Vent Giving up on the Regent

I'm disappointed, but I think I'm finally giving up on the Regent. I almost gave up last year when they issued the advisory and I had a terrible time getting a good SBP install in my Sienna, but I finally got it in the outboard position well (even though I wanted it in the center) and decided it was good as long as I never had to move it. Well, I just had to move it. It loosened up over time, and my dd was the one who noticed it. I fought with it for hours in the heat and I give up.

As far as I can tell, SBP is completely incompatible with the middle seating position in a Sienna LE8 due to the way the seatbelt comes out of the seat back. I went back to working on getting it in outboard and it was getting *really* close to being tight enough. I was doing the release the buckle, let the seatbelt go one more click back into the retractor, then bounce the seat down to rebuckle it tighter thing. Each time it was a little better (did I mention it was HOT?!!) and then after about 4 round of that, suddenly it was much looser that before . I gave up and put her YoungStyle booster in the middle and installed the GN outboard rock solid in about a minute. That seat is SO easy compared to the Regent.

So she's still in the YoungStyle booster which I'm just not sure I'm ready to have as her primary seat. I'm thinking about a Monterey, or maybe a Frontier, though I need to watch the money spent right now, so that's the main reason I'm not sold on the Frontier at the moment. I need to figure this out asap. I'm bummed that the Regent is now sitting in the garage, and will probably never be passed down to my next one, even though it has about 4 years left before it expires.

Do you have a pre-advisory Regent? If so - and if you didn't install the advisory "kit" (longer LATCH strap, adhesives for bottom of the seat) - you can still install it LBP even if your child is over 40 lbs.

I've got my pre-install Regent installed LBP in a vehicle where I can't get a good SBP install, and my DS is about 48 lbs.

I do have a pre-advisory one, and I didn't install the kit. I know it's okay for me to do it that way, but I just can't manage to be comfortable with it LBP ever since the advisory. I wish there was some way to *know* whether the LBP Regent is still safer than a booster. It's quite likely it is, I just wish I knew. I worry with such a heavy seat.

Unfortunately, of course, we're not privy to Britax's testing and results, so we don't know for sure.

However, it IS important to keep in mind that Britax didn't suddenly discover that the old installation methods were UNsafe or even less safe than before, just that the new methods were even safER. If the old methods were unsafe, Britax would have had to issue an actual recall instead of an advisory.

Personally, I feel quite comfortable that my DS is safer in his LBP Regent than he would be in a loosely installed SBP Regent or in a booster. :twocents: