I have a feeling this is bad, but just had to ask

[Lara]

Background info:
My friend is looking for a seat for her 3 yo. She drives a Dodge Dakota truck (its got a full sized cab). She is going to hand her marathon down to her baby who is outgrowing his sr and move the 3 yo to a new seat. The marathon will NOT install outboard in her truck ff because the headrest is in the way and not removeable (right now its in the middle, sr outboard)

We went to USA baby today to try the regent and safeguard. The regent was a definate no-go because of the headrest (I could literally stick my whole arm between the carseat and car's seat back, all the way up the seat).

The safeguard was better, but here's my question. The back of the safeguard sat flush with the back of the car's seat up until about 5 inches from the top. Then the headrest started pushing it out all wierd and it wouldn't sit flat. I'd say there was a 1.5 inch gap between the carseat and the car's seat back for that 5 or so inches (I wish I had taken pics!) Is that ok? The base and everything was flat, it was just that area that was being pushed forward.

 

[snowbird25ca]

What about the Radian? It doesn't curve backwards the same way the shell of britax seats do, so doesn't seem to get interference from the headrest the same way...

I'm not familiar with the back seat of that vehicle, & this probably goes without asking, but did you read the vehicle manual on car seat installation? Some vehicles have a slight recline in the back seat & when you recline the seat it makes the headrest interference disappear. So depending on what the back seat is like, that might be the simplest solution. (Some manuals specifically instruct you to recline the seat when installing car seats. My truck is like that, but like I said, I'm not familiar with the one your friend has. Without the seat reclined in our truck though, the MA is incompatible outboard because of the headrests.)

As for the safeguard, I'm not familiar with the seat - is that the one that's kind of soft? The general rule is as long as 80% of the carseat is touching the vehicle seat than you're ok. However, if that 5" of space that is making the carseat fit funny in that area, also happens to be where the child's head is, I could foresee an issue with that. Especially if it makes the child's head come forward more than it otherwise would...

What are mom & dad's plans for long term harnessing and is their kiddo going to need the high weight of a regent or safeguard? I'm wondering if a seat like the triumph advance might work (not sure the contouring of the shell, but it'd be different than a Britax, so worth a try anyways...)

If a Radian is an option, even if it didn't install outboard because of the headrests, it might install center next to the rf'ing MA which would buy some more time to see what else comes available. :thumbsup:

 

[Lara]

The radian works, but she doesn't like it.

The manual has almost nothing about carseat install . Just that there is LATCH and where you can use it pretty much. The seats don't recline at all, and are very very straight.

We were checking out the safeguard child seat, which is like the regular carseat not the one with the soft back. And yeah it was pushing forwards right at the top of the seat, where kiddo's head would be (I got the rest of it to sit flat by just pushing towards the back of the car when I was tightening it). I'm not sure if it would actually push her head forward more though, we only sat her in in in the store.

They want them both harnessed as long as possible. 3 yo is 34 lbs with about a 15 inch torso, but the baby is huge (5 months, 18 lbs) which is why they were just going to go ahead and buy a hwh seat now. 3 yo will use it until the baby outgrows the marathon rf, and then she will go to a booster and he will go to the hwh seat (if it all works as planned lol!)

I totally forgot about the triumph advance! She has the regular triumph and loves it (and it does work ff in the truck because it fits under the headrest). We'll have to check that one out too.

I think I have some old pics from when they first got the truck, I'll edit this post with them if I find them.

 

[jen_nah]

What about moving the MA outboard since the baby will be RF anyways hopefuly for several years to come. By then the 3yr old will be old enough to be moved to a good booster like the PW or Monarch. Plus there is alot more new seats on the horizon too. This way she could get another MA or something else to fit in the center.

 

[Lara]

What about moving the MA outboard since the baby will be RF anyways hopefuly for several years to come. By then the 3yr old will be old enough to be moved to a good booster like the PW or Monarch. Plus there is alot more new seats on the horizon too. This way she could get another MA or something else to fit in the center.

That was the plan, to put the baby in the ma rf and the 3 yo in another seat. Oh, and he will definatly be rf till 33 lbs! the 3 yo just turned ff about 2 weeks ago which was when all these problems started to arise.

I think maybe we need to go back and actually try and put things next to eachother. We were rushing today because the lady at usa baby insisted on coming out with us and breathing down our necks the whole time .