DH hates the True Fit! Need some help please.

Not sure what I can do about it, nothing I suppose. My love affair with the TF seems to be dwindling as well. Not being able to reach the harness adjuster is a pain, and DH just hates that... he doesn't like having to fiddle with it and it takes him forever to get her in the seat. He won't settle for "good enough" when it comes to getting her harness tight, so I don't have to worry about that, but it's really driving him crazy and he complains about it every time he has to put her in it.

I tried adding a noodle to recline it a bit more to expose the harness adjuster, but it still doesn't work well. It's as reclined as I can get it and still be able to fit in the passenger seat without eating the dashboard. We've tried using the continuous loop to our advantage, but for some reason when Jessie's sitting in the seat, it's hard to pull the harness from the hip area to lengthen/shorten one side at a time (hope that makes sense). I'm not sure what the problem is, because when she's not in the seat, I can easily slide the sides of the harness at the hip area.

The plan was to get another TF when Tyler outgows the SS1, but I don't think that'll work now. In the outboard driver's side position, we can't recline the seat enough to get to the harness adjuster at all.

I don't know what to do... DH keeps complaining and is not at all happy with the TF, and thinks I didn't choose the right seat.

Once Tyler is out of the SS1, I have to get another seat. The way I see it, my options are:

1. Get a different RF seat, such as an Avenue (but don't those have problems reaching the adjuster too??) then give Tyler the TF when Jessie outgrows it RF, and she can ride FF in the Avenue.
2. Get something different for RF - ideas please??? Radian won't work.
3. Get Jessie an FF seat (Nautilus or Frontier) and put Tyler in the TF (I do NOT like this idea, and it will be an absolute L-A-S-T resort. I know DH understands why we're keeping her RF so I don't think he'll push for this option).

Does anyone have any ideas? I just don't know what to do. I do love the TF, but it's kind of a pain to adjust the harness. We live in MI where the weather changes all the time, so some days she has a jacket, some she doesn't, and the weight of her clothing varies enough to require adjusting the harness daily. I think Tyler will get through the summer in the SS1, so maybe this mysterious Graco seat will be the answer I need... however, I'm not getting my hopes up... if we get another RF seat, we have to make it work behind the driver's seat, and it has to take up less room than the TF.

I've heard it's way easier to reach the adjuster on the new True Fit with the ARB.

The Uptown/Avenue adjusters are hard to reach while RF too. What I do is grab the harness straps from behind the seat, tighten them and then pull the adjuster strap. Is that an option?

Have you looked at the EFTA?

Andie said:

I've heard it's way easier to reach the adjuster on the new True Fit with the ARB.

The Uptown/Avenue adjusters are hard to reach while RF too. What I do is grab the harness straps from behind the seat, tighten them and then pull the adjuster strap. Is that an option?

Have you looked at the EFTA?

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I do the trick with pulling the splitter plate, too. Pretty much always have. I have a feeling I'm going to have some adjusting to do when she turns FFing and I can't reach it any more.

The EFTA is what the TF replaced.

We replaced the EFTA with the TF because it was bruising Jessie's back and the knob wore a hole in the vehicle seat fabric. It was so easy to adjust though... I kind of miss it.

So grabbing the splitter plate... is that for loosening or tightening? Sorry, my brain is only half-functional today. Sounds like it may help, so I'll have to give that a try. Thanks!

Either, or both, but it's most helpful (I find) with tightening. Use your left hand to press the harness adjustor button or lift the lever, and your right hand reaches around back to grab the splitter plate to loosen. Then you can pull the slack out at the shoulders. To tighten, right hand presses down on the splitter plate, left hand pulls the slack out of the harness adjustor strap. Basically, grabbing the splitter plate gives you better leverage, or something. Leverage isn't quite the right word, but the effect is the same.

Andie said:

I've heard it's way easier to reach the adjuster on the new True Fit with the ARB.

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Yeah, I heard that too, but I don't think it's in our budget, unfortunately. It's another option to consider though... perhaps I can get my family to give a little money toward it for the kids birthdays.

