The OFFICIAL Britax Frontier Spoilers & Speculation thread (part 5)

[Lys]

UGH! I just called Right Start. My Frontier isn't shipping until TODAY!

 

[joolsplus3]

UGH! I just called Right Start. My Frontier isn't shipping until TODAY!

Uuuuugh...I've been almost as excited as you to hear about you getting it... now I'll have to find something else to keep myself busy till you get it

 

[mom23boys]

UGH! I just called Right Start. My Frontier isn't shipping until TODAY!

I am Sorry!! I know you wanted it right away! Even though mine shipped out yesterday, I didn't receive the tracking til today. You have been so helpful! TY,TY,TY!!

 

[Kat_Momof3]

I set Tyler in my Radian tonight. the straps hit him about the same as they did in the Frontier.

ugh... then that doesn't bode well for the Frontier... Ruthie has a good 2-3" more in the Nautilus for growth than in the Radian.

She's 1" from being level with the top slots in the Radian, but is 1/3" (finally measured to be sure) from the 2nd to top slots in the Nautilus.

Tyler has more room width - wise in the Frontier than in the Nautilus, but he has outgrown both in terms of harness.

Do you mean in the shoulders or the hips? I was speaking about the hips. I don't see width problems for shoulders in the Frontier... and there it does look to be a little wider. For my kids, though, the issue for me comes to width for the bum and hips, as well as depth. Ruthie is all torso and part of the reason is she has a big booty. Damian, who is too wide for about any seat, fits the Nautilus for width in the hips so comfortably. It's just a shame he is too big to use it at all for height.

 

[Kat_Momof3]

let me give some perspective to what they are saying about how Tyler fits the seat.

He is not a large child by height or weight. He seems (to me, compared to my 96th percentile and 80th percentile boys), to be just above average. He's taller than my 6.5yr old only by 5", but it appears most of that is leg, because Jeffrey has a 19" torso now (he's now over the slots in the Nautilus... amazing how a growth spurt can do that).

He's not leggy by any means and is already too tall for the Regent, as well (in my van, the cushy seats make it lose a good inch in height). He's too tall for the Radian. He's too tall for most highback boosters, too.

The point is that Tyler is clearly a leggy child and too many kids are going to outgrow this seat more quickly than him.

So the 80lb limit, while great for overweight/bulky kids, is not practical, and the design of the seat overall seems targeted more toward the skinny kids... so where does that leave us??

for the price, I expected it to have features that just outshine the Nautilus.

It doesn't.

Now it certainly is a better choice for someone who is shopping for a seat like this for a 2yr old vs. a 4yr old, because of the lifespan, but if the kid is more torso than leg, I'm thinking that the Regent would end up trumping it for the price.

 

[UlrikeDG]

Now it certainly is a better choice for someone who is shopping for a seat like this for a 2yr old vs. a 4yr old, because of the lifespan, but if the kid is more torso than leg, I'm thinking that the Regent would end up trumping it for the price.

But even that depends on your goals. If you want to harness as long as humanly possible, obviously this isn't the best choice. If, however, you just need a bit longer than a seat like the Marathon provides, say an extra year or two, this seat does that and can be used as a booster after the harness is outgrown. And, those of us who have younger children to whom a seat with a 9 year life span can be handed down may find that $300 isn't such a stretch for a seat that can be used for a full 9 years.

 

[mom23boys]

I agree that this would seat would be a great choice for me to if I weren't purchasing it for my last son. However, Although the Frontier is supposed to arrive at our home tomorrow, I am starting to wonder if I made the wrong decision based on my 4.5 year olds 16.5 torso! I don't need to keep him harnessed forever but I reall would like to until he is 6 or matures a little more. If I purchased the regent instead, I could later purchase a larger booster since he will most likely outgrow the Frontiers booster early too! I hope I am making sense. If my off the chart in size son outgrows the frontiers harness earlier than most then it would make sense that he would outgrow the booster aspect much sooner too!

 

[mcomommy]

But even that depends on your goals. If you want to harness as long as humanly possible, obviously this isn't the best choice. If, however, you just need a bit longer than a seat like the Marathon provides, say an extra year or two, this seat does that and can be used as a booster after the harness is outgrown. And, those of us who have younger children to whom a seat with a 9 year life span can be handed down may find that $300 isn't such a stretch for a seat that can be used for a full 9 years.

And there is my problem, I can't decided, do I want to harness for as long possible or just to at least six?

 

[UlrikeDG]

I agree that this would seat would be a great choice for me to if I weren't purchasing it for my last son. However, Although the Frontier is supposed to arrive at our home tomorrow, I am starting to wonder if I made the wrong decision based on my 4.5 year olds 16.5 torso! I don't need to keep him harnessed forever but I reall would like to until he is 6 or matures a little more.

