Complete Air 65 LX in Hondas...

[GeekDad]

Hi all,

I have a Foonf on pre-order :thumbsup: and was hoping to have it sooner as my 8 month old DD is right at the limits of her Peg infant seat (20lbs, 29"). Based on some of the reading I did on the forum here, I went out and bought a CA 65 LX. I figured it would be a good transition seat until we can get the Foonf and I can use the seat in my car afterwards.

Sadly this seat seems to take up a huge amount of room front to back. In our 2005 Honda Pilot, RF in the middle, second row, the seat interferes with/touches both the drivers and passengers seat. I am 6'2" and my wife is 5'10" so the drivers seat sits back a fair ways for either of us. When the CA is outboard behind the passenger seat, my wife's legs pretty much eat the dash and I don't fit. in our 2008 Civic, the front passenger seat is unusable with the CA installed in the back. This is with the seat installed with the more upright of the 2 lines.

I am quite tempted to take the CA back and get something else, but is this pretty standard with all convertibles RF? I am hopeful the Foonf will fit centre second row without touching either front seats in our Pilot, but I would still like a seat in my car where a passenger could actually use the front seat. Any suggestions out there?

Thanks a ton for all the good info already posted!

 

[smackeen]

It does have one of the higher shells out there.

Oops, edited as I noticed you did say you tried the center install.

If others do not chime in, you may want to look at something with a shorter shell. The true fit (only rf to 35lbs) does have a taller shell, but you can remove the top of the headrest till they are 22lbs or the reach the line on the seat. Which ever comes first.

Britax are pricier, but have a shorter shell also and may fit better there.

Is there any place around that you can try seats before buying?

 

[Brianna]

You should be able to install it in the middle of both cars. In the Pilot you can use LATCH in the center, but in the Civic you'll need to use the seat belt.

For now you'll want to make sure she has 1" of shell above her head measured like this http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=30201
Sent from my DROID4 using Car-Seat.Org

 

[snowbird25ca]

It should be fitting in both of those vehicles without completely losing front passenger space. I am not as tall as either you or your wife at just shy of 5'8", but drive a small car (Saturn Astra which is a 5 door hatchback,) and have had it rf'ing at the more upright angle behind the driver and still able to comfortably drive.

The pilot isn't small in the backseat so it should fit back there pretty easy I would expect. If the Peg was fitting with room at the proper angle, then the Complete Air should.

What area are you in? Maybe we have a technician in your area that might be able to help you out?

 

[GeekDad]

The Pilot doesn't have LATCH in the centre sadly, but I would be fine with a belt install if it didn't end up messing with both front seats.

I was wondering if Britax might be the better way to go but after dropping so much for the Foonf (our daily seat eventually), I was hoping for something on the less expensive side for my car which would be the oh crap I need to go to the Day Home right now sort of deal.

We are located in Camrose, AB which is about 50-55 mins SE of Edmonton. We come to the south side on a semi regular basis if there are any techs in the area.

Edit: Just re-read what Snowbird had to say about Peg fitting vs CA. That's the thing, that Peg seat fit well enough in both vehicles that it could be behind the driver. A tight squeeze for me in the car, but fine in the SUV. It was installed so that the little compass arrow type thing was in the green and I'm sure we could get another 2-3" further back in the seat. I think we got a little spoiled with the room. . Anyways I'm going to reinstall it tomorrow and see if I can suck it a little more into the seat back.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far! With Britax seats on sale, perhaps I should just relent and grab one of those. GeekMom won't be too happy with me though lol!

 

[smackeen]

A seat belt is just as safe for installing a carseat.

When installed in the middle seating position, how is it interfering with the front seats?

Here is the list of techs on this board: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=67767 Just scroll through till you get to your area.

 

[GeekDad]

Smackeen -- The interference in the middle position is that the shell of the carseat touches both of the front seats. This requires both front seats to be up into a much less comfortable position rather than just the passenger side when the seat is placed there.

I just noticed some of the Britax seats are on sale, like the Marathon65 for $240. Are the Britax seats a good chunk shorter in the shell that this would make a sizeable difference for us in a RF install? I think I will need to make a trip into the city to try some of these seats out in my car.

 

[smackeen]

Britax Marathon 65
Internal Seating Height: 24.5 in.

Safety 1st (Dorel) Complete Air
Internal Seating Height: 27.5 in

Both the above data taken from here: http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=61 under the convertible section

So it looks like there is a 3 in difference in shell. Unless there is a difference in the Canadian shells of these seats.

If you have a store close that you could test out the britax, that would likely be your best option!

 

[GeekDad]

Hi Smackeen,

Thanks for the info. One question I have is the RF heights allowed. On the CA it lists RF height as a maximum of 36" (on website -- http://www.safety1st.ca/eng/Product...ild/Details/4126-22444CAIN-Complete-Air-65-LX). On the Marathon, it lists 49". Most of the reading I have done though suggests people are outgrowing Britax seats quicker than other units, but the numbers seem to oppose those observations. Any thoughts? Is Britax just overstating height?

 

[smackeen]

Britax allows to 1in from top of shell (which is usually under the stated height).

Safety 1st gives the lower height limit and there is usually oodles of room still above the head. As a tech we have to say go by manufacturer's stated limits. Some parents do choose to disregard and go to the 1in of shell.

As the shell is lower with the britax, it will be outgrown sooner (depending on how tall your child is and their torso length)

 

[GeekDad]

Last question. Is the height limit low on the CA because it hasn't been crash tested RF with a higher height? Basically I just wanted to know that if I choose to go with weight (40lb) and 1" below rule could I be risking injury because the seat was never tested with taller babies?

 

[smackeen]

It could be that it was not tested any higher, or it was tested and failed.

Two 36in kids can fit very differently in the seat. One could be all legs, the other all torso.


I am trying to find a thread here with regards to height limits on seats.

Here is the thread: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=225724

 

[krickison]

In my experience with both the ca and a marathon the base on the marathon sits higher on the seat. Therefore it fits between the seats better than a seat with a shorter base. We could fit our marathon rfing in our 2 door golf in the center position and could move the seats back quite aways. I don't have tall children but find it a good fit with my children, it is also much easier to install than the ca. It sounds like you will probably have tall children but I wonder if there are other seats with a tall base but bigger shell.

 

[Pixelated]

I really like the Britax infant/child seats for a lot of reasons, but I detest putting my child into them now that she's older and bigger. I will tolerate it in my van where I have a lot more clearance with the door, but hate hate hate it in my Civic. Because the seat sits up on the base there's not much room to hoist her up into it. I kind of have to squish her through the open door and dump her into the seat and then bend over and straighten her out and buckle her up. She's a climber and it's hard for her to climb into it as well.

I think I'd try a True Fit (sale at Zellers right now for $150). It's wide, but it can be more upright, it's cushy, installs pretty easily. Once you get the Foonf swap them out.

 

[GeekDad]

Pixelated -- Do you like the True Fit in your Civic over the Britax seats? Whatever seat I buy now is going into my Civic at the end of the day after the Foonf arrives. It just seems the CA is anti-car with the amount of room it takes RF.

 

[snowbird25ca]

Last question. Is the height limit low on the CA because it hasn't been crash tested RF with a higher height? Basically I just wanted to know that if I choose to go with weight (40lb) and 1" below rule could I be risking injury because the seat was never tested with taller babies?

The 36" height limit is just because that's the size of the dummy from what I understand. The problem with numerical height limits is they don't take in to account where a child's proportions are, so a child who is 36" and all legs is going to fit very differently than a child who is 36" and all torso - and that's the reason why the fit instructions are given. (I believe in the case of the Complete Air the head is allowed to be even with the top of the headrest.)

Standards are weight based and not height based. Manufacturers are required to state the size of child the seat is designed to fit, but our standards themselves are weight based.

I can't tell you what to do, but can tell you that both the True Fit and the Complete Air last a lot longer rf'ing than the Britax so far as physical fit-to-the-seat goes, and they last longer ff'ing as well due to their top harness height being higher and allowing for more torso growing room.

I live in Edmonton but am on the west side of the city. I have a tech friend who lives on the south side though and might be able to meet up with you. I am quite close to the henday and only 5 minutes from white mud though if you do make it to the west side at all.

 

[Pixelated]

Pixelated -- Do you like the True Fit in your Civic over the Britax seats? Whatever seat I buy now is going into my Civic at the end of the day after the Foonf arrives. It just seems the CA is anti-car with the amount of room it takes RF.

I do - as it's not up on a base there's more open space between the ceiling of the car and the car seat, if that makes sense.

Before giving up on the Complete Air though it might be worth meeting with a tech to see if there's a way to make it work.

 

[GeekDad]

Ok! After reading through some of the suggestions here on the forum for a more upright radian install in the 06-11 Civic I went out and applied the same methodology on my CA (basically pull the base away from the bight). I got a much more useable front seat in this install, not comfy but useable for me and even better for Momma. However, I feel like angle of the seat may not be enough. It feels just a tad too high and it might closer with babe in it (sleeping so couldn't test) but I think the angle should be right before child enters said seat. Pic linked. Thoughts?

 

[snowbird25ca]

The upper line looks level to me so I'd say you've done well.

When you try to move the seat side-to-side at the area where the UAS belt passes through, is it snug? If so, the bit we can see in the picture looks good.

 

[GeekDad]

Thanks Snowbird. Yes the install was super tight in the Civic. Better than I could get it in the Pilot.
Might be the difference between cloth and leather seats. In the Pilot I can move it about 0.5-1cm if I really give it a good push and tug. In the civic it didn't budge at all. I wish my belt installs were as good as these UAS installs. Need more practice I guess.