Jenng
01-16-2010, 07:38 PM
Buying a convertible car seat to fit my car has been a rollercoaster ride of frustration! I have spent so many hours, researching, buying etc, to just get something to install rock solid into my car!!! Wow... you would think this would be easy with an SUV?! I drive an Acura RDX btw...
So I went to BRU today to grab the Myride, and they are selling the Deco pattern for $129 til Monday. Add the 20% coupon and it comes in at $100 or so, not bad at all. I tried the demo at the store and it fit in the center of my backseat perfectly WITH the seats all the way back as well. Which amazed me because everyone has been saying this car seat is a beast. I tend to think it is just bulkier than most seats, but not by any means as large as everyone told me it was.
So I had to post my success here because I have had trouble with two other seats: The Radian XT SL fit in the center only, and was very tippy as soon as my son sat in it (look at my other threads to read about it if you like). It also took an hour to install and I seriously hurt myself while trying to tighten the belts, ugh, what a nightmare. By the time I was done I still questioned how good it fit, so I decided to return it. Amazing quality though and strong, so I think it's just my seats are too angled for that type of car seat. Next I tried the Evenflo Symphony 65... this was strange... the seat itself is nice quality and not too bad, "but" for $199? I think people can do better with either an older Radian model or Britax seat for better quality. Just seemed like a high price for what you got type thing... In my car, the base of the Evenflo seat, hung off my backseat, in the center position. In the outboard spots, your drivers/passenger seats had to definitely be in the upright positions for it to fit. So in other words, it just doesn't fit as well as the Radian and Myride in my car. Now other people, it might work fantastic, but not in my car...Also the latch connectors ratchet to get them tight, by pushing on the seat base only. There is no strap to pull to tighten in the Evenflo, you have to push the seat and listen for the clicks as it "tightens itself". So because of that, I could never get a tight fit, AND there was a huge gap so I definitely needed a towel under there and thought, "how safe is a rolled up towel under my car seat?" Huh? So, out went the Evenflo Symphony...
Now, here comes the Myride install... The Deco is a cute pattern, I don't mind the dots... It's gender neutral and can be for a boy or a girl. It fits with my Taupe interior perfectly and hopefully the cover won't fall off either, lol. I installed it with Latch first and here is the issue. They don't give you a lot of slack to tighten the latch belt once they are clicked in. You are left with like 8 inches of belt to use to tighten your installation. So here is my trick... I did this with the Radian too. Instead of pulling up on your belt to tighten the Myride with Latch... thread that belt piece back through the bottom belt path to the other side... go around your car and pull that little piece in as far as you can, leave it in the lower belt path...then take the tether strap that is hooked on the back of the seat (for FFacing only) and thread the end of that through the loop at the end of the latch belt (the one sitting in the path already). Now you have created a kind of "U" in order to pull the latch belt as tight as you need to from the opposite side of the car seat using the Tether belt. I even used my foot to brace myself and pulled really hard to get a super tight install this way. It really is all about leverage... you can do this with the Radian as well, but with them, you don't need extra belt length, there is plenty there already to thread through back through the belt path. Sounds confusing but really it is simple. You are just pulling the Latch belt in another direction to get better leverage and to get a super tight fit.
So don't give up if you can't get the Myride tight with their Latch install...I tried this trick and it worked fantastic. You just need more belt length to get the right amount of force to tighten it. And if you don't have it, use my tip...Route it through the seat to the opposite side, loop some kind of a belt on it to get more length, and pull hard! lol
The seat is perfect! And my son fits great in it too, all for around $100!
Now, I will post later when I get my super deal from Albee Baby on Monday... I ordered the Cranberry True Fit Premier!!! Woo hoo! If this Myride fit, do you think the TFP will too? We are keeping this Graco regardless, atleast for my Husband's car assuming the TFP fits in mine... Now we have two car seats for the price of one Radian XT SL, lol. Have to be budget conscious these days, yet I want my son safe and comfortable!!!
Ok, Yo Gabba Gabba get's annoying... As I am typing this I keep hearing "I like bugs, I like bugs....I like bugs" LMAO What the heck are these guys on who write this show?! Who writes the music too?! Eee gads... I have to say I love the Backyardigans, because atleast their music sounds good, lol.
