

New member
Here is DD in her new Olli.

I can't try it in the cars it will be going in until she has to ride in it, so this is it installed in our Subaru Forester.

thumbnail_IMG_7783.jpg

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How does the belt fit look? If it is bad, lmk asap so I can order something else. I need to have it by Saturday. Please let me know what else you would recommend. Thanks!!

Here is the link to my original question.
 
ADS

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
This looks ok. The belt is quite far forward but still touching the hips so that's fine. Shoulder belt fit is good. Remember that it will vary and you need to check each time.

When you get to the point that the belt just won't touch the body, if a booster is still needed I'd advise an Incognito. She'd probably do fine in one now, honestly.
 

lanwenyi

New member
Thank you!!

I was worried about how far forward the lap belt is. Glad to hear its okay. DD loves how comfy the seat is.

I tried to get DD to accept an incognito, but she wants armrests and a cupholder, so this will have to do for now.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
It's close enough to too far forward that she likely doesn't have many months before she won't be able to use this one.

When you check make sure it's still in contact with the body. If it's not, check her without the booster too. In smaller seating positions she may pass without one.
 

lanwenyi

New member
Her legs don't bend at the edge of any seat I've tested her on. Nor do they reach the floor. She has a long torso and short legs. :(

On any ride over a few minutes she ends up slouching to reach the floor. She doesn't 5-step yet. What she really needs is an incognito, but she doesn't like it.

For reference, she needs a size 10 for length in tops and can wear a 12 for length in tops, but she only needs size 8 pants and they are both too big around. She can still wear some size 5 capris as shorts and size 5 leggings as capris. She can wear ALL her size 6s as shorts and capris.
 

lanwenyi

New member
If you think this will only last a few months, I think I'd rather get something else.

Is there something else that has armrests and cupholders (DD's requirement) that will likely last her longer?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Really, once they fit like this incognito is the best fit usually. You could try something with different arm rest positioning- but to be completely honest I'm not sure it will be better.

What about giving her a spot with a cupholder in the car, if there is one? Or offering another car privilege to make up for it?
 

lanwenyi

New member
Her spot in every car she rides in actually does have cupholders. Not all of them are easy to reach, but she can use them. I think she just likes having them on her seat b/c DS has them on his Frontier.

However, she also wants armrests. I can probably get her to give up the cupholder (her vivo doesn't have one and she survives), but the minute she realized the incognito did not have armrests she practically yelled "No! Where am I going to put my arms?!? I want armrests."

She rides in a bubblebum while traveling and lack of armrests is her major complaint about it.

I'll try convincing her again that the incognito is the best bet. I may just buy one and make her try it.

At her age though, I really need her to continue to be willing and eager to ride safely. I can't just force her in like I did when she was younger. Her 12yo cousin still rides in an incognito (still gets better fit with it than without it), but I've already tried the "be like your cousin" tack. All of her friends have been in seatbelts only (or unrestrained) since the minute they turned 8 (and often before) :(
 

lanwenyi

New member
My shoulder is soggy!

Just told my daughter that the belt fit isn't really good and we need to find another booster. She spent the next 10 minutes crying. tween emotions are so volatile!! Apparently, in her 2 minutes of testing the booster, she completely fell in love with it!!

This is the downside of buying online and returning with an older child!
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
My shoulder is soggy!

Just told my daughter that the belt fit isn't really good and we need to find another booster. She spent the next 10 minutes crying. tween emotions are so volatile!! Apparently, in her 2 minutes of testing the booster, she completely fell in love with it!!

This is the downside of buying online and returning with an older child!

Ugh, sorry, I know it well. I got tears the other day because my nearly 12 year old daughter still doesn't 5-step in her position in the van.

The thing is, when they are that close, fit is going to be similar in nearly anything. And if she had no booster she'd have no armrests, too. I feel your pain though.
 

lanwenyi

New member
So, we tried the incognito. It was incompatible in the 2nd row of the sienna and had terrible fit in the third row.

