First Graco, Now Dorel.

It has started. The 40 pound rear facing seats are here. Graco was first, with the My Ride. Now Dorel is about to release a seat that can RF up to 40 pounds. It's the Safety 1st Complete Air. It can RF up to 40 pounds, and FF up to 50 pounds.

Something else new is coming to the market with this seat. Dorel calls it Air Protect technology. The wings around the child's head are not foam, but air. The video on their website makes it look nice. They will also be adding Air Protect technology to other seats.
http://airprotect.safety1st.com/

The Complete Air is available for preorder on Babies R Us' website on July 1. The seat will be released in August, and sold at other retailers later in the year.
http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3629011

Am I excited? Somewhat. I'm excited we're getting another seat that can RF higher than 35 pounds.

Could I see myself buying this seat? Yes. But I probably won't. It will sell for $250! I haven't paid that much for any of my carseats. However, it looks like it will have a slightly different RF height rule, allowing taller children to still fit.

Goodbye to my beloved My Ride

Right now, my My Ride is sitting in my hall closet. I really love the seat, so why on earth is it in the hall closet? It's awaiting a shipping label to return it to Graco. My beloved My Ride is returning to the manufacturer to be inspected and likely killed :(

I read on www/car-seat.org about problems a few people had with the harness adjuster fraying on their seat. I don't usually adjust Sofi's harness (I've mastered squashing her in there). Since I often reccomend the seat, I decide to try adjusting the harness everytime I put Sofi in/out of the seat, like most parents do. After only 3 days it's fraying :(

I tried to take pictures, but it's really difficult to see. The harness adjuster strap is the strap between the child's legs/knees. You pull it to tighten the harness (the straps around the child). That strap is held by a metal piece that unfortunately has sharp edges. So as it rubs them, it frays. Fraying looks like the strap is getting fuzzy on the side/sides.

So, I noticed the problem and called Graco. They said they'd send me a shipping label to return the seat, and then give me a full refund. I know at least 3 other My Rides are being returned by other people.

I now have 2 replacement covers (I complained about the cover not staying on the sides, they sent me another. I complained about the hole in the cover they sent me a 3rd- a different color) and no seat to put them on. I do still love the My Ride. I do still reccomend the seat, but also make parents aware of the possible problem. And I will happily buy another My Ride (Sonata- pink!) when they fix the problem :)

I have emailed a 'higher up' in Graco. Not exactly sure how high she is, but deffinetly higher than the customer service reps :) We'll see what she says about the problem.

Would you like to see more 'boy color' carseats?

Someone on car-seat.org has decided to start a petition. Parents are tired of neutral colors being considered 'boy colors' while girls get pretty pink and yellow and floral seat covers. She has started a petition to get some more fun boy covers on carseats. SHe's starting with the Graco Nautilus. Graco makes a zillion cover options for their infant seats. They even make some wonderful covers for the Turbo Booster. Why does the Nautilus have to be either Grey or pink? The petition will be sent to the buyer for major retailers.

Here is a link to the petition.
http://www.petitiononline.com/Nautilus/petition.html

Here is her post on car-seat.org
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=86921
Ok, I have the petition up: http://www.petitiononline.com/Nautilus/petition.htmlSign the petition if you want the Nautilus to be available in some sort of color appropriate for boys (or just not aimed specifically at girls. or gray.)Even if you don't personally need a colorful Nautilus, please sign the petition if you think they should be available for others. Feel free to share the link.When we have lots of signatures, I'll forward it to the corporate offices of at least one major retailer.You do need to leave your name and email address, but the addresses are kept private--even I don't have access to them. They just use them for verification to make sure people aren't signing a bunch of times.FTR, I'm not doing this out of self-interest. I'm perfectly happy with our current Nautilus (I love gray!), but I realize there is a need for colors. (Seriously, five different types of gray seats? A bit much...) I'm also curious to see if going to the buyers really will have an impact. So this is a social experiment that hopefully will result in some cute car seats

Roundabout 50

What is the Roundabout 50? It's Britax's newest convertible. It will RF up to 35 pounds, and FF up to 50 pounds. It will sell for about $199.99.

The seat shell is the same as the Marathon. The harness heights are the same as the Marathon. If it's so similar to the Marathon, why did they call it the Roundabout50? I have no idea. Because Britax is crazy I think (why else would they have 9 convertible seats, but discontinue their boosters?).

There are 4 harness slots. Lowest being about 10 inches, and highest being 16-17 inches. There are 3 crotch buckle positions. The Marathon has 1, that is in about the same spot as the center slot in the RA50.

Like the Roundabout40, it does not have HUGS (the rubbery things on the harness). Those are only required on the 65+ pounds seats. Also like the RA40 it does not have harness covers, but does have a belly pad (weird, to me the harness covers are more important than the belly pad).

The harness adjuster is thinner than that of the Marathon. The RA50 does not have the lockoffs like all the other Britax convertibles. It has a LATCH strap similar to the RA40 (not the Marathon with bars), but it only loosens and tightens on 1 side.

I know the seat is now on sale at Babies R Us. I went into my local store and it was still in a box on the top shelf above the RA40s. I asked them to get one down, and they did, and opened it for a display model.

A warning message from another Mom

I was contacted by a mother that has often read my blog. She has read it, but apparently didn't follow all the advice. Her 3 year old son was 40 pounds, and riding in a highback booster. He certainly met all the stated minimums for the seat. Except for age. Age can play a crutial role in booster readiness. Her son was riding with her older (college age) son. He unbuckled himself, and no one knew. The little boy fell asleep, and fell out of his booster! He fell out and right onto the floor of the van. In the fall, he hit his face and got a black eye. Mom is horrified. What if there had been a crash? He wouldn't have fallen on the floor, he would have flown out the window! No 3 year old is really mature enough to be in a booster. At my advice, Mom went out and bought a Graco Nautilus. He is now safe and secure in the van. Children under 4 years (often under 6) need to be in a seat with a harness.

Kids Rear Facing in the My Ride

Here are pictures and stats of children I've tried in the My Ride. None of them are my children, but I have permission to post their pictures.

N is 19 months old. She weighs about 18 pounds. She has a 12 inch torso, and a 17 inch seated height. She normally rides RF in a Comfortsport and is still on the bottom slots. In the My Ride she was on the 2nd from bottom slots.

X is 3.5 years old and weighs 40 pounds. His torso is 12.5-12.75 inches, and his seated height is 19.5 inches. He has now outgrown the seat RF by weight, but still has 3.5 inches above his head. He normally rides FF in a Graco Nautilus, on the 2nd from bottom slots.

This is G. He is 3 years, 8 months old and weighs 34 pounds. His torso height is 12.5 inches, seated height is 20 inches, and total height is 41 inches. His head was even with the stripe that goes across the My Ride, so he has 2.5 inches above his head. He could probobly RF in this seat for another year. However, G normally rides in a Graco Nautilus (harness on the 2nd from bottom slots).

An update on my My Ride

So I've been using it. We keep the driver's side 2nd row seat flipped down so the older kids can get in the back. I think I really like it. The harness adjuster is smoother than the Marathon, and higher than the True Fit. It installs easily with LATCH. Sofi loves the "pockets" (cupholders). It also has more legroom than the Marathon. I think it has a deep, angled seat because Sofi has more trouble getting out of it than she did her other seats. I think I really like it :)