Question about strap use on Britax Boulevard

newmama

New member
My dd is 19 mo and 22lbs. She's RF in her Boulevard. When she's strapped in her seat, the straps are just below her shoulders. When I tighten her in, the shoulder straps are very snug (maybe too snug) because I'm worried about getting the front (torso) area snug too. Someone advised me to get the shoulder straps snug, but not too snug, and the torso area would just lay correctly then (but wouldn't be snug itself). (That's a lot of "snugs" isn't it?? :rolleyes:) Is that correct? Makes sense I guess, but I worried that she wouldn't be snug enough. Every time she gets out of her seat she has red marks on her shoulder/neck area even with the little pads on the straps. When they're RF is it more important then that they are snug in the shoulder area as opposed to the torso area?

BTW- how hard is it to remove the HUGS part? I hate those things and know I can take them off since she's RF but I was trying to avoid having to take everything apart.
Thanks!
 
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wendy1221

New member
I have 2 Boulevards and my kids never got red shoulders. I would think you may be tightening too much, if that's possible. I don't want to say for sure b/c I think you have to be there. I do know that the straps feel a little losser when they're rf, and I tried not to worry about it as long as they weren't loose on the shoulders.

As for taking off the HUGS, I never found them to be too much in the way, but it's really easy. You can just follow the directions for removing the cover and then you can see how to take off the HUGS. I have had to clean the covers MANY times LOL, so it's pretty much routine here. Just make sure you get the clips back on facing the right way. Taking those off and getting them back on is kind of a pain, but not too bad. You don't have to take them off to remove the cover, but I have done it a few times to give the clips and HUGS a good scrubbing.
 

Stresch

New member
Britax straps don't get snug across the torso. It's just the way they fall. You check for tightness at the shoulders.

Getting HUGS off is pretty easy. You don't even need to uninstall. You just loosen the straps all the way, take them off the splitter plate (don't loose the plate/strap down the back), unthread the HUGS and chest clip, rethread the chest clip, put the straps back through the slots (making sure the cover and seat slots line up), put them back on the splitter, and done.
 

mish

New member
Your harness needs to be snug in the shoulders, not on the torso. Do you know how to do the pinch test? If not, you want to tighten the harness, then pinch the webbing at her shoulder/collarbone. Your fingers should slip off. If you can pinch webbing, then the harness is too loose, if you can't, it is tight enough.

You can definitely get a harness too tight. If I were you, I would play around with the pinch test. Put your daughter in the seat, and tighten slowly. Tighten just a little bit, they do the test, if you fail, tighten some more and do it again until you "pass" the test. As soon as you can't pinch webbing, you know it is tight enough. The harness will lay flat on her torso, but won't be tight.
 

mimieliza

New member
Take off the HUGS and the comfort pads (if you have them on). Getting the HUGS off is really pretty easy. I find it soooo much easier to tighten RFing without those. Before tightening, pull up on the harness to take out all the slack around the thighs, and then tighten until it is tight at the shoulders (above the chest clip).
 

singingpond

New member
I have 2 Boulevards and my kids never got red shoulders. I would think you may be tightening too much, if that's possible. I don't want to say for sure b/c I think you have to be there. I do know that the straps feel a little losser when they're rf, and I tried not to worry about it as long as they weren't loose on the shoulders.

As for taking off the HUGS, I never found them to be too much in the way, but it's really easy. You can just follow the directions for removing the cover and then you can see how to take off the HUGS. I have had to clean the covers MANY times LOL, so it's pretty much routine here. Just make sure you get the clips back on facing the right way. Taking those off and getting them back on is kind of a pain, but not too bad. You don't have to take them off to remove the cover, but I have done it a few times to give the clips and HUGS a good scrubbing.

Just want to clarify that you don't actually have to remove the cover to get the HUGS off, and since the seat is RF, you don't even have to uninstall the seat. Just take the strap off the splitter plate behind the backrest of the seat (you can do one at a time, so you have the correctly assembled example to look at on the other side, if you want), pull the strap end out to the front of the seat, fiddle off the HUGS, put the clip back on, and then thread the strap back through the correct slots in cover and shell, and reattach at the splitter plate.

Katrin
 

valleyfam

New member
I second or is it third :D removing the hugs when rf. It really helped my straps lay better. Just don't lose them as they are required for ff.
 

wendy1221

New member
No, you definitely don't need to remove the cover. But if you follow the first step in the cover removal instructions in the manual, it's how to undo the harness straps. I didn't even think of not having to uninstall the seat or I would have mentioned that as well, as mine have been ff for a while now. ;)
 

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