Pics of big kid in Madison Regent (6 years, 11 months old, 4'3", 60#)

scatterbunny

New member
We got our Madison Regent today (thanks, Tumblebug518 :love: ), and we all love it. It makes me hate my 1999 Ford Windstar's long, rigid buckle stalks on the middle row captain's chairs, and it makes me hate the Regent's stupid recline bar and required short belt path for a child my daughter's size, but the good news is, it's definitely compatible in the third row, all positions.

I am leaving it in the middle of the third row, even though it turns the three-seater bench into a one-seater. :p I still have my middle row captain's chairs for passengers, and I only have one child, so it'll work 99% of the time. For the times I have more than two backseat passengers, I'll move the Regent outboard. :)

All images can be clicked to enlarge.



I took some pics of H in just the seatbelt outboard in the third row, seated next to the Regent installed in the center of the third row, to show how tiny a person would really need to be in order to fit next to the carseat. These pics also show why a child this size (97th percentile for height for her age, I think about average/slightly above average for an 8 year old girl) should not ride in just a seatbelt. The lapbelt is riding too high on her tummy (which would/could cause serious internal damage/death in a crash), the shoulderbelt is digging into her neck (at the very least it causes discomfort, at the worst it could cause serious injury/death in a crash). Her knees actually do bend at the edge of the seat, just barely, and the tips of her toes also barely touch the floor of the vehicle. There's absolutely no way she's safe to ride like this, of course.



She fits the seat great, and proclaims that it's super-comfy, and "soft as a kitten". :p She actually begged to take a nap in it, it was so comfortable. :cool: She has about 1.25 to 1.5 inches of torso height to grow, which I think is fine. It should last a solid year, with her consistent growth pattern, maybe a bit longer, if we're lucky. She's 6 years, 11 months old, 51.5 inches tall and 60 pounds (last time I checked, she was 97th percentile for height and about 90th for weight).



The top slots measure 19.5 inches for me, with a standard tape measure, pressing down slightly to simulate the weight of a child. I did make sure to push a finger into the actual slot in the seat shell, not just the slot in the cover. ;)

 
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Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Looks like she really likes it! I still want the play with your captain's chairs.
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
we have the same seat. I can't tell by the pictures but is the buckle under your dd. Because if it is the manual states to pick the position closest to your child as long as its not under.
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
Looks like she likes it, fits well & everything else! I LOVE the colors of the Madison to! It is a beautiful car seat cover!
 

scatterbunny

New member
Looks like she really likes it! I still want the play with your captain's chairs.

Yes, she really does. :) We can play with seats when I come down. My mom wants me to wait until after the 1st, did I tell you?

we have the same seat. I can't tell by the pictures but is the buckle under your dd. Because if it is the manual states to pick the position closest to your child as long as its not under.

No, the crotch strap is not too close. :) She still has some room in that closest setting. She's not a stocky/big-framed child at all, though she is large in general for her age. She usually needs slim pants, or at least adjustable waist.

Looks like she likes it, fits well & everything else! I LOVE the colors of the Madison to! It is a beautiful car seat cover!

It really is gorgeous. :love: I remember coveting the Ashley Floral Marathon back when dd was still small enough to fit in the MA. I wanted one so badly because of the cute covers :p , but dd was so tall and long-torsoed that we went with a Husky instead (sold later due to vehicle incompatibility issues). I was so disappointed in the Husky covers, and later with the Regent covers, until the girly Blue Bouquet and Ashley Floral came out.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Yeah, you told me. I will be closer to your house, from the 1st to the 5th. Giraballi (sp)
 

HEVY

New member
Wow she's all legs, tall. Ohhh and nice seat, still looking for a Bouquet here, maybe madison would have been nice to. She's got like 8 inches on my DD, now I know she'll be in a long time.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Yeah, you told me. I will be closer to your house, from the 1st to the 5th. Giraballi (sp)

If I'm here during the first few days of your beach vacation, I'll meet you there. :thumbsup: Garibaldi is about 20 minutes away, not a bad drive at all, especially if it's good weather. It's a nice, scenic trip. And, it's an excuse to get a Dairy Queen chicken strip basket. :eek: Tillamook Dairy Queen closed down after one of our recent floods. Water was over 5 feet deep inside the restaurant, they've dumped tons of money into previous flood remodels, they just couldn't afford to do it anymore. So I haven't had Dairy Queen in ages, and I'd love to splurge.

