Happy hanukah to me! I got to play with a Regent!

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Play, oogle, installation, the whole shebang. And the mom thought she was asking a favor of me. LOL

Her four year old (just three weeks younger than Piper) just moved from her Marathon to the Regent as of today. As of dinnertime. :) Her dad didn't think it would fit, so of course the mom was concerned that they'd bought this big black beast (onyx cover) and it wouldn't fit in their car, that come summer it'd be too hot, etc. So before it got dark while she was cooking dinner I took it out to her car and played. Tried it with the recline bar, took that out (she has a tether, but no LATCH). Tried it long belt path, didn't like it. Too much seatbelt to twist. Tried the short belt path, perfection! Felt like Goldilocks. hehe I just needed to make sure the seatbelt was nice and flat and man that thing went in easily. Tethered it tight, and of course it fit!!! It's a Passat sedan. Don't know what year. Post-tether pre-LATCH. I don't know what the dad was thinking, that it wouldn't fit in a big ole Passat (no other children of carseat age, she wanted it passenger outboard).

I showed the mom afterward how it had all worked out. She's a four year veteran of her Marathon, so a short belt path installation for her is old hat. She felt where the belt path was, how the seatbelt went through and how flat it was, and where it came out. She saw the tether, which of course she knows how to use. I made sure I mentioned she didn't have the recline bar in, it was in the box, and that she didn't need it in this car as she had the tether. Her son's car, a pre-tether Ford Explorer, will require the recline bar to be installed, she knows this. I suspect before that happens she might give me another call, though she's a bright lady, if I said the recline bar needs to go in she'll likely just plop it in and install it perfectly.

That thing went in so easily I just double checked the manual here at home to see what fatal error I had left out. LOL Still don't see any.

Two questions:
1) It requires a tether after 50 pounds, but the recline bar is to be used if there is no tether. So what if there is no tether after 50 pounds? The recline bar isn't enough? If you don't have tether this seat is good from 22-50 pounds only?

2) Why the difference between the short and long belt paths? I tried it both ways and the long would have made things unnecessarily complicated. The short got a beautiful solid installation with no movement whatsoever (on my second try, the first the belt wasn't perfectly flat and I only got an acceptable installation). Does one do something better than the other? LIke the short fit better but the long provide more side protection? Should the long be used more often in one instance, like if there is no tether? When the recline bar is used?

I double checked her daughter in the seat of course before we left. I had adjusted the straps and used a friend who had arrived as her body double (playgroup party, so a bunch of four year olds running around, he has about the same torso size as she does. You know when you're a carseat geek when..... He rides in an Apex, as per my recommendation, he had been in an expired cosco BPB piece of doo doo. His sister is in Piper's old Advantage) and she had about a half inch before the straps needed to be moved. The mom is used to that, so I didn't show her what to do, she knows how to adjust straps thanks to her Marathon probably better than I do. I tried Piper in it too. It was HUGE on her. It'd be a tempting seat to get for her next, I have to admit (pass down her Wizards to the next in line, the one who gets all her old clothes, and the one riding in the old Advantage). Both girls were only at the second to bottom slot, with of course Piper having more growing room than the user of the seat. Piper doesn't have a short torso, but she's overall smaller than the other kids.

I think I'd have an argument on my hands if I wanted a Regent. Especially as she fits wonderfully in her Wizards, is nearly 4.5 already, her Wizards don't expire until 2010, she's never going to hit the weight limit, she's got probably five or six torso inches left in the thing. Why would I need a Regent? Right? Talk me down here, people! LOL Plus if I got a Regent I'd just get one and I'd get a Parkway or Monarch or something for Nathan's car as her secondary seat. And I'm just not willing to make that jump yet. She'd do fine in one, and she finally clears the bottom weight limit, but she's so tiny. Five points are better than three!

Anyway, my excitement for the evening. :)

Wendy
 
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TXDani

Senior Community Member
Happy Hanukkah Wendy! Sounds like you had a blast with the "beast"!! I prefer the long belt path installation just because it is easier for me and that is really all I have done. When I got mine I tried with a short belt install and didn't get it as tight as I wanted on the first try so then after that all I ever used was the long belt install. I don't think it matters other then personal preference, although to me the long belt path seems safer because it holds onto the beast better since it covers a larger area. :rolleyes:
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Happy Hanukkah Wendy! Sounds like you had a blast with the "beast"!! I prefer the long belt path installation just because it is easier for me and that is really all I have done. When I got mine I tried with a short belt install and didn't get it as tight as I wanted on the first try so then after that all I ever used was the long belt install. I don't think it matters other then personal preference, although to me the long belt path seems safer because it holds onto the beast better since it covers a larger area. :rolleyes:

That's how I felt too, which is why I tried the long first. It probably would work just fine if I took the time to thread the seatbelt through nice and flat, but whatever, the short works great. :)

Wendy
 

scatterbunny

New member
Ditto, Danielle. I couldn't get a tight install with the short belt path in my old Honda so I just always went with the long belt path after that. It just feels more secure to me.

Happy Hannukah, Wendy! :D I know how exciting today must have been for you! :p
 

Shaunam

New member
You can't use the short belt path without the tether, even if you use the recline bar (which I don't understand because you can use the lap belt without the tether). I don't have a tether so I use the recline bar and the long belt path. I like how it fits.

I'm glad you got to play with one. :p I love how much growing room we have, but honestly, with your small kiddo, I'd have a hard time talking myself into one when she has so much growing room in her current seats. They are really nice seats though and less "babyish" so that is something to consider if your DD starts complaining about being in a baby seat. ;)
 

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs

Senior Community Member
Happy Hanukah to you is right! Totally jealous here! I am still trying to find someone with a Regent to let me play! My friend 5 hours away has a new one and I'm working on a game plan to go down and see her....:p .
 

LuvBug

New member
I love the long belt path. Ive never had a problem with belts twisting in it. I just pull the belt all the way out, hold it together and weave it through and it goes through flat.
After using a long belt path it is hard to go back to a normal one for me lol!
But they offer so many options to make sure it will fit in a number of cars. Pretty much I think as long as the car is roomy enough and has the right equipment then the regent can fit in any car, just have to find the right install method.
 

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