Graco convertibles harness tightener

[acmom]

We are looking at Graco convertibles for DD2 (10 months, 18 lbs). Do they all have that same metal lever for tightening the harness? The ones we tried were a little tricky to tighten. I would really like an easier, smoother push button (like her Chicco infant seat or the Britax seats we had for the older kids).

[gymnbomb]

Do you mean the one you push to loosen the harness? Is it the tightening part you are having trouble with? Which specific seats? We have a Graco Milestone with is sooooo easy to tighten the harness, I love it! