Stupid crotch strap

Splash · Jan 29, 2009

I, too, am returning my highly anticipated True Fits that I got for $140 each (sale plus coupon plus free shipping).

I love it, I do. I LOVE the cover, soooo breathable (sporty blue... not so keen on the brightness, but I can overlook it due to the amazing breathability compared to anything any other manufacturer makes). I love the infant padding and the rock solid, easy install and the features, the features...

But the crotch strap? Come ON! The farthest setting out and it's already too tight on my 2 month old child. Granted, he's in cloth diapers, but still! And this is with the infant padding removed! I put Charlie in it and he liked the seats, but complained almost immediately that it hurt his penis. And he was wearing only underpants.

I'm just floored that they made it soooo short. What gives? An extra inch and it would be a rocking seat. I was even willing to live with the junky harness and buried adjuster, because I loved so much about the seat. But not if it's going to render my children sterile.

Dang it. They seriously need a much longer crotch strap. I thought, briefly, of swapping out a Regent buckle and ties, but decided against it. Weird thing is that it's farther from the back than their Boulevards (and the shortness in the BLVDs bugs me as well, but not this much) it's just soooo much shorter.

:thumbsdown:

Mama! · Jan 29, 2009

Oh man. It doesn't offer 2 crotch settings? That's awful. I'm sorry Splash.

BW1426 · Jan 29, 2009

That's so strange Bubby is 2 years and 3 months and we haven't had any issues. We have one that has 2 settings. Bummer

firemomof3 · Jan 29, 2009

That is big bummer

You know I was thinking about this crotch strap issue and I think we should all measure the crotch straps on our seats and see what we come up with! I know my signo has a longer croch strap than most

Splash · Jan 29, 2009

It has two settings- one that no human child would fit in, at least not one healthy and large enough to be released from the hospital. The next one out is far enough away, but the strap itself is SO SHORT that it buckles almost into the seat itself. It can't be lengthened (at least, it's not in the manual and I can't figure out how to do it). It sucks, because otherwise it's such a great seat. Bah humbug.

BW1426 · Jan 29, 2009

Splash said:
It has two settings- one that no human child would fit in, at least not one healthy and large enough to be released from the hospital. The next one out is far enough away, but the strap itself is SO SHORT that it buckles almost into the seat itself. It can't be lengthened (at least, it's not in the manual and I can't figure out how to do it). It sucks, because otherwise it's such a great seat. Bah humbug.

What was the DOM of your seat?

Splash · Jan 29, 2009

Not a clue, didn't even check. I'll call AJ nad tell her to do so. Did it... change... in later years? Don't some of them have three settings now? Oh, please do tell me that some have three settings.

Okay, 5-18-08 for both of them. I call learning curve, they gave me the "designed that way for safety" speech, which i agree it is safer, but sometimes a line does have to be struck between safe and realistic.
She's sending me two belly pads today to go around the crotch buckle. I'll see if that helps at all. Otherwise, those puppies are going back to Target and someone in the bay area is gonna get a cool deal on a cool seat!

stayinhomewithmy6 · Jan 29, 2009

I have to say, belly pads don't seem like a good solution for a too short crotch strap. The belly pad will just create less room for your little man, don't you think? He'll still be squished, just well padded and squished. I really thought I wanted a TF, but I didn't realize this was an issue.

solmama · Jan 29, 2009

We don't have any problem with the crotch strap length. My ds is slim. However, I have to make sure the harness length that goes around his legs is long enough before I buckle him. A couple of times he's commented, "my penis hurts," so I've had to unbuckle and adjust the harness.

We are one of the fortunate few with a 3 position crotch buckle. He's on the 2nd position, rear-facing. It seems that most of the 3 position ones were made in Jan of '08 and most seem to be in the Misty Morning pattern. You could call First Years and see if any are being made with the 3 position buckle.

PixieEMT · Jan 29, 2009

Thanks for that Splash. My son complains about the BLVD crotch strap too. He said "Hurts peeper, pinch!" I took the belly pad off to see if that would help, no luck.
He doesnt' complain about the MA though. :shrug-shoulders:

What are the crotch depths of the TF did anyone ever measure them?

I still can't figure out why Britax doesn't make the BLVD and MA with additional crotch slots!

PixieEMT · Jan 29, 2009

stayinhomewithmy4 said:
I have to say, belly pads don't seem like a good solution for a too short crotch strap. The belly pad will just create less room for your little man, don't you think? He'll still be squished, just well padded and squished. I really thought I wanted a TF, but I didn't realize this was an issue.

I agree I took the belly pads off our BLVD. I also took the belly pad and strap covers off my new Companion. :thumbsup: That's too much extra for a newborn. I might put them back on when the baby chunks up or when summer comes and the baby has short sleeve tees/tanks on.