Mommy0608 said:

Yeah, I heard that too, but I don't think it's in our budget, unfortunately. It's another option to consider though... perhaps I can get my family to give a little money toward it for the kids birthdays.

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That's pretty much what I did. At Christmas, DD didn't need anything other than a few toys and some books. At the time, I expected her to outgrow her bucket seat before her birthday, and anyway I was done carrying her around in it. So I informed those who inquired what she wanted/needed, that we'd appreciate two Radian65s, one in Champagne, one in Granite. Not specific at all. I set up a gift registry for DD on Amazon with a few books, a few odds and ends, and the carseats. Each set of grandparents sent her a Champagne.

Your problem should be totally solved by getting the new True Fit with ARB when it comes out (which should be by this summer in the US). It will cost more than the one you have, but if that isn't an issue that could be the way to go.

I am a True Fit fan but a hater of the RF harness adjuster location. I basically haven't loosened it even once since I put it in my car a month or two ago. I live in Ontario, Canada, so we've got the same weather/clothing issue and what I had to keep reminding myself of was that if I had to tighten the harness when DS was wearing just a cotton shirt under his thin jacket (so no sweater), then the harness wasn't tight enough the day before when he was wearing a sweater. So I tightened it and didn't loosen again next time he had a sweater on under the jacket. Basically you need to get the harness adjusted when the child is wearing just a shirt and no sweater or jacket (so tight enough to pass the "pinch test", but not super tight), then they need to fit in that with whatever they are wearing. Sometimes it seems like I'm cramming him in when I'm doing up the buckle, but then when I do the chest clip and make sure everything is where it should be it seems fine.

Grabbing the splitter plate (or rather the straps above the splitter plate) totally works for getting the harness tighter. You just grab both the straps from behind the seat and pull down then pull up on the harness adjuster strap to get the slack out. Unfortunately I'm not aware of a reverse trick for loosening. Some people have said that they are able to push down on top of the metal adjuster thingy (I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank on what it is called - need lunch ) instead of reaching further in to pull up on the other end for loosening, but that hasn't worked yet for me.

I'm not sure what to say about the problem you have using the continuous loop harness to help you get DD in the seat without adjusting the harness as I haven't had any problem with that, as long as I'm pulling up in the direction the strap comes from in the bottom of the seat. Maybe make sure she isn't sitting on one side of the harness?

Good luck!

ETA: I'm slow - or I write too much! Thanks for the loosening description for using the straps behind the seat Pixels. Sadly my adjuster button is so buried it hurts to even try to get my hand in there! I won't be trying to get at it until I have to because DS has grown!

Wow, that stinks. I have no seat ideas for you either. I think I'd be spending some time with Jessie when you're not in a hurry and try the continuous loop thing a bit more. Really see why it's not working. She's not a huge kid so it shouldn't be too hard to pull the harness out from under her. I guess that and the hand-behind-seat trick when tightening. FWIW, I have to use that trick with all of my seats.. RNXT and all of my Britax seats (for different reasons of course)

Thanks for the ideas and details about adjusting from behind the seat! :thumbsup: I will definitely give that a try. Hopefully this will solve the problem.

Jessie doesn't have the patience to let me mess with the seat while she's in it... I could force her, but she'll kick and scream so I really wouldn't get much accomplished. I will try to figure out what's going on though, maybe she's sitting on it. I kind of doubt that's the only issue though, she's so narrow, but it doesn't hurt to double check.

Thanks again. For some reason this is really stressing me out (or maybe just adding to my already high stress level), so I appreciate all the help.

After seeing her in the Radian and TrueFit, I think you're rearfacing options are really limited at this point in the game I'm sorry you guys aren't feeling the love. You already know I don't feel the love for the TF either :thumbsdown:

But, adjusting it with the trick of pulling down on the straps from the back should also help too.

Lots of hugs. I admit the true fit is bugging me for the same reason and I'm looking forward to opening the radian next week.

Mommy0608 said:

Thanks for the ideas and details about adjusting from behind the seat! :thumbsup: I will definitely give that a try. Hopefully this will solve the problem.

Jessie doesn't have the patience to let me mess with the seat while she's in it... I could force her, but she'll kick and scream so I really wouldn't get much accomplished. I will try to figure out what's going on though, maybe she's sitting on it. I kind of doubt that's the only issue though, she's so narrow, but it doesn't hurt to double check.

Thanks again. For some reason this is really stressing me out (or maybe just adding to my already high stress level), so I appreciate all the help.

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It's really stressing you out because this was supposed to be a seat that would keep J rf for a long time. Then get passed to T and get used rf for a long time. The fact that you're having issues doing something as simple as tightening/loosening the harness would make anyone irritated I think. You have every right to be stressed. :twocents:

Hugs mama,

I just wonder whether you really need to tighten/loosen each time. Even if she's wearing a jacket, isn't it thin enough that you don't need to loosen the straps to accomodate it? Maybe I just got into the habit of not loosening/tightening because I had one of those crappy adjustor Decathlons, but we almost never adjust the straps. DD just folds her arms up (imagine "chicken wings") and slides them through the straps.

Maybe if you have to tighten/loosen less often, the issue won't be such a pain?

:twocents:

I wonder how much room she'd have in one of the new AOE?

BW1426 said:

After seeing her in the Radian and TrueFit, I think you're rearfacing options are really limited at this point in the game I'm sorry you guys aren't feeling the love. You already know I don't feel the love for the TF either :thumbsdown:

But, adjusting it with the trick of pulling down on the straps from the back should also help too.

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I'm hoping adjusting from the back will be the solution... we'll see.

emandbri said:

Lots of hugs. I admit the true fit is bugging me for the same reason and I'm looking forward to opening the radian next week.

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Glad the Radian will work out for you! It was fine RF in my car, but I didn't like it FF, plus I like the deep sides of the TF since my kids have to be outboard in a small car.

canadiangie said:

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It's really stressing you out because this was supposed to be a seat that would keep J rf for a long time. Then get passed to T and get used rf for a long time. The fact that you're having issues doing something as simple as tightening/loosening the harness would make anyone irritated I think. You have every right to be stressed. :twocents:

Hugs mama,

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Thanks for the kind thoughts! Yes, it was intended to be used RF for a couple of years at least, so this is really bothering me. I spent so much time trying to make SURE I got the right seat. Unfortunately there's no such thing as the perfect seat. Maybe we should all band together and make a new car seat company.

BookMama said:

I just wonder whether you really need to tighten/loosen each time. Even if she's wearing a jacket, isn't it thin enough that you don't need to loosen the straps to accomodate it? Maybe I just got into the habit of not loosening/tightening because I had one of those crappy adjustor Decathlons, but we almost never adjust the straps. DD just folds her arms up (imagine "chicken wings") and slides them through the straps.

Maybe if you have to tighten/loosen less often, the issue won't be such a pain?

:twocents:

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I didn't think I would have to adjust it all the time either since it has the continuous harness. However, for some reason, it's difficult to buckle unless I loosen it a bit then retighten. She tries to fold her arms to get in, but she freaks out when I try to buckle it unless I loosen it a little first. Her jackets and clothing are thin, I never put her in anything too thick or puffy. Maybe I like to tighten her harness more than necessary, which would make it difficult to get her into next time without loosening it. I know my DH tightens it too much, often I have to loosen it after he buckles her in (I'm working on this with him). I know about the pinch test but... I don't know. Maybe this is part of the problem. I also need to figure out why I'm having trouble sliding/adjusting the sides of the harness at the hips while she's sitting in the seat.

BW1426 said:

I wonder how much room she'd have in one of the new AOE?

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She might have enough room, I don't know... does anyone know how tall the shell is? I'm still stuck with a TF though because I'd have to pay restocking fees to send it back, not to mention that I've already been using it for a couple of weeks. I suppose it could go in swap, but I'd still loose money and DH would *NOT* be happy with that. He already thinks I made the wrong choice with the TF, and is frustrated about the whole thing.

Maybe check to make sure that she's not sitting on one of the straps when you go to slide the other strap? I've had that happen a few times with ds as well and haven't been able to figure out what the issue was.

