Alpha Omega booster loops

[tjham]

My son has an Alpha Omega for occasional use with my 4 1/2 yr old granddaughter. We removed the base. It should fit her for a while longer harnessed so I ordered new straps.
Then I read somewhere (can't remember where ? ) that they will also give you free new improved replacement loops for the booster part. I emailed them about it and their response was "What are loops?" WTH? What should I call the parts so they know what I am talking about?

[SusanMae]

Seat belt guides for use in booster mode?

Susan

[tjham]

Good! Thanks!

[momtoB]

Just curious what the new and improved belt guides look like. My A/O is was bought in '04 so wondering if I should order these so we can still use the seat as a booster down the road? At what point did Dorel/Cosco/Safety 1st improve these? Thanks for any input...

[Joolsplus2]

I'm pretty sure by 2004 they had been enlarged to allow the belt to run quite smoothly, so you should be fine. If you do try it later and they get really stuck, then just call Cosco and ask for new ones, they might even re-design them again (you just never know...).

Remember to NOT use the top headrest position/slot with the harness in this seat, the top harness position is the second to top 'slot' in the back, and the top slot is for booster use only.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[momtoB]

Thanks for your respone. I was aware that the top postition should only be used for booster mode. DS is about an inch away from outgrowing the harness on the 2nd from top slot and he's only 27lbs. :( I know I'm going to have to buy him another seat so he can stay harnessed to at least 40lbs - I'm thinking the weight limit is less of an issue than his height since he's always been my little string bean, lol.

One other think I learned recently about the A/O's is that they apparently didn't pass the test for head extrusion (sp?) so they should never be used as a f/fing harnessed seat without the upper tether attached to the car. Mine has always been tethered so that's not an issue but I thought I would mention it in case others hadn't heard that.

[tjham]

I just got this response:

"Thank you for contacting Dorel Juvenile Group Consumer Relations. We apologize for any delay in answering your email.
Normally, the new belt positioners are something that we charge for but we will send a set out to you at no charge one time only."

Yeah! New "loops"!

On the subject of the tether and the excursion problem, I removed the base from the AO so it sits down quite a bit lower. My son will probably not be consistant about using the tether since he only uses the seat occasionally. Is the excursion rate as bad without the base?

[tjham]

I just got the new loops! They have 2 openings instead of 3 and the openings are larger so they should be more free flowing. It was easy to replace them. At the same time, I also replaced the straps and chest clip. I saw that the old strap was threaded wrong (under the movable bar instead of over it (who knows how long it has been like that!?!) so I'm glad I ordered the new strap, if for that reason alone!

[momtoB]

Thanks for responding. My A/O has three loops instead of two as well. I guess I will contact Cosco about getting new ones.

It's not urgent though since I have a Britax Boulevard on the way! :-)