Harnesses on pre-2003 Teutonias

[caroliner]

I have seen this discussed in a thread, but want to ask the specific question. To those of you who have Teutonias, what do you do as far as the safety harness? I have a Mistral and a Swing and the 5 point that came as an add on is really unsafe in my opinion and I am not 100% comfortable using the lap belt. What do you do? I noticed that the 2003s have real 5 point harnesses and wonder if there might be a way to do something more along those lines but no idea how. Any input is much appreciated. Thank you!

[hardysmom]

With Hardy, I am comfortable with the lap belt. He has never, never tried to get out of the Y2K and the thing is so big it would be work to knock over. On the Swing, I was a little more concerned, but in the 1 day I had it (boo-hoo) he seemed very secure with the belt.

BTW, does your Teutonia Swing have any wobble in the front wheels when you walk briskly? So far, several people I have heard from have has a degree of wobble-- some really bad like mine, others say theirs isn't bad enough to gripe.

I am wondering b/c Heritage Baby found one last Swing chassis which they have offered to send me to replace the one I received. I planned to use this stroller on long walks (nothing harsh, but about 1.5 miles to a shopping area in my neighborrhood, etc...) and I like to walk very briskly. I am not a mall crawler. If most of the Swings have a bit of wiggle in the front wheels when you hit stride, I think it is probably better for slower walks and such... I love this stroller, but maybe it just isn't meant to be?

I'd appreciate your opinion! Stephanie

[caroliner]

Stephanie, I saw your post on parents place about the wheel wobble and yes, mine has some wobble. It does not sound as bad as yours though because I have taken mine out shopping in the local village, so on sidewalks and also to the mall, and had no wobble. The only time I notice it is on certain types of surfaces at a faster pace, not super fast... I love this stroller and have called Heritage to see what I can do, but they are not open until tomorrow, so I have not heard yet. I saw they offered you a Pixxel, but I don't want a Pixxel. (Unless it was a 2003!!!) It is more stroller than I need. Anyway, yes, I have the problem, and I really don't know what I am going to do about it. I will let you know if you are interested.

[hardysmom]

I am so sorry that you have a wobble-- that makes 3 Swings I know of that have one. Mine sounds worse that anyone else's-- HB told me I could take it out and push it around outside to try to see if it would get better so I went to a little outdoor mall up the street. Even walking slowly, it was like the worst shopping cart in the world.

I think I will pass on the spare chassis Jamie offered to trade me ONLY because I can't try it out for myself. Since you are in San Diego you might ask her if you could give it a try. It isn't like they can sell it. Since you have bought from them I am sure they will do what they can. I must give Heritage Baby a bunch of credit-- I bought mine "as is" with no exchanges b/c it had a missing snap & they are still taking it back. Jamie has been WONDERFUL.

One way or another, you should call them. I think the more people who do, the more aware they will be that this isn't just an isolated gripe. They mentioned that someone else returned one a few weeks ago for the same problem. Plus, I think Jamie bought one for herself (though she can't use it yet) so is personally invested.

Thanks for letting me know. I would have been really bummed if the second one had a problem. I think a PixXXel is too much for me as well since I have the Y2K. I wish I could get my hands on a Klikk, lol!

Stephanie

[MomofConor]

I have a 2001 PiXXel and I also feel that the harness is unsafe. However, I haven't come up with any solutions so at the moment I just use the lap belt and try not to take my eyes off of Conor. Hoping that someone else can offer some solutions to this problem!

[caroliner]

Stephanie, Jaime e-mailed me that she has ordered parts from Teutonia to try to remedy this situation and will call me when they come in. I will see what happens. If I had as bad a shake as you describe, I would have returned it, but I only notice the shaking every so often, so I will keep it due to its many other wonderful features. For now, I really am only using it on surfaces where I don't notice it, but I am planning to use it for more walks and such when we have baby #2 as Caroline will need to give up the Mistral when we have both babies out in 2 strollers. Of course, if I ever find that Emma Cannon 2, it won't be such an issue. Or, I can just get a Y2K for Caroline!

[caroliner]

I am starting to think I will need to have someone sew one in for me. Don't know how to accomplish this, but I really don't like that harness.

[TrinaCliff]

Yes, these harnesses are just rediculous...I think I may really need to find a solution to this one because DD (almost 9 mos) is a wiggle worm! I'm not so sure the lap belt will be sufficient with her...DS (2 yrs) is not a climber and is perfectly fine with just the lap belt and sometimes no harness at all. I have the PiXXel, Swing and Klikk...and they all have that crummy harness. Except for that, they are all awesome strollers though...I love each one for very different reasons. :)

I really wish we could find some sort of solution to the wheel wobble problem. My Swing does it pretty darn bad...if I hit one tiny bump or go faster than a slow crawl, it wobbles uncontrollably (sp?). RIGHT...worse than a shopping cart! LOL!!! So, right now, it is living it's life as a cozy chair in front of the kids TV where they watch videos.

Seems like we have enough people having problems to maybe get something done about it. Jaime at HB is still trying to talk w/ Teutonia to see if we can get any help with this. (And other things that other people need replaced)

I wish there was a way to find out if people are having this problem over in Germany...anyone speak German? LOL!!!!! Mine actually came from Germany, so I would assume that some over there would be having the same problems.

Kristen

[hardysmom]

In the German reviews there are a lot of complaints about the wheels so it isn't just us. My German isn't good enough to be much help beyond that... My Sister in Law is German, if there was something specific we needed her to do, I am sure she would help. She has a 5 week old baby and her mother is staying with them for a couple more weeks so time is short, but everything should go back to normal when her mom goes home in early March.

