Regent buckles are hard to dig out! Anyone else??

Is there anything I can do to keep the buckles on the Regent from sliding all the way down the harness (when unbuckled)? My ds didn't have any problems with the MA harness, but he can NOT do the Regent (unless I give him 5-10 mins!) because when he gets in and puts the harness on his shoulders, he has to dig the buckles out from his sides and can never find them. When he does find them, he ends up twisting the harness! The MA has the velcro on the harness and that kept the buckles from sliding all the way down. I really like the Regent, but between the buried buckles, MUCH twistier straps, and the hard to use chest clip, I am already getting mad at it. I was used to my ds doing up the buckles and getting himself out and now all I hear is "I NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE!" He is also frustrated that he can't do it himself, which makes things worse. He can't undo the chest clip at all and I even have a hard time with it. I wish I could have the one that is on the older MA's! Every time I go to buckle him, I wonder if I made the right decision and if I should have just bought the RYS and let him stay in that until he hit 40lbs (he has been 36-37lbs for 2yrs!) and then have an awesome booster!

So I guess my question is...Any way to keep the buckles from sliding down the thin straps and getting lost on the sides/under my ds? And is there any other chest clip available for the Regent or Husky?

I really miss my MA and now I wish I had just kept that until my ds actually was too tall. My sister is getting the Olivia MA this month and I am actually JEALOUS! I know my ds was very close to the height limit, but I miss it! I am just afraid I will move ds to a booster sooner than I want because I am not liking the Regent as much as I want to like it. He will be in it until he is at LEAST 40lbs though, so no worries (He is 5 1/2 yrs BTW).

Anyone else NOT LOVE the Regent/Husky???? Am I the only weird one??

I think you are just the weird one j/k lol!

I was thrown by the new chestclip as well. Its the same as on my sister's marathon, but our marathon had the old one. All of the replacement ones are now the new style, but if you could find an old one Id assume it would be ok to use since they use to be used on them anyway.

As for the buckles. I wonder if putting something simple on the straps at a good spot would help? Like some tape or a thick rubberband. Done loosely, but just so it will stay there to catch it. Not sewn on or anything, just wrapped around it. I dont know if this is ok, but its an idea.

DS doesnt do his own or undo his own. I dont know if he ever will, so this hasnt been a problem yet.

We have the exact opposite problem: when we had our Husky dd didn't have a bit of trouble buckling and unbuckling herself. It was a snap for her, the Husky's seating area is so wide she could find the buckle tongues easily and get them buckled. Now that we've downsized to a Futura for now she has a terrible time getting buckled, and it's frustrating for all of us. She's used to being so independent in the car and hates for me to have to do it all for her. If I give her lots of time, like you said, she can do it. Still, I can't wait to get a Husky/Regent again.

I hope you guys figure out something that works for you!

Yeah, I don't know what to say -- Leila at 4 now is buckling herself into & out of the Husky (well, she does the chest clip correct & struggles witht he crotch buckle until I help, but she always just pulls them up from where ever gravity takes them, LOL) ... her big sis never complained about buckling/unbuckling herself as well (from late 6 to early 9 years old), was rather proud of herself, actually, since it was less difficult for her than her boosters

Maybe you could just let him take some time without any stress about driving anywhere soon, like while you do some yard work or brin ghte seat inside?

I had thought about putting a big rubber band or velcro on each harness so that the buckles wouldn't slide down all the way. I know that this wouldn't get in the way of tightening the straps, so I may give this a shot. Of course this would be a parental decision I will just keep undoing the chest clip until he can figure that one out. I was hoping the longer crotch strap would help him, but so far it has only helped ME (which IS a good thing). Other than the troubles I am having, I really like the seat. It is SOLID in the middle of my Avalanche and the harness is actually EASIER to adjust than the MA was, once you actually get it buckled It is comfy and my ds has lots of growing room. I reinstalled it yesterday with the recline bar and moved the straps up to the second from the top slots and he looks better in it now. He has grown 1/2 an inch since we bought it! I will keep letting him practice buckling. I always have him do it if we aren't in a hurry anyway. I don't mind buckling him, but I have 2 choices: Climb in the backseat and buckle him and then get up front, or turn around and lean between the 2 front seats and buckle him. Since it is cold, I like to do it from the front, but I may go back to sitting in the back while I buckle him because it is just easier.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Melissa

That's what I usually did in my BLazer & Escape -- climbed in the back, closing the door on the cold, then back out & around to the front ... in the minivan, now, though, I have enough room to climb in the back & just walk through the front seats into the front -- it's one plus of the minivan at least

We have the same problem with our safeguards. I really like the velcro on our Britax's, so I was going to get some self-adhesive velcro, and put it on the straps and cover in the right place. My 6yo has a really hard time keeping the straps untristed on the safeguard because of it.

I never really thought about adding my OWN velcro. I wonder how that would work. I will have to look at it and figure something out. I am not very good at sewing though, but my mom could do it for me. I would be afraid to sew something into my harness (even though I know Britax does) and then it make the harness weaker. Especially since the harness on the Regent is not the same as the MA. I think I am going to try putting a couple rubber bands on the harness first and see if that works. The rubber bands are small and soft enough that they shouldn't be noticable.

Melissa

definitely never sew anything to the harness straps! they make self adhesive velcro, that is what she was talking about. It has the sticky stuff already on the back. I think that would be ok, but never pin or sew or anything to the straps. You would run risk of breaking the weaving and the strap failing in a crash.

I was actually talking about sewing velcro onto the cover and using the self adhesive on the straps. I would never SEW anything to the harness. I can definately see it messing up the harness. I actually HAVE some self adhesive velcro here at the house, so I will check it out and see if it will work or if it will get in the way. I am not sure how well the self adhesive would stick to the harness anyway. And if it doesn't stick, it may leave a sticky place on the straps! I don't want to do anything to void my warranty or that will cause my ds to be in danger, so I may just deal with digging out the buckles


Melissa

just had to make sure, you know

And I really do appreciate that!

Melissa

I know it's the buckles that are sliding down, but would using the chest clip holders on the side of the seat help any, maybe? That's what that elastic on the side of the cover is: to stick the chest clip into when the seat's not in use.

Oh, yeah ... that could work -- although, they're so high it might require loosening the harness quite a bit (& then tightening again later of course).

There are two little pieces of elastic on the sides of the seat (one on each side) that they call "harness retainers." I think they put this here instead of the velcro. I just noticed it when I was cleaning my counter top and found a tag from one of our new Regents. I think you could just put the buckles under the elastic. I just went out and did it, but I'm not sure how easy it would be for your kiddos to take them out when they got in. I will have my son go try it now......Oh yeah, the come out no problem! Hope that helps!