CPS Manufacturer Update-Safe Kids Conference

mish

New member
This week I went to Washington DC to the Safe Kids Conference. There was a manufacturer update, so I will go through what everone said. Most of it is repeated, but some is new I think.

Graco
They are moving to Atlanta, if anyone cares about that. They talked about the new Snugride 32, and it is shipping now.
Nautilus-2 new colors!! The one we already saw and another one that I think is blue and tan. They showed a pic, but it was really fast. I went up to their booth, but the copy of her presentation that she printed was messed up, and you couldn't tell. I do know that it has quilted fabric and gracopedic foam. She said she thinks it will be 169.99.

Clek
Nothing new here. I did see the Oobr close up, and I'm not that in love with it. I think my expectations were a little too high. I will need to see it more. There was a huge line, so not much time to look at it at their booth.

Evenflo
They talked about the new symphony. I installed this seat and it is awesome with LATCH. I know it only harnesses to 40 pounds, but I really think it is a good seat. The only problem I saw what that when I was messing with it the straps twisted.

All Evenflo seats are now being side impact tested to 2 times the federal standard. It is now being marked on the seats. The are also putting the name and model on the stickers with model number and date of manufacture! Also, she said all of their seats will start having the new alligator clip LATCH hooks.

The Embrace is being transitioned to totally front adjust. I almost fainted with excitement about that news;). Last, all seats will be shipping with longer tethers.

Sunshine Kids
They had the new Radian XT. Russ was sick, so he didn't really talk about it. I did go to the booth and see it, and I like it. I don't have any new information on it though.

RideSafer
They said they have a new design coming. They didn't talk about it though. I won one!!

Roosevelt
I don't know much about this seat, and he just described it. I think it is a great special needs seat.

MiaModa
The Viva Supreme is a new seat (I think it is new anyway). The harness slots will be 6,8,10, and 12 inches. The canopy is three sections, with a zipper, so you can move it to cover the baby better. It has a full body infant insert. I looked at this seat and really liked it.

Chicco
Nothing new about the KeyFit. They showed the Strada booster. It is going to come in the Fuego color and a blue and gray color. The blue color was kind of nice. It will start shipping in the first quarter of 2009. I like the seating portion of this seat. It is kind of contoured for a kids legs. I don't really know how to describe it. It seems to kind of slope back and it has a little hump at the front that the kid would put their legs around. It really isn't exaggerated at all though. It looks comfortable.

Combi
The combi shuttle has a new base. The belt path is seriously awful. You buckle the seatbelt, then it goes under the base on one side then kind of comes up and hooks onto it. I can't quite describe it. Suffice it to say I will never be recommending that disaster of a seat.

Combi has a new convertible seat called the Coccoro. It rear faces to 33 pounds and forward faces to 40. The good thing about this seat is that it is small. It only weighs 11 pounds and is narrow. They showed a picture of getting three across in a corolla. They will be shipping this seat with child id stickers on it. It has lockoffs for forward and rear facing, with an extra wide belt path. It comes in a lot of colors.

In 2009, Combi will be coming out with a whole new product line with higher weight harnesses. WooHoo!!

Britax
I don't think their was anything new. On the Safe Kids recertification website their will be a link for a Britax tech website. It might already be up.

The First Years
The most exciting news didn't come up in the session, but at the booth. They are coming out with a high weight harness combination seat. I think they will have more info at Lifesavers.

The True Fit is going to have two different recline indicators. One for young babies and one for older ones.

The infant seat handle is going to start rotating forward to act as an anti-rebound bar. I thought that was pretty cool.

Dorel
They are going to start putting color coded labes on the 3 in 1 seats. One color for RF, on for FF, and one for Booster. They will be much easier to read. SAlso, I think everyone knows this, but the handle can now be left up on all infant seats and that is retroactive.

Thats it. If you read that far, congratulations!
 
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scatterbunny

New member
Graco
They talked about the new Snugride 22, and it is shipping now.

SnugRide 32, right?

Nautilus-2 new colors!! The one we already saw and another one that I think is blue and tan. They showed a pic, but it was really fast. I went up to their booth, but the copy of her presentation that she printed was messed up, and you couldn't tell. I do know that it has quilted fabric and gracopedic foam. She said she thinks it will be 169.99.

Nautilus Elite, I know we talked about it recently, I'll try to find a link with the picture.

ETA photo of Nautilus Elite and link to thread discussing it.

Evenflo
They talked about the new symphony. I installed this seat and it is awesome with LATCH. I know it only harnesses to 40 pounds, but I really think it is a good seat. The only problem I saw what that when I was messing with it the straps twisted.

It does have fairly twisty straps (they fold over in the buckle tongues almost magically, it seems), and pretty high top slots for a 40# seat, but booster mode is only 19 inches high (from seating area to shoulderbelt guide), and it's very difficult for the average parent to figure out how to switch from harness mode to booster mode. I see major misuse with this one. Here's a thread where Judi posted pics of the Symphony, and where we discussed our feelings on the seat.

All Evenflo seats are now being side impact tested to 2 times the federal standard. It is now being marked on the seats.

I'm confused; There is no federal standard for side impact testing here, so how exactly are they being tested to 2x a nonexistent standard?