We almost always loosen and tighten out seats every time, but on those occasions where I didn't, what I did with the true fit was almost oversnug the hip strap when I lengthened it on the other side to put dd in. Granted it's hard to even out the harness once it's buckled if you go that route...

I'm missing having ds in the EFTA as well because I just LOVE those knobs and how easy they are for tightening. Unfortunately it's only rated to 30lbs rf'ing in Canada and ds is at 29lbs now, so the TF is pretty much his seat now. I know part of the issue I'm having is strap height though - I loved having the straps even with his shoulders. He's at a position in the TF where I'm really struggling which height to use... I thought I'd settled on one, then we went on a 1.5hr drive on the weekend and he settled further than he usually does and I ended up moving the straps back down to position 2 because he ended up a good 1/2" below position 3. So now I'm not sure what exactly to do. I'm ok with slightly below when the harness fits better, but 1/2" is more than slightly below. (sorry to thread jack, but I know the height thing is a factor in getting used to how ds fits in this seat compared to the EFTA, so maybe it's something else you're dealing with? Then again, maybe it's just because I loved the EFTA so much. )

snowbird25ca said:

Maybe check to make sure that she's not sitting on one of the straps when you go to slide the other strap? I've had that happen a few times with ds as well and haven't been able to figure out what the issue was.

We almost always loosen and tighten out seats every time, but on those occasions where I didn't, what I did with the true fit was almost oversnug the hip strap when I lengthened it on the other side to put dd in. Granted it's hard to even out the harness once it's buckled if you go that route...

I'm missing having ds in the EFTA as well because I just LOVE those knobs and how easy they are for tightening. Unfortunately it's only rated to 30lbs rf'ing in Canada and ds is at 29lbs now, so the TF is pretty much his seat now. I know part of the issue I'm having is strap height though - I loved having the straps even with his shoulders. He's at a position in the TF where I'm really struggling which height to use... I thought I'd settled on one, then we went on a 1.5hr drive on the weekend and he settled further than he usually does and I ended up moving the straps back down to position 2 because he ended up a good 1/2" below position 3. So now I'm not sure what exactly to do. I'm ok with slightly below when the harness fits better, but 1/2" is more than slightly below. (sorry to thread jack, but I know the height thing is a factor in getting used to how ds fits in this seat compared to the EFTA, so maybe it's something else you're dealing with? Then again, maybe it's just because I loved the EFTA so much. )

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Thanks! I really loved my EFTA, too. I'm so sad that it didn't work out. Now I'm wondering if it was really worth it to replace it.

I also loved always having the straps right at her shoulders, like you said. Sounds like she's got the same torso height as your DS. I am going back and forth trying to decide whether the 2nd or 3rd slots are best for her. What you described is exactly what's happening with her... she settles and has about 1/2" to go before she actually reaches the 3rd slots, so I've left her in the 2nd. Maybe this is contributing to the difficulty of buckling her.

I will be sure to check out whether she's sitting on the harness when I'm trying to pull one side at the hips. You're right, it's difficult to get the sides even after it's buckled! I didn't think it would be so hard, but for some reason it just is.

I'm all for keeping her RF until the limits of course, but man... the thought of dealing with this for another year or two is not cool. I don't want to listen do DH complain about it that long. Hopefully he won't want to turn her earlier. I doubt he will, because he really does know and believe that she's safer RF, but I also know his patience for this seat is running out quickly. Fortunately he only takes her anywhere without me about once a week; when we all go I'm the one who puts her in the car because he can't stand it.

I can definitely see this issue being enough to make some parents turn their children long before they reach the limits. At Jessica's age and size, she will fit RF for a looong time yet.

Roundabout 50 might be as tall as a Marathon and a lot cheaper :twocents:

I'm really bummed for you that the TF is being a pain, though

joolsplus3 said:

Roundabout 50 might be as tall as a Marathon and a lot cheaper :twocents:

I'm really bummed for you that the TF is being a pain, though

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I was thinking the MA as well. But, I really don't think Jessie would have much to any room left in the MA after seeing her in the Radian, TF and EFTA irl