Splash · Jan 29, 2009

It's not that it's not deep enough... it's deep enough. It's just too short. I can handle it being shallow (like the BV, even though it bugs me, it's just an annoyance more than anything) but so SHORT is the problem. It buckles almost into the seat itself, it's SO short.

I went through a lot of old threads and saw that there were some 3 position but no one know how to get them. Harrumph. Maybe I'll go to BRU and play with them. The one i had bought from BRU was a 3-07 DOM and I returned it because the Target ones were on sale, a better cover, and pretty safe to assume better DOM. But maybe I'll go back and see if they have three...

Blondie87 · Jan 29, 2009

Mine has like a 1/07 DOM and 3 crotch position.. And DFS1 has TONS of room! Here is the thread I posted with pics.

Heather98012 · Jan 29, 2009

Why in the WORLD would Learning Curve stop making them with 3 positions & only have 2 now? That doesn't make sense at all.

TechnoGranola · Jan 29, 2009

Splash said:
It has two settings- one that no human child would fit in, at least not one healthy and large enough to be released from the hospital.

Interesting. My child is on the first setting of the TF. She's close to 2.5, 28.5 pounds, and has chubby thighs (somewhere around 65th percentile for weight). She even fits on the first setting with her light snow pants on (although it is angled forward a bit then but she's not sitting on it, IYKWIM). I noticed that the 1st setting was getting tight on her when she was about 22 months, and I was going to move it, but then she potty trained and had TONS of room on the 1st setting without her fitted cloth diaper and wool cover.

I guess the point of my rambling is that *if* the 2nd slot is workable for Sam right now (meaning that he still has some growth room), he will gain a ton of room once he's out of diapers.

ETA: here's a pic I posted of the buckle on the first position. It was taken a few months ago and she's now 1.5" taller and a pound and a half heavier and the buckle still doesn't fit any different, even with her snow pants. http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=579601&postcount=36

I am sad for you that the buckle isn't working well for Sam because it's such a nice seat! I hope it works out so that you can keep it.

I wonder if girls have more room due to have a "trimmer" groin area?

ElaynesMom · Jan 29, 2009

I too find the crotch strap a little short, but more than that it bugs me that kids can't go over the crotch stap, it just doesn't make sense. If the crotch strap didn't bug me so much, I'd probably buy one. Sorry it's not working for you.

TechnoGranola · Jan 29, 2009

ElaynesMom said:
I too find the crotch strap a little short, but more than that it bugs me that kids can't go over the crotch stap, it just doesn't make sense. If the crotch strap didn't bug me so much, I'd probably buy one. Sorry it's not working for you.

They don't want them sitting ON the crotch strap, but it can be angled out so they are kind of over top of it some, if that makes any sense.

ElaynesMom · Jan 29, 2009

TechnoGranola said:
They don't want them sitting ON the crotch strap, but it can be angled out so they are kind of over top of it some, if that makes any sense.

Hmm, I've emailed learning curve to ask about this twice, and both times they stated the strap couldn't be under the child's body, it had to be even with the child, but perhaps I was misunderstanding and this is what they meant?

I haven't seen another seat that states this, and I think it's silly for them to test it this way but maybe that's just me. I can see a lot of parents not catching this and having their kids go over the strap.

I have a feeling I'd still be better off with a new 3-in-1 as I move my seat a lot, though I do like the True Fit a lot.

northernmommy · Jan 29, 2009

Interesting how different kiddos fit in the seat! DD1 (5.5yrs) fits well in the TF, the buckle is snug, but not uncomfortable. DD2 (3.5) has lots of room with the buckle (but she's a skinny minnie). DS (20mo) has a fair amount of room RF in it, with cloth dipes. I don't remember mine buckling "at the seat"...is it possible you got a fluke seat with a weird length buckle? I don't have my seats here right now, or I'd measure the buckle stalk for you...

Anyhow, that sucks that they don't fit

TechnoGranola · Jan 29, 2009

ElaynesMom said:
Hmm, I've emailed learning curve to ask about this twice, and both times they stated the strap couldn't be under the child's body, it had to be even with the child, but perhaps I was misunderstanding and this is what they meant?

I honestly think that CS reps (at most companies) don't know much other than their personal interpretation of the manual.

IIRC, the manual states that the crotch BUCKLE must be AT the crotch, and not under. From what I remember, it doesn't actually mention the strap. I take this to mean that you want the buckle in front of the child's crotch so the harness straps come up in front of the child. You don't want the buckle partially or fully under the child, because then you're changing how the harness straps lay. Not to mention that it would be harder to buckle.

I also think they are using this fit note to get people to change the strap position once the child is over the smaller position. If they don't mention it, then there will be people who keep it on position 1 for the entire time the child is in the seat.

Stupid crotch strap

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