Question CarSeat question for a SN child

I have a question regarding carseats. Tyler has outgrowen his roundabout RFing by height, he can't go FFing. Also in the Marathon he can reach the lever to loosen the straps...ugh! I am going to try and sew the flap and see if that helps. Anyway I am looking for another carseat for Tyler. I was looking at the decathlon or sunshin kids radian 80. One reason is they both have extra pads. So my question is can I use the pads FFing with either of these seats? I ask because Tyler's tone is low in his trunk and he'd be OK (I think) FFing with the pads to give him support. I don't plan to FF him for some time and it might not be an issue. BUT if I can avoid having to look for another seat in a year or two I'd be happy Or if there are other seats I should look at for him. Thanks

Someone also suggested Recaro Como or Signo.

Tyler is currently 26lbs (give or take a lb) 100% Tube fed 34" and tors Highet I am unsure of but in the Maraton he is still on the bottem strap.

Amy mom to Tyler

I believe the use of the padded inserts that come with the Radian or the Decathlon is allowed for FF. I haven't heard or noticed in their manuals that they're not allowed FF, FWIW. You can look at their respective manuals online to see if there's any restriction at www.skjp.com and www.britaxusa.com, and/or contact their respective manufacturers for clarification.

You can call Britax and request a special training tool that Britax has devised to thwart kiddos from reaching the Marathon's harness adjuster lever and loosening the harness straps. IIRC, the training tool is a plastic cover of some sort that goes over the adjuster so that the child cannot access it, but the parent/caregiver can still reach the lever to adjust the harness tightness.

I know some members here who like the Signo for extended rear facing for SN children. Longer term, you could also consider importing a Swedish seat that can rear face beyond the 33 or 35 lbs. RF weight limit seats currently available in the U.S., such as the Britax Two Way Elite which can RF up to 55 lbs. To do it the officially sanctioned and legal way, you would need a doctor's prescription stating a medical condition necessitates extended rear facing for your child beyond the capacity of seats available in the U.S., and then you would petition NHTSA to allow you to import the seat. You might be able to convince a medical insurer to cover some/all of the cost of an imported seat, which is quite spendy in terms of the seat price and associated shipping charges.

I use the Recaro Signo for my own SN tube fed almost 3 year old

I have lots of pictures of him in different seats if you'd like to see.

He was able to RF to the limit of the Signo comfortably and the Signo has awesome Side Impact Wings next to the head that hold the head up and back.

The Como is equpped the same, except that the headwings are definitely puffier and they served us well briefly. You do need to lift them up and rest them on the child's shoulders after you get them snapped in.

Also, the recline bar on the Signo makes it super easy to get a good recline when FF.

The Signo has quite a bit of recline FF as well, and we have absolutely no slouching issues unless he's very sick.

Please feel free to ask for pictures and I'll get you some.

ETA: If we had a choice, I'd have a foreign seat that RF to 55 lbs. I would absolutely have someone get us one.

Thanks

I really don't think getting a seat to RF to 55lbs is worth it, right now If that is the case I'd look at getting a travler plus for the price it would cost and what not.

Mama~ I'd love to see pictures of your son in the Recaro seats. Tyler just turned 3yrs in May. his weight is never stable he was 27.5lbs in March, the end of April he was 25lbs and then mid may he was 26lbs.

Thanks,

Amy mom to Tyler

If you have a floppy necked kid, you can use a pool noodle pyramid and get a 45 degree angle recline which is really comfortable for SN kids. He also never minded the lack of leg room when it was upright, but he had way more legroom when I reclined it more.

All in all, we've had Alpha omegas, Scenera, Comos, Uptown and now the Signo in our RF quest.

We have periodically used the Uptown for RF and it was GREAT. Its a cheaper seat that RF to 35 lbs and has deep little side wells and if ds had a choice ,he'd choose it over the Signo.



Feel free to ask any questions

Unregistered said:

Thanks

I really don't think getting a seat to RF to 55lbs is worth it, right now If that is the case I'd look at getting a travler plus for the price it would cost and what not.

Mama~ I'd love to see pictures of your son in the Recaro seats. Tyler just turned 3yrs in May. his weight is never stable he was 27.5lbs in March, the end of April he was 25lbs and then mid may he was 26lbs.

Thanks,

Amy mom to Tyler

Click to expand...

I'm sure you're aware - the Traveler Plus does not RF.

For what it's worth, the Merritt Roosevelt is a newer seat and I've only heard good things about them.

For a kiddo who needs significant support, I'd try the Columbia special needs seat - it has more adjustability as far as lat support. Your durable medical equipment co. should be able to get either or both for a trial.

For a RF seat, The Recaro Como or Signo offers great support and will last a long time both RF and FF.