Unfortunately, Germans are not known for their customer service.

Stephanie

[caroliner]

Keep me in the loop if anyone finds out anything on either of these topics: wheels or harnesses... I love my Teutonias, but a solution would really be nice on both issues. I notice the 2003s have nice, safe harnesses, you would think there would be some kind of a harness that Teutonia would market for its older models, not that silly one that we all seem to have. As for the wheels, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the replacement parts come in and work.

[TrinaCliff]

Germans are not great about customer service? Maybe that is why Teutonia won't really give us the time of day. Jaime said the only response she had so far from Teutonia is that we would have to pay for any replacement parts (us and some others that needed some things fixed). No "sorry about the problems"...or no "we're aware there were problems with the Swing" or anything...YET.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure what parts we would need. That's the main answer I want...I want to know if they have had these problems over there and found a solution. I'm pretty sure it's not the wheels themselves...before, I took the wheels off of my Klikk and switched them all together. The Swing wobbled with the Klikk's wheels, and the Klikk still didn't wobble with the Swing's wheels. It must be something in the swivel mechanism (though they look the same) or something with the overall balance of the stroller.

One funny thing that I noticed...it does it MUCH less (sometimes not at all) withOUT a baby in it. Weird, huh?

Kristen

[hardysmom]

I had a big talk about this with the German part of my family last weekend. My SIL's family has been in retail in Germany for many generations and we were all in Kansas City to nmeet her new son. I think there is just a HUGE cultural gap in this area. In fact, it is also the reason that Vaude child carriers are hard to find. American retailers just find the company too hard to deal with, even though their products are great.

Plus, many companies over there are not as big as you might expect so they don't really have full service departments like we have in the US. It is much more old school, like family businesses as opposed to public companies.

Kristin, I have a couple of questions for you-- I saw on your site that the PiXXel wasn't nearly as big as I expected it to be when folded so I am starting to waffle about it.. Would it fit in the trunk of a mid sized car, like a rental or taxi? The Zippy & Chicco just seem so practical! Grrr... Also, do you know the width of the wheel base and the seat.

Thank you so much. Stephanie

[newbelly2002]

Just a quick note on Customer service.

The Germans have a wonderful saying in illustrate this idea: servuswuste (sp??). Literally it means "service desert." Even the Germans recognize the problem. The "customer is always right" is not a concept that has caught on here, and generally the idea is that the store is doing the customer a service by letting him/her shop there. It is very difficult to get used to when coming from the American viewpoint. Luckily there are always exceptions, it just doesn't sound like Teutonia is one of them.

Good luck!

Paula

[nicknack]

Shoot...my PiXXel is coming this weekend...didn't know much about that harness issue. Do people think that's a good enough reason to NOT keep the stroller? It sounds like everything else about it is wonderful. I haven't seen them in person, so I will have to check it out. Is it that it's not a 5 point harness or something? Will it not work with a newborn?
Thanks in advance!
nicole

[TrinaCliff]

OH dear no...it is most certainly NOT a reason to return the stroller!!!! It actually has not really bothered me YET...DS was not a climber, but I'm afraid DD might be. LOL!

It really is a 5-pt, but the harness just does not attach to the back of the seat. (kind of like a Pliko) Not a big deal if you don't use the 5-pt (you can take it off and just have the lap belt), but it is just a jumbled mess if you do try to use it.

As far as an infant goes, the PiXXel is wonderful! You can put the leg rest up high enough to keep the baby in...I'll try to take a picture when I get the chance to show you what I mean.

It is a GREAT stroller regardless of the harness!

Kristen

[nicknack]

Thanks so much Kristen! I'm having a hard time picturing what it looks like, so if you could post a pic, that would be great! I think it's coming on Saturday, I can't wait!

[hardysmom]

Hardy is 15mo and climbs a bit; however, he has never struggled or seemed the least bit interested in escaping from the Y2K... I only use the lap belt.

The only reason I worried about the Swing was b/c I would take it indoors more where there are more things to get his interest, stuff to grab off shelves, etc... Most Teutonias sort of have raised armrests so the child is set pretty deep in the stroller. Additionally, there is a napper bar w/crotch strap which is very well constructed. One way or another this isn't something you would really worry about until they are getting mobile (9-12 mo) and by then, you can work something out if you needed.

You will faint when you push your PiXXel. They are amazing. Stephanie

[MomofConor]

I agree, while the harness is a problem, I LOVE my PiXXel! I use only the lapbelt with Conor (11 mos) and he has tried to escape a few times by turning around and standing up (he's a bit of a monkey). But this stroller is so amazing that I can easily overlook the harness issue. May take your suggestion, Bonnie, and have the harness sewn in.

Christine

[caroliner]

I also think that a Pliko type arrangement might work. I like that just fine or my Mac. Both have decent harnesses. It was not an issue until recently. Caroline just loves to sit all the way up in the Mistral and the harness lets her lean forward. Definitely not a reason not to get an older model Teutonia, they are the best strollers I have seen!! The lap belt actually seemed OK on the Swing for us.

[TrinaCliff]

Nicole,
I've updated my site with a few pic's of the PiXXel with it's legrest in the most upright position.

My site is:
http://pages.ivillage.com/trinacliff/

Hope this gives you some idea. I was very comfortable using it with my infant and no harness because of this.

Take care
Kristen

[nicknack]

Thanks Kristen, that really helps! I cannot WAIT until I get my on Saturday!