Then we tried the clek Olli.
Not good fit in the 3rd row. Looks like good fit in the 2nd row. lap belt was fully up on her hips.

However, hoping to save some money, we tried her seat from our car (vivo) to see if it would work for tomorrow.
Terrible fit in the 3rd row.
Acceptable fit in the 2nd row (about the same as the pics of the olli in the first post)

That made us check her belt fit in our car. Yikes!! We hadn't realized her lapbelt had gotten so low on her hips!


So we tried the incognito in our car. I'm not sure on the fit:
The shoulder belt fit is perfect
The lapbelt is high. It touches the hips on the sides (as it goes toward the belt guides) but the center part is fully up on her belly.

I have pics, but I don't know how to post them from my phone.

Which is better, lap belt on the low side, like the olli/vivo or lapbelt on the high side, like the incognito?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Without seeing I really can't say. As long as the lap belt is no higher than the TOP of the hip bone it's acceptable in that direction.

I usually use IMG tags to link a url of an image from a hosting site.
 

lanwenyi

New member
Our Forester: (we still don't know what to do with the Sienna; we just had Grandma keep the kids home while we ran the half marathon this morning)

thumbnail_FullSizeRender.jpg
Incognito, lapbelt

thumbnail_IMG_7797-1.jpg
Incognito, shoulder belt

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Vivo, lap belt

thumbnail_IMG_7802-1.jpg
Vivo, lap and shoulder belt view (sorry for the sideways picture; I could fix it, but then I'd have to upload it again!)

The vivo is her current seat. Should I switch it out? If so, which one (incognito, olli) gives her the best fit? Do I need to keep looking for another seat that gives her better fit?
 
Last edited:

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
The Olli looks the best right now. I'm guessing you have about 3-5 months before it fits more like the Vivo (which I wouldn't use) and you need the incognito.

It seems you have a really odd anchor geometry there though. Have you tried a different seating position? What about the Sienna, have you tried the third row there?
 

lanwenyi

New member
The Olli looks the best right now. I'm guessing you have about 3-5 months before it fits more like the Vivo (which I wouldn't use) and you need the incognito.

It seems you have a really odd anchor geometry there though. Have you tried a different seating position? What about the Sienna, have you tried the third row there?

Thank you so much!
So, Vivo needs to go? Lapbelt too low? Am I understanding correctly?

Is the Incognito's lapbelt currently too high?

As for trying a different seating position:
That car is a 2014 Subaru Forester, it only has 3 seating positions in the back. DS is in a Frontier 90 (harnessed) behind the driver. DD is behind the passenger. We could switch them, but there is no realistic way to put one of them in the middle. The belts are mirror images on the two sides of the car, so I don't know that switching them would change any belt geometry, but I could try this weekend if you think it will help.

Sienna:
It is nothing but problems.

The incognito gave acceptable fit in the 3rd row, but we have to raise the headrest. That's fine if we are with DD/grandparents, but they won't leave the headrest raised when the kids aren't in the car, nor will they help her raise it when we're not with them and DD can't consistently raise it herself. We've tried to explain the importance of head support to them, but they don't get it. When grandma sits in the back, she never raises the headrest for herself either (which is why I almost always take the spot in the very back and insist grandma take the 2nd row seat when we all ride together).

The incognito is incompatible in the 2nd row; over 1/3 of it hangs off of the seat b/c of how the seat is designed.

The Olli gave terrible fit in the 3rd row (plus had the same headrest problem as the incognito), but looked like it gave good fit in the 2nd row. The belt geometry is different enough that the belt appeared to sit much higher on her pelvis than it does in our Forester. It looked like textbook fit. I just don't know how long it will last.

We took the back off the Turbo we had in there and tried it. It gave acceptable fit in both rows. In the 3rd row the lapbelt looked almost too low,
but looked still in the acceptable range (also still had the headrest problem). In the 2nd row, the belt was farther forward with it than the Olli. Not quite sure how that worked. ::shrug-shoulders::

Tried the Vivo too. Terrible fit in the 3rd row. Gave fit a little on the low side in the 2nd row. (But not as low as it is fitting in our car)

It seems like the Olli is the best bet in Grandma's car, but we don't want to buy a 2nd Olli.


We do have another cover for the Vivo and it is not expired. We can put the Vivo in the Sienna for DS (instead of giving him the Turbo w/SS) if you think we should put a backless Turbo somewhere for DD. The Sienna is the only place DS will be going into a booster.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Hmmm.

The Olli and Incognito are both acceptable on the lap (other than the weird geometry) in different directions but not perfect in your car. The shoulder belt is better in the Olli right now hence why I'd choose that.

If the Olli is perfect in the Sienna that or something similar is what I would use there. She can't be taught to raise the headrest with practice? I'm confused that the incognito has overhang 2nd row but not third; where is the overhang? Which seating position 2nd row? Does their Sienna have the tiny second row center seat? If so have you checked without a booster there? Kids often pass much earlier there.

I really don't love your belt geometry outboard, to the point that I'd probably try to find something to fit center even if it meant getting a different harness outboard for child 2, if it were my kids. But if you can't make it work you can't and you do the best you can.
 

lanwenyi

New member
Hmmm.

The Olli and Incognito are both acceptable on the lap (other than the weird geometry) in different directions but not perfect in your car. The shoulder belt is better in the Olli right now hence why I'd choose that.

If the Olli is perfect in the Sienna that or something similar is what I would use there. She can't be taught to raise the headrest with practice? I'm confused that the incognito has overhang 2nd row but not third; where is the overhang? Which seating position 2nd row? Does their Sienna have the tiny second row center seat? If so have you checked without a booster there? Kids often pass much earlier there.

I really don't love your belt geometry outboard, to the point that I'd probably try to find something to fit center even if it meant getting a different harness outboard for child 2, if it were my kids. But if you can't make it work you can't and you do the best you can.

The sienna's 2nd row seat has an angle up to the backrest. If you put the incognito only on the flat portion of the seat, it overhangs. If you put it at the top of the angled portion it has a HUGE hole under it and bends to fill the hole.

The 3rd row has a flat seat that goes directly to the backrest, no angled portion, so the incognito fits just fine.

This Sienna (2004) has 3 regular seats in the 2nd row. All 3 have the angled piece. However, the belt is in the seat on the middle seat, it comes out from below DD's shoulder.

I did check her without a booster in the 3rd row. The shoulderbelt is in her neck and the lapbelt comes up on her belly. She looks close. Her knees bend naturally at the edge of the seat and her feet are flat on the floor. I suspect she'll 5-step in the back by the end of the year.

She could probably be taught to raise the headrest, but she doesn't ride in it very often (1-2x per month), and we only ride with her once every 2-3x, so opportunities to teach/practice are limited.

In our car, I doubt the middle seat's belt geometry would help. It has one of those weird from the ceiling seatbelts and really narrow seating areas. The only things I have been able to make fit there have been a bubblebum, an RSTV, and a RFing Radian (with a lot of sweating and screaming at the seat, along with my husband helping me pull the belt tight). I never could get the Radian in FFing in the middle.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I don't see anything in the manual about not bending; the Incognito does bend some in most vehicles with modern seats. I would contact Dorel to see if that's actually an incompatibility. (Her weight should just bend it down, no?)
 

lanwenyi

New member
I'll try to take a picture next time we're down there (won't be for several weeks because GS cookie season is starting) and then post it when I get back.

The gap is so big that it looks like the incognito will break in half. It might not; it might bend at that 45* angle, but I wasn't comfortable doing it with a seat I just bought and might end up returning.

If after you see the gap I'm talking about, you still think it might be okay, then I'll call Dorel. However, I've had too many times where different CSRs give contradictory answers, so I don't have a lot of faith that front line CSRs will know what they are talking about nor that they will connect me to someone who does.
 

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