Also, she said all of their seats will start having the new alligator clip LATCH hooks.

That's awesome!

The Embrace is being transitioned to totally front adjust. I almost fainted with excitement about that news;).

That's GREAT news. I wish they'd change the handle-must-be-down-and-have-1.5"-clearance rule on their infant seats, too.

Last, all seats will be shipping with longer tethers.

It's about time! Parents shouldn't have to call Evenflo for a longer tether strap for vans, SUVs and wagons.

Chicco
Nothing new about the KeyFit. They showed the Strada booster. It is going to come in the Fuego color and a blue and gray color. The blue color was kind of nice. It will start shipping in the first quarter of 2009. I like the seating portion of this seat. It is kind of contoured for a kids legs. I don't really know how to describe it. It seems to kind of slope back and it has a little hump at the front that the kid would put their legs around. It really isn't exaggerated at all though. It looks comfortable.

I'm excited to see more about the Strada. Hopefully it adjusts TALL. :thumbsup:

Combi
Combi has a new convertible seat called the Coccoro. It rear faces to 33 pounds and forward faces to 40. The good thing about this seat is that it is small. It only weighs 11 pounds and is narrow. They showed a picture of getting three across in a corolla. They will be shipping this seat with child id stickers on it. It has lockoffs for forward and rear facing, with an extra wide belt path. It comes in a lot of colors.

Carseatblog.org has some pics of the Coccoro from the ABC Kids Expo, looks like a nice alternative to, say, a Roundabout for folks who really want a small convertible with built-in lockoffs. It sounds like a great travel option, too, since it is lightweight and so small.

In 2009, Combi will be coming out with a whole new product line with higher weight harnesses. WooHoo!!

That's AWESOME! More choice is always a good thing!

The First Years
The most exciting news didn't come up in the session, but at the booth. They are coming out with a high weight harness combination seat. I think they will have more info at Lifesavers.

Yay, a First Years combo seat! :D

The infant seat handle is going to start rotating forward to act as an anti-rebound bar. I thought that was pretty cool.

That IS pretty cool. :cool:

Thanks for all the updates!
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Evenflo
All Evenflo seats are now being side impact tested to 2 times the federal standard.

Like scatterbunny, I wonder what this means. Maybe they test it using the vehicle standard? (Even then, I'm not sure what the specific standard is, or the basis for giving the stars.) I'd like to know more about that.

RideSafer
They said they have a new design coming. They didn't talk about it though. I won one!!

Cool on both accounts!

Combi
Combi has a new convertible seat called the Coccoro. It rear faces to 33 pounds and forward faces to 40. The good thing about this seat is that it is small. It only weighs 11 pounds and is narrow. They showed a picture of getting three across in a corolla. They will be shipping this seat with child id stickers on it. It has lockoffs for forward and rear facing, with an extra wide belt path. It comes in a lot of colors.

That thing looks so tiny, I'll be surprised if kids really make it to 33 and 40 lbs in it, by height. Maybe I'm just jaded because I hate the Zeus so much, but I'll believe it when I see it.

The First Years
The infant seat handle is going to start rotating forward to act as an anti-rebound bar. I thought that was pretty cool.

Ooo, I've been waiting for something like that! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the info!
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Side impact testing has been proposed under either the TREAD or SAFETEA acts for a few years now, it's been phasing in recently. (I have looked it up a few times, never save it in favorites...someone else can google it :eek:)
 

mish

New member
Yes, I meant Snugride 32. I will fix it.

About side impact testing, I have no idea. As I said, I was repeating what I heard.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
How does someone find about about all these confrences? Is any able to go? I'm really close to DC and would have loved to go. And what about Lifesavers? any others?
 

mish

New member
This conference was for Safe Kids coordinators. It was put on by Safe Kids worldwide. The CPS update is just a small part of it.
 

jen_nah

CPST Instructor
This conference was for Safe Kids coordinators. It was put on by Safe Kids worldwide. The CPS update is just a small part of it.

I was supposed to go to the SK Leadership conferance but work put a halt to all travel for the time being even though our funds are SK funds and not part of the hospital money. They felt it is just fair to say "No" across the board instead. Oh well! If the economy stays the way it is I am pretty sure Lifesavers will be out too. I will get to go to KIM this year but only because it's an hour from me here in Texas for the next 2yrs.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
I leave tonight for my conference! Can't wait for the I love the latch manual class!
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Evenflo
They talked about the new symphony. I installed this seat and it is awesome with LATCH. I know it only harnesses to 40 pounds, but I really think it is a good seat. The only problem I saw what that when I was messing with it the straps twisted.

All Evenflo seats are now being side impact tested to 2 times the federal standard.

1) I've been using the Symphony for a couple of weeks now, and I haven't had any trouble with the straps twisting. The buckle tongues have a wide opening that can easily get turned backward on the strap, but it's also extremely easy to flip them back the right way around (and it doesn't happen very often).

2) There's a federal SIP standard? News to me!
 

mish

New member
1) 2) There's a federal SIP standard? News to me!

Again, I was repeating what I heard. There were a lot of odd looks in the audience when they said that. Some people appeared overjoyed, so I thought maybe they knew something about federal standards that the rest of the techs didn't know. Believe me, I ran into some bad techs there.
 

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