Don't let pictures of one child in the seat (not even installed in a vehicle) make up your mind one way or the other! Your seat's arriving this week. Take some deep breaths and relax. When it arrives, try it in your car, try your son in it, and see what you think of the fit. No one seat is best for every child, and it's quite possible that this seat isn't the best one for your child and your situation. That's ok, there are other options. But it doesn't do any good to second guess yourself right now. Try it out, and then decide. :thumbsup:

 

[myliljunebugs]

That is a very good point. 6 months ago I thought my son was outgrowing the Regent by height (won't go into details about my lovely panic attack). In the vehicle it was installed in he was in the top slots with only an inch of growth. When I got my new car and installed his seat he is in the next to top slots with about half an inch before he is even with them. So just try it first, it could allow tons more growth than you think!

 

[carseatcoach]

Don't let pictures of one child in the seat (not even installed in a vehicle) make up your mind one way or the other! Your seat's arriving this week. Take some deep breaths and relax. When it arrives, try it in your car, try your son in it, and see what you think of the fit. No one seat is best for every child, and it's quite possible that this seat isn't the best one for your child and your situation. That's ok, there are other options. But it doesn't do any good to second guess yourself right now. Try it out, and then decide. :thumbsup:

Yes. And you shouldn't have any problem selling it quickly and close to full price if it's not exactly right for you.

 

[mom23boys]

Thanks for the support ladies! I can't believe how much stress deciding which seat to get can put one under! It's just that I spent $300.00 for the BLVD a couple of yrs ago thinking it would keep him harnessed until he was ready for a booster, but his torso is long! Safety is my first concern and I also want him to be comfortable or else he may complain. He LOVED the BLVD! I just don't want to buy another seat and have the harness problem again in another year! I guess I will wait til it gets here and try it in my MDX and go from there!

 

[Melizerd]

I can't wait to see pics of it installed with kiddos in it.

I'm wondering how deep it really is. I've looked at the dimensions but until I see it in a vehicle I'm bad at picturing things.

I really hope this seat rocks!

 

[snowbird25ca]

I agree that this would seat would be a great choice for me to if I weren't purchasing it for my last son. However, Although the Frontier is supposed to arrive at our home tomorrow, I am starting to wonder if I made the wrong decision based on my 4.5 year olds 16.5 torso! I don't need to keep him harnessed forever but I reall would like to until he is 6 or matures a little more. If I purchased the regent instead, I could later purchase a larger booster since he will most likely outgrow the Frontiers booster early too! I hope I am making sense. If my off the chart in size son outgrows the frontiers harness earlier than most then it would make sense that he would outgrow the booster aspect much sooner too!

Torso growth does really slow as kids get older - 2" of torso growth should be at least 5 or 6" overall height growth. I know Scatterbunny can attest to this.

One other thing, is that I believe the belt guides on the Frontier are the highest of any currently available booster seats, so if he did outgrow the belt guides on the frontier early, he'd have to be in a backless booster in all likelihood.

Just my thoughts, but any seat that still offered a 4.5 yr old 2" of torso growing room I'd expect to last them until 6yrs old at least. The BLVD also tends to be outgrown sooner than more upright seats just because of the way it installs, so if you're basing the 16.5" torso off of him outgrowing the BLVD, you may have much more room than you think.

My current MA install my dd is even with 2nd to top slots. When it's in the middle of my truck, she's over them and uses the top slots. But she still fits the AOE with about 3/4" in stores - who knows what it'd be like actually in our truck, but just saying that the AOE top slots are supposedly lower than the 2nd from top on the MA, but she fits as if her torso is longer in the MA. Her torso hasn't really grown much at all since last September either... I figured she'd outgrow the MA by 4.5, but I don't see her growing 2" in the torso in the next year now. All her growth has been in her legs since fall.

 

[arly1983]

I am trying really really hard not to order one of these.......REALLLY HARD.......I could order one from elitecarseats with their fab return insurance and if the headrest is a PITA return it.....hmmmmm.....

I would definatly need to find some things to sell....or wait for that big tax refund.

 

[mom23boys]

Torso growth does really slow as kids get older - 2" of torso growth should be at least 5 or 6" overall height growth. I know Scatterbunny can attest to this.

One other thing, is that I believe the belt guides on the Frontier are the highest of any currently available booster seats, so if he did outgrow the belt guides on the frontier early, he'd have to be in a backless booster in all likelihood.

Just my thoughts, but any seat that still offered a 4.5 yr old 2" of torso growing room I'd expect to last them until 6yrs old at least. The BLVD also tends to be outgrown sooner than more upright seats just because of the way it installs, so if you're basing the 16.5" torso off of him outgrowing the BLVD, you may have much more room than you think.