Ok, hope this post helped you guys out!
:waving4:
So I went to BRU today to grab the Myride, and they are selling the Deco pattern for $129 til Monday. Add the 20% coupon and it comes in at $100 or so, not bad at all. I tried the demo at the store and it fit in the center of my backseat perfectly WITH the seats all the way back as well. Which amazed me because everyone has been saying this car seat is a beast. I tend to think it is just bulkier than most seats, but not by any means as large as everyone told me it was.
So I had to post my success here because I have had trouble with two other seats: The Radian XT SL fit in the center only, and was very tippy as soon as my son sat in it (look at my other threads to read about it if you like). It also took an hour to install and I seriously hurt myself while trying to tighten the belts, ugh, what a nightmare. By the time I was done I still questioned how good it fit, so I decided to return it. Amazing quality though and strong, so I think it's just my seats are too angled for that type of car seat. Next I tried the Evenflo Symphony 65... this was strange... the seat itself is nice quality and not too bad, "but" for $199? I think people can do better with either an older Radian model or Britax seat for better quality. Just seemed like a high price for what you got type thing... In my car, the base of the Evenflo seat, hung off my backseat, in the center position. In the outboard spots, your drivers/passenger seats had to definitely be in the upright positions for it to fit. So in other words, it just doesn't fit as well as the Radian and Myride in my car. Now other people, it might work fantastic, but not in my car...Also the latch connectors ratchet to get them tight, by pushing on the seat base only. There is no strap to pull to tighten in the Evenflo, you have to push the seat and listen for the clicks as it "tightens itself". So because of that, I could never get a tight fit, AND there was a huge gap so I definitely needed a towel under there and thought, "how safe is a rolled up towel under my car seat?" Huh? So, out went the Evenflo Symphony...
Now, here comes the Myride install... The Deco is a cute pattern, I don't mind the dots... It's gender neutral and can be for a boy or a girl. It fits with my Taupe interior perfectly and hopefully the cover won't fall off either, lol. I installed it with Latch first and here is the issue. They don't give you a lot of slack to tighten the latch belt once they are clicked in. You are left with like 8 inches of belt to use to tighten your installation. So here is my trick... I did this with the Radian too. Instead of pulling up on your belt to tighten the Myride with Latch... thread that belt piece back through the bottom belt path to the other side... go around your car and pull that little piece in as far as you can, leave it in the lower belt path...then take the tether strap that is hooked on the back of the seat (for FFacing only) and thread the end of that through the loop at the end of the latch belt (the one sitting in the path already). Now you have created a kind of "U" in order to pull the latch belt as tight as you need to from the opposite side of the car seat using the Tether belt. I even used my foot to brace myself and pulled really hard to get a super tight install this way. It really is all about leverage... you can do this with the Radian as well, but with them, you don't need extra belt length, there is plenty there already to thread through back through the belt path. Sounds confusing but really it is simple. You are just pulling the Latch belt in another direction to get better leverage and to get a super tight fit.
So don't give up if you can't get the Myride tight with their Latch install...I tried this trick and it worked fantastic. You just need more belt length to get the right amount of force to tighten it. And if you don't have it, use my tip...Route it through the seat to the opposite side, loop some kind of a belt on it to get more length, and pull hard! lol
The seat is perfect! And my son fits great in it too, all for around $100!
Now, I will post later when I get my super deal from Albee Baby on Monday... I ordered the Cranberry True Fit Premier!!! Woo hoo! If this Myride fit, do you think the TFP will too? We are keeping this Graco regardless, atleast for my Husband's car assuming the TFP fits in mine... Now we have two car seats for the price of one Radian XT SL, lol. Have to be budget conscious these days, yet I want my son safe and comfortable!!!
Ok, Yo Gabba Gabba get's annoying... As I am typing this I keep hearing "I like bugs, I like bugs....I like bugs" LMAO What the heck are these guys on who write this show?! Who writes the music too?! Eee gads... I have to say I love the Backyardigans, because atleast their music sounds good, lol.
Ok, hope this post helped you guys out!
:waving4: