crotch buckle placement on dino radian for 5mo old

[Unregistered]

My nephew is 5mos and moving from his infant bucket seat to a Radian R120. I have a question about the crotch buckle placement. He is obviously sitting RF. He is cloth diapered so has a very padded diaper area and with the buckle in the first slot it is so far under him...really makes it hard to get a tight fit when pulling the straps as the buckle has to come up from under him when being tightened, if that makes any sense. Can I move the crotch buckle to the second slot (there are only three), but the space from the first to the second is spaced out further than from the second to the third for some reason. But I can get a much better fit when its in the second slot. Is it ok to have the crotch buckle in the second slot for a 5mo old who is RF???

 

[wendytthomas]

That's fine. The manual states that either of the two inner ones are fine for rear facing.

Wendy

 

[Jessica61624]

I thought all 3 were ok RF? PG 37 says nothing at RF vs ff in reference to the crotch strap

 

[wendytthomas]

The manual states, I believe, to use the outermost one over 30 pounds forward facing. I don't know if that means it's not allowed rear facing or not.

Wendy

 

[geekKT]

I have my manual in front of me, so for what it's worth, though this is a brand new Canadian RXT so you may need to check your own manual, mine states on page 37:

For children 5-30 lbs:
Harness buckle can be directly above its buckle slot, or forward of its buckle slot. (the pictures show the strap coming up vertically, or at an angle coming from somewhat under the child as being okay)

If harness bucket strap angles sharply back towards child, move buckle to a rear buckle location. (the picture shows an example where the strap comes from what would be far in front of the child and angles back toward them as not okay)

For children over 30lbs:
Always use forward-most buckle location.

There's no mention of RF/FF in this section of the manual for me at all.

 

[Jessica61624]

I have my manual in front of me, so for what it's worth, though this is a brand new Canadian RXT so you may need to check your own manual, mine states on page 37:

For children 5-30 lbs:
Harness buckle can be directly above its buckle slot, or forward of its buckle slot. (the pictures show the strap coming up vertically, or at an angle coming from somewhat under the child as being okay)

If harness bucket strap angles sharply back towards child, move buckle to a rear buckle location. (the picture shows an example where the strap comes from what would be far in front of the child and angles back toward them as not okay)

For children over 30lbs:
Always use forward-most buckle location.

There's no mention of RF/FF in this section of the manual for me at all.

Same thing mine says.

 

[MommaMia]

I contacted Diono directly about the wording. My daughter is just over 30# (but still RFing) and the forward-most crotch buckle position is way too far away from her.

Diono's response:
"Per our engineers, the manual is correctly written and meant for the FF position.. Albeit, not very clear, it is okay to use the buckle slot that best fits your child in the RF mode. As you can see from the pictures, the Radian is in the FF position on page 37. . Buckle position is important in FF position due to forward pelvic movement of a child in a frontal crash. During RF crash test, there is no safety concern because of the way a child moves during a frontal crash. It is much different than FF. If you need further explanation, please give me a call!"

 

[Unregistered]

Thank you this helps so much!!

 

[geekKT]

Good to know on Diono's response, thanks! You're right, in the picture the seat is forward facing, but I guarantee I would not have put all that much thought into it after reading the way it's worded and there being no actual mention of the direction.

Sounds like any slot is still okay for RF, and with the OP's nephew being 5 months I'm sure they can use whatever slot fits him best.