For FF, the TP and the new Roosevelt are great.

Yes I realize that the TP only FF. I'd like to keep him RFing as long as possible. I am hoping in doing so that he gains enough strenght in his trunk that he won't have any issues FFing at that time he out grows the seats RFing.

The seat I am looking for would be our extra seat, although it seems with gas prices we use the cars it would go into more then our van.

Tyler has good neck and head control its just his trunk is low tone (along with a few other parts of his body that wouldnt' effect his need for a different carseat).

So it looks like either The Recaro Como or Signo. So I have a few questions

Do they both have the bar for the LATCH to slide? (I can't install our roundabout in DH's car or my moms car with the LATCH because it doesn't reach)

Can I use the pads FFing?

Can the seats be in the RFing position FFing?

Is the seat pretty easy to install? we have a toyota Senina (05), Camery(07) and Preius(07) (SP?)

Thanks for all the input

Amy mom to Tyler

I forgot a few other questions

Can it be teethered RFing? I seem to get a better angle on the seat when I do.

Can the car seat be touching the seat in front of it? This is not an issue for me but when DH drives it is. The seat will always be outbound, in the van its behind the driver, I have to do this because of school drop off and pick up. I have 4kids total and we always take at least 2 with us. All 4 kids are in some type of car seat/booster.

Thanks,
Amy

LATCH bar on Signo only. Como is just a regular back.

Signo is very very reclined even installed FF.

LATCH install with Signo takes 5 seconds flat. Its' the best install ever.

Pads on Como are Mandatory RF and recommended for FF. PAds on Signo don't come off.

I think it would be super easy to install RF and FF in all those cars. The RF install in a Prius might be interesting just b/c the shell is very high. But who knows?

Based on what you said about his trunk tone (similar to ours), I think you will love the Signo.:thumbsup:

OOPS, forgot one.

no, you can't recline the seat into RF mode when it's FF, but honestly, you don't need it.

The Signo back is so slanted as is, and if you just kick the vehicle seatback back 1 notch or two to help that seat smush into the seatback better, the child will be very happily supported and reclined. I have been shocked at how reclined my Ds's Signo is with the vehicle seat only clicked back 1 notch. :thumbsup:

Thank you for all your input Yes I agree about the Prius, the Marathon is a bit tricky but I can get it to work.

It looks like I will get him the Singo. Where is a good spot to buy it from? I see Target has it and its free shipping. I like that I can return it to the store if it doesn't work out for us, simply is what I like But if I can save more $$ somewhere else I wouldnt' mind doing so!!

Thanks again for all your help

Amy mom to Tyler

Unregistered said:

I forgot a few other questions

Can it be teethered RFing? I seem to get a better angle on the seat when I do.

Can the car seat be touching the seat in front of it? This is not an issue for me but when DH drives it is. The seat will always be outbound, in the van its behind the driver, I have to do this because of school drop off and pick up. I have 4kids total and we always take at least 2 with us. All 4 kids are in some type of car seat/booster.

Thanks,
Amy

Click to expand...

No, the Recaro convertibles can't be top tethered rear facing. Only Britax convertibles and the Sunshine Kids Radian convertible seats can be top tethered RF. As for touching the front seat, there is no prohibition against it in the Recaro manual, but keep in mind touching also has to be allowed by the vehicle manufacturer. Some vehicles with advanced front airbags have a warning against having a child restraint touch the front seatbacks because it can interfere with the airbag sensors, and you would need to double check the manual for the vehicle, especially in the airbag and child restraint sections of the manual.

Actually, upon re-reading your earlier post where you mentioned having the Sienna, Prius, and Camry, you're probably going to find touching the front seatbacks isn't allowed in any of them. I know it's not for the '05 Sienna because I own one of those, and it's likely true for your other Toyotas as well because they are newer and even more likely to have advanced front airbags. Let me sift through my pictures to find a picture of the manual page for the '05 Sienna showing the warning against having a child restraint touching the front seatbacks from the airbag section of the manual. Voila, here it is:

It's the third bullet on the left side of the page. Sorry it's so fuzzy due to my limited camera and my lack of photography skills.

This gives you an idea of what to look for because it's sort of buried in the manual, and Toyota tends to use the same wording in the manuals for different models. The manual for DH's '08 Scion xB has the same blurb in it.

You can peruse the Shopping and Deals and Car-Seat.Org Sponsors forums here to see if there are any threads about current deals on Signos. Elitecarseats.com sells Signos and has a return insurance option you can purchase when you order a seat in case you need to return it. Albeebaby.com currently has Signos for as low as $231.99 depending on the cover. I'm not sure about Albee's return policy, though.