DS in the Frontier and Turbobooster (pics)

[KrisM]

These are really bad pictures. Taken with my old phone and in bad light and he's wearing a dark shirt. Ugh. But, I think they show his fit.

Frontier:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa81/khaselton/frontier-body.jpg

Frontier showing the shoulder belt. My hand is at the edge of his arm. I tried higher up and lower down and this was the most centered I could get the shoulder belt.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa81/khaselton/frontier-neck.jpg

Turbo:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa81/khaselton/turbobody.jpg

Turbo showing the shoulder belt:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa81/khaselton/turbo-neck.jpg

What do you think? He did not like the Turbo because he didn't like the soft parts behind his head or body. They're very pillow like.

[sariana]

I believe the pillows on the Turbo are removable.

Correction: I know they are removable. I believe they are optional.

[KrisM]

The manual in mine says, "Body Pillows are included with some models. Insert body pillows exactly as shown. DO NOT use any other pillows other than those provided by Graco." It says nothing about them being optional. If they are, that would help, or we can try another seat.

I'm thinking I'll order a Parkway, Monterey, or Probooster, but don't know which I should try :).

[bubbaray]

Kinda hard to tell from the pics, but it looks to me like the Turbo fits him better.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, they are optional, yank 'em out. The seat's the same shell and testing, just different levels of pillowness, so the el cheapo at target is just as safe as a BRU Roanoke with the pillows tugged out.

Both fits look fine to me...if the Turbo's way easier to buckle, go for it.

[KrisM]

I'm going to get better pics of the Frontier tomorrow. With an actual camera :).

Good to know the pillows are optional. If he's willing, I'll get pics of that too.

[sariana]

Before I saw Jools's reply, I sent a query to Graco about the pillows. I'll let you know what they say.

Throughout this ordeal, I've realized I don't know where my manual is. Yay, me. Not.

[Joolsplus2]

Throughout this ordeal, I've realized I don't know where my manual is. Yay, me. Not.
:ROTFLMAO:
I find manuals in the strangest random places...usually nowhere near my desk or the carseat itself :p

I suppose we could look online, graco puts all their manuals there, but I find their website so unwieldy compared to how easy it used to be...bleh.

[KrisM]

Manuals on the Graco site are under "Specs", not "Instructions", which really makes no sense :).

[caleymama]

Yeah, they are optional, yank 'em out. The seat's the same shell and testing, just different levels of pillowness, so the el cheapo at target is just as safe as a BRU Roanoke with the pillows tugged out.

That's excellent to know. We have the same Turbo as a spare and DD1 hates the pillows in it. She'll be very happy to know they can be removed.

[sariana]

Uh-oh, folks. This was Graco's response:

NO, you should always use the body pillows.

[caleymama]

Oh, darn! Maybe that's why I told DD she couldn't take them out in the first place. I thought I remembered having a reason when we first got the seat a few months ago. Bummer! At least it's not her primary seat (Monterey & Parkway are).

[Joolsplus2]

I'd look at that as a legalese response, personally. It comes with them, so you have to use them, it's simpler to make rules black and white for John Q Public. I'd still take them out, really, the seat is exactly the same as the zero-padding ones. That's just me, though, you should always follow the manuals that come with your seats (my own legal disclaimer, hehe).

[Joolsplus2]

Ah, yeah, I found it on page 39 of the manual... http://webapps.easy2.com/myo_hosted_content/grco/grco0106/turbo%20ISPB057BA.pdf
and DONOTMODIFYYOUR BOOSTER SEAT
or use any accessories or parts supplied by other
manufacturers.
• NEVER USE BOOSTER SEAT IF IT HAS
DAMAGED OR MISSING PARTS. DO NOT
use a cut, frayed or damaged vehicle seat belt.

So the customer service rep would have been going strictly by the manual, not the common sense answer that it's the same seat as the model without the pillows and thus is safe to use without them (if either model were safer, or found to be UNsafe, they'd have to issue a recall to put pillows on one or take them off the other, if that makes sense?).