I called Britax and UGH!

Shaunam

New member
I don't think the lady I talked to really knew much about the car seats. I called because I read here that in the Diplomat, the child's head has to be 1" from the top of the shell, not the headrest, for rf'ing. The manual says 1" from the top of the *restraint*, which I took to mean the entire restraint, including the headrest. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume most people would think that. Anyways, I'd been driving DS around in that seat for a couple of weeks. He had a growth spurt recently and I din't think he'd fit NOW, but at the time, he had about an inch and a half until he was even with the headrest when it was all the way up.

When I first asked my question, she went to get the info and then she came back and replied that the "seat is outgrown when the tips of the ears are even with the restraint". I said, "that's for ff'ing, I'm concerned with rf'ing". She says "there is no height limit rf'ing". I said, "yes there is, it says right in the manual that it is outgrown rf'ing when the head is within 1" of the restraint. What I'm trying to find out is if that's from the top of the SHELL, or the tip of the HEADREST." She asked how tal my son is and I said 39" and she said he outgrew it already. :rolleyes: I said, "I've heard that it has more to do with torso height, not overal height and that if their head is too close to the top, they outgrow it rf'ing and they outgrow it ff'ing when the straps are below their shoulders." She said that kids are supposed to be turned when their feet touch the backseat. :eek: And that it was more of a weight issue and they suggest 1 year and 20 lbs. Good grief!

I told her I disagree and kids can fold their legs up. She said, "Oh well sure they can." :rolleyes: Then why are you arguing with me? Ultimately, she told me that YES, it is from the top of the shell, not the headrest.

I told her that that makes me angry because I drove my son around unsafely because the manual was not clear and that I spent money on a seat assuming I could get a certain amount of use out of it since the headrest moves up. I told her it is a lot of money to us and now I'm stuck with a seat I may not even get a year of use out of. She said "Well, we're sorry about that." I told her that the reason I buy britax seats is because they are easy to use, easy to install, and that the manuals are easy to read. But that I was very concerned with the way this manual was worded and that it was setting people up for misuse. Again she apologized and told me that she would "pass along my concern."

Am I wrong? I think the average parent would assume that by "restraint", they are talking about the whole thing, including the headrest. She really didn't seem all that concerned. I mean, given the wording, if a child was seriously hurt or killed because they were rf'ing too long in that seat, Britax could be sued.

Can any of you techs call? Maybe use your tech status to get these concerns across and maybe find out more? She was talking to me like I was an idiot, when clearly I knew more about CPS than she did.

I'm really kind of upset because the reason I bought the diplomat is because I need a short seat right now and I thought we'd get a little bit of time out of it. I mean, I really thought my DS fit and that is a huge thing because he hardly fits in any seats rf'ing. If I'd known all this, I would have saved some money and gotten a true fit. :(
 
ADS

scatterbunny

New member
That's interesting (the info about RF height limit on Diplomat being top of actual shell, not headrest), because I don't remember that ever being a concern with the Wizard. :confused: WHY can't it be used until the head is within one inch of the top of the headrest? I mean, the purpose of having shell above the head is to allow for "ramping up" the seat in a frontal crash; the headrest will serve that purpose, too. It's not like it's so flimsy it will break or something. :confused:

That lady sounded clueless; FF at 1yo/20#? :eek: What kind of Britax rep is she?
 

Shaunam

New member
That's why I want a tech to call....to be more authorative and maybe she will end up passing the call on to someone higher up. :whistle:
 

Shaunam

New member
Aw, that's ok. I almost didn't call because it would be wasting our anytime minutes and we can't afford to do that. Now I wish I hadn't called. :rolleyes:
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Hee hee, we have so much to say to the reps! Since I didn't go to baby expo this year, I have a lot to say!
 

ginny4

New member
That's interesting (the info about RF height limit on Diplomat being top of actual shell, not headrest), because I don't remember that ever being a concern with the Wizard. :confused: WHY can't it be used until the head is within one inch of the top of the headrest? I mean, the purpose of having shell above the head is to allow for "ramping up" the seat in a frontal crash; the headrest will serve that purpose, too. It's not like it's so flimsy it will break or something. :confused:

That lady sounded clueless; FF at 1yo/20#? :eek: What kind of Britax rep is she?

from the BLVD user guide:

Use rear-facing only with children:
who weigh between 5 and 35 lbs. (2.3 – 15.9 kg.) and
the top of the child’s head is 1” (2.5 cm.) or more
below the top of the child seat shell [/B](Fig. A) and
the harness straps are at or slightly below the
child’s shoulders.

so the BLVD too (as worded) also seems like it means from the shell not including the headrest as well as the diplomat
 

Shaunam

New member
It makes me wonder how sturdy that TSIP really is....

If it said that in my manual, what it says in the blvd manual, you could at least say they tried to make it clear. But really, how hard would it be to say, "within 1" of the top of the seat shell" and then put in parentheses (not the headrest). I'm still hoping that she's wrong about it. Charlie's head is like 3" from the top and a lot of that room is because she's still so floppy. Once she gets a little more tone and sits better, she will probably have even less room. DH is going to be so mad if I have to get yet another seat so soon. :(
 

racesmom

Senior Community Member
That's interesting (the info about RF height limit on Diplomat being top of actual shell, not headrest), because I don't remember that ever being a concern with the Wizard. :confused: WHY can't it be used until the head is within one inch of the top of the headrest? I mean, the purpose of having shell above the head is to allow for "ramping up" the seat in a frontal crash; the headrest will serve that purpose, too. It's not like it's so flimsy it will break or something. :confused:

That lady sounded clueless; FF at 1yo/20#? :eek: What kind of Britax rep is she?

That's exactly what I was thinking.
 

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