How much stock do you put into children's reports of comfort when choosing seats?

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
So to soothe my anxiety over the release date of the Extend2Fit, and because I was hoping my DD1 would nap on the way home, I went out to Buy Buy Baby to look at car seats today. I installed 3 seats FF on the demo vehicle seat and sat my 2y9m daughter in each of them. (She will stay RF for awhile still, but I wanted to see what she thought of these seats.)

Securekid: She looked uncomfortable -- the headrest seemed to push her head forward. Basically she looked like she was doing a crunch. But when I asked, she said that this seat was "not her favorite" because it was "too tight." I think it must have been because of the headrest, though, because no amount of loosening of the harness would make her say anything except that it was too tight.

Pria: She was excited that this seat had the same chest clip as the one on her Scenera NEXT. Aside from that, though, she kept saying that it was too tight.

Milestone: This one looked great on her -- she *looked* comfortable. Nevertheless, she still said it was too tight and "not my favorite."

So my question is this:

Is she just unfamiliar with how it feels to be in a FF car seat? Do you ask your kids' opinions on new seats or do you just buy them and trust that they will get used to it or you will sell them? (The seats, not the kids.)

Also, does anyone know if the headrest issue with the Securekid goes away as the kid gets older? Like, if we tried it again when she is 4 years old (she will stay RF until at least then, most likely), might she have better luck?


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1mommy

New member
Did you try installing them backwards and seeing what she said? Personally I'd chalk it up to a toddler just being a fickle toddler and not put much weight into her opinion at this stage. Besides don't you have several convertibles that you should be able to use forward facing? I know that's not the point of your excursion, but as I recall your daughter is petite so she shouldn't need the extra height of a combination seat? If so then I'd let her choose between the convertibles you have and between backwards or forwards when the time comes. Then if you decide she needs a different seat then, I would put more weight into her opinion.
 

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Yeah, I thought about that (installing them RF and seeing what she thought) but her shoes were all snowy and I didn't want to mess up the store's demo seat, so I only did them FF. I would be curious as to what she would think of her Nextfit if I flipped it around FF...maybe I should experiment.

None of our current convertibles are going to be used FF when the time comes for her to flip. My in-laws love the BLVD CT, so they will want to use it for my younger daughter. I love the RF fit of the Nextfit in my Impreza, so I will want to pass that down to my younger daughter too. The Roundabout is just too short to be worth it FF, so that will get passed down to the younger daughter for RF too. Basically, I am looking for the next round of seats that we buy to be the ones that we eventually use for FF.

We will likely get a Milestone soon. I had thought to RF DD2 in it until DD1 starts to FF, but maybe it should be DD1's seat from the get-go. That way she'd have more time to get used to it before changing direction.


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tiggercat

New member
Somewhere between 0 and none. I mean, I won't make them ride in a seat that they hate or are obviously uncomfortable in. But if they fit, appear comfortable, then I think that is enough, no need to search for them-most-comfortable-seat-in-the-world.
 

AllieK

New member
Somewhere between 0 and none. I mean, I won't make them ride in a seat that they hate or are obviously uncomfortable in. But if they fit, appear comfortable, then I think that is enough, no need to search for them-most-comfortable-seat-in-the-world.

:yeahthat:

I don't even ask. If it's bothering them I will hear about it, guaranteed! Lately DD has been complaining about her harness being "tight". Well yes, it is tight, but that's how it's supposed to be! 9 times out of 10 I wiggle the chest clip and say, "there, is that better?" and she happily agrees. :rolleyes:
 

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
:yeahthat:



I don't even ask. If it's bothering them I will hear about it, guaranteed! Lately DD has been complaining about her harness being "tight". Well yes, it is tight, but that's how it's supposed to be! 9 times out of 10 I wiggle the chest clip and say, "there, is that better?" and she happily agrees. :rolleyes:


This is my DD too. Except today, when she said "too tight" no matter what. Which is what made me wonder if it was something else that was bothering her.


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tiggercat

New member
:yeahthat:

I don't even ask. If it's bothering them I will hear about it, guaranteed! Lately DD has been complaining about her harness being "tight". Well yes, it is tight, but that's how it's supposed to be! 9 times out of 10 I wiggle the chest clip and say, "there, is that better?" and she happily agrees. :rolleyes:

I used to pretend to push the harness adjuster release, tell the kid to take a deep breath, then when they exhaled the harness magically felt looser. :p
 

Hazelandlucy

Active member
I used to drag my DD to all sorts of stores and she would just like pink seats or hate them all.....never could get a real answer. Finally at 4 she offers true opinions. I am going on an 16 hr road trip, mostly overnight, and am thinking of switching her Foonf for the Next Fit (Grandma's) because of all the padding and how reclined I can make it FF. I put her in it and while she agreed about the padding, she hated not being able to see out the window (at least as much as she wanted to) because of the high sides, even fully upright FF. Even though she knew it was more padded, she still wanted to get back in the Foonf.

She thinks the Britax G4 is "cozy" and doesn't complain about her view so I guess those high sides don't restrict vision as much. Hates the Foonf strap covers if the velcro part is touching any of her skin and says the velcro is scratchier than the other seats.

I didn't think her opinions really were truthful until just about now. Before, anything she said had to do with not wanting to be in a carseat or the color. So now I do put some weight in what she says and if she really hated a seat I would probably try to find one she liked.
 
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Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I didn't think her opinions really were truthful until just about now. Before anything she said had to do with not wanting to be in a carseat or the color. So now I do put some weight in what she says and if she really hated a seat I would probably try to find one she liked.


This is good to know. Hopefully by the time she is actually going to be FF, she will have become a more reliable reporter.


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cookie123

New member
Matt used the Secure kid for a long time with no complaints. I never thought the head was an issue. He also never slept in it. The inside of the seat is skinny so it needs a skinny kid. Maybe that's why it feels tight? Lol. Well so is the outside!


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mping

New member
My kids didn't get a say in their seats until they were getting boosters. And even then, I narrowed it down to the 3 that worked for our car and budget.


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aporthole

Active member
I allow comfort to factor in within reason.

Will you be passing down the NextFit before she goes FFing or are you likely make the switch around the same time? If she'll be FFing at the time of the pass down, the Frontier in recline mode is very comfy. The headwings don't push heads forward at all (like the SecureKid).

Side note, I hated our NextFit RFing (never tried it FFing) as the seat back was too curved and made my daughter do as you described like a crunch.
 

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I allow comfort to factor in within reason.

Will you be passing down the NextFit before she goes FFing or are you likely make the switch around the same time? If she'll be FFing at the time of the pass down, the Frontier in recline mode is very comfy. The headwings don't push heads forward at all (like the SecureKid).

Side note, I hated our NextFit RFing (never tried it FFing) as the seat back was too curved and made my daughter do as you described like a crunch.


The Nextfit will likely get passed down at the same time as DD1 goes FF in that car. I always liked the Frontier but I don't think I will want one for my own kids. I prefer lighter seats and my petite, calm-ish kids are unlikely to need the height and weight capacities of a big seat like a Frontier. (Watch, now that I've jinxed it by saying that, DD1 is going to grow like a beanstalk and turn into a wild child!)

Luckily, today I tried out a securekid in our actual car (instead of the demo seat) and not only did she look more comfortable, but she said she liked it. So I think a lot of it must have been related to the upright angle of the "vehicle" seat at the store.


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