My current MA install my dd is even with 2nd to top slots. When it's in the middle of my truck, she's over them and uses the top slots. But she still fits the AOE with about 3/4" in stores - who knows what it'd be like actually in our truck, but just saying that the AOE top slots are supposedly lower than the 2nd from top on the MA, but she fits as if her torso is longer in the MA. Her torso hasn't really grown much at all since last September either... I figured she'd outgrow the MA by 4.5, but I don't see her growing 2" in the torso in the next year now. All her growth has been in her legs since fall.

I measured his torso with a tape measure and it was really hard to tell but looks very close to 16.5. I often wondered if the marathon would have given him more time in the harness. We like the TSIP but loved the way you could adjust the harness on the Blvd. It so far has been my very favorite car seat. We never used it rear facing as our son was 2.5 when we purchased it. The salesperson talked us out of buying the Regent and if I had it to do over I would have gotten the Regent since I was driving a van then and room was no problem Now I have an MDX and space is more of an issue than before! I am hoping that the Frontier will buy us the addtl. time needed in the harness!

I will let you all know when it arrives!

 

[scatterbunny]

I don't believe the "outcry" is over a 9-year-old needing to use the seat as a booster, but a question about (like the Radian80) whether the 80-pound harness is meaningful in real-life situations.

:yeahthat: That's exactly it. I realize many seats are outgrown by height before weight, but honestly, that's a problem, IMO. I don't expect every child to get to the weight limit, but at least get most kids who are height-weight proportionate reasonably close! It's understandable that a tall, thin child will outgrow seats sooner, understandable when very long-torsoed kids outgrow seats sooner, but when a height-weight proportionate, average-torsoed child is consistently outgrowing seats by height long before weight, I think it's an issue that needs to be addressed.

I am already concerned that the frontier which is supposed to arrive UPS at my door tomorrow may not keep my 16.5 torso son harnessed as long as I need it to. He is above average, so others with 5-6 year olds may be able to harness their ds way longer than I will be able to!

And that's the big issue I have with it, as well. My daughter is six, and more long-legged than long-torsoed, and would have maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch in the Frontier (based on how she fit the Nautilus, and how Tyler fit the Nautilus and Frontier; my dd wasn't with us at Lifesavers ). She's 59 pounds. It bothers me that they label it as 80 pounds, when it's unrealistic that the majority of children will actually get to that weight. I'm sure some children could, there's one or two in my daughter's class that would benefit from that higher weight limit and not really need taller top slots, but most kids do need taller top slots to get close to the stated weight limits.

It always irritates me when a seat does not perform as intended/advertised; it is deceiving to parents.

 

[scatterbunny]

Don't let pictures of one child in the seat (not even installed in a vehicle) make up your mind one way or the other! Your seat's arriving this week. Take some deep breaths and relax. When it arrives, try it in your car, try your son in it, and see what you think of the fit. No one seat is best for every child, and it's quite possible that this seat isn't the best one for your child and your situation. That's ok, there are other options. But it doesn't do any good to second guess yourself right now. Try it out, and then decide. :thumbsup:

I agree with this (and your previous post, too, that I was just too lazy to quote ).

Most average-sized children should easily fit the Frontier harness to age 7-9, about 60-65 pounds, and a fine age and size for a booster. Most big kids (75th percentile or more) should fit to age 6-7, too (my dd is 97th percentile for height and about 90th for weight right now, and would have 1/4 to 1/2 an inch in the Frontier harness).

It's just disappointing for parents of very long-torsoed kids, or parents who want to harness as long as possible. Seeing/hearing that a seat has an 80 pound weight limit is exciting, considering the Regent is the only other real option. Having lower top slots is disappointing.

 

[scatterbunny]

Torso growth does really slow as kids get older - 2" of torso growth should be at least 5 or 6" overall height growth. I know Scatterbunny can attest to this.

Sorry, first of all, for the serial posting.

This is very true. In 13 total inches of height growth, my dd's torso has only grown 3.75 inches! At age 2.5 she was 38 inches tall, with a 14.5 inch torso. She was outgrowing a number of 40 pound weight limit seats by height at that point. But now at 6.75 years old, she's 51 inches tall exactly, with an 18.25 inch torso. And like I said, she's in the 97th percentile for height for a girl her age.

One other thing, is that I believe the belt guides on the Frontier are the highest of any currently available booster seats, so if he did outgrow the belt guides on the frontier early, he'd have to be in a backless booster in all likelihood.

I'm disappointed that we couldn't raise the headrest up on the Frontier at Lifesavers. I really wanted to see how tall it adjusts. From my own playing , right now I believe the Recaro Start and Sunshine Kids Monterey are the tallest.

 

[rosomom]

Does anyone know if the Frontier will have the seat belt lock-offs like other Britax seats? I haven't ever owned a seat with lock-offs, but a lot of our installs will be with belts, and it just seems like it would be so much easier and that much more accurate. When I looked at the Britax website I found the "user guide" for the Frontier, but there was no mention of lock-offs. It just said to thread the belt through the belt path and tighten.

Thanks!