Wow she's all legs, tall.

Yes, she really is tall, and mostly leg. :p It's funny, from birth-4yo, she was all torso, but around her 5th birthday she started to even out, and now she is more leg than torso. I'm very pleased she has as much growing room as she has. I was expecting an inch, but it's definitely more than an inch, at least installed in the middle of the third row.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Garibaldi is about 20 minutes away,

I didn't know that's where you were at. My Grandpa grew up in Garibaldi and lived either there , Manzanita, or Rockaway Beach for much of his life. He was actually the Chief of the Rockaway Volunteer fire dept for a few years. Small world.


Oh, and a tip for your captain's chairs with the rigid stalks, put the seat as upright as possible. Bolt, completely upright if you can. My Armada has rigid stalks and this works for me.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Wow, how cool. :cool: Definitely a small world.

I will try installing again with the seat upright to begin with, but I tried my usual trick of reclining it one notch, installing, then moving back bolt upright. No matter what, it didn't work. I tried several times, and I tried with my old Husky, too. The rigid stalks are angled so far forward of the bight that it hits the side of the Regent, which means the belt never gets tight enough.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Did I miss something? How come you decided to re-harness H?

Honestly, it was mostly the CEU chat we had recently with Dr. Laura Jana, and Sarah Tilton from Britax. They believed so passionately in EH that Dr. Jana's 8yo and 11yo are still in harnesses, and Sarah Tilton said Britax is doing away with all dedicated belt positioning boosters so they could focus on EH seats.

It's common sense that a harness will be safest in a rollover or side impact, due to the dynamics of those kinds of crashes. The harness will hold the body in place better. I have no doubts that a child my daughter's size is safe enough in a booster seat in a frontal crash, but I do worry about higher-speed, rollover and/or side impacts. She does great in a booster, maturity-wise, I just really want her to have that extra protection I believe a harness offers, especially for our longer trips at highway speeds, usually on very twisty, rural, two-lane highways.

It helped that our stimulus check came right after the CEU chat, so I had the urge to splurge. :eek: It's easy to justify a carseat purchase, KWIM? :p
 

Mama!

New member
how is the crotch strap on her? It looks tight.

I can't remember if my Regent's crotch strap adjusts? I think it does.:confused:
 

scatterbunny

New member
how is the crotch strap on her? It looks tight.

I can't remember if my Regent's crotch strap adjusts? I think it does.:confused:

Yes, there's two crotch strap settings, the farthest one out requires the child to be at least 50 pounds to use it, but you can use the closer one even over 50 pounds as long as it isn't coming out from underneath the child. You should always use the one closest to the child.

I did mention in post #5 that the strap isn't coming from below her, it still fits fine in that position. :) It goes straight down from her body into the seat. Maybe I'll have to snap a better photo.
 

MsFacetious

New member
I so wish that we had gotten a stimulus check but since I didn't work we didn't. lol If we had, I'd have used it for 2 Graco Nautilus'.

I plan to keep them harnessed as long as possible as well. That's why we went with Regents even though there were other options. That's also why I hesitate to get the G- Nauti but it would just be for a spare seat/airplane seat. Any longer trips would still be with the Regent's once they outgrow the Nautilus harness.

Hopefully, by then they will have something bigger than the Regent that doesn't cost more than the vehicle it's going in.
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
Is there somewhere I can read the Britax chat transcript?

Jenny, I think your DD looks great in the pretty Regent :love: And I absolutely think you made the right decision. My 46lb 8yo does sit well in a booster now, but when I think of our van rolling, or someone plowing into one of the sides with her in a booster, it makes me sick to my stomach. Yay for EH for big kids!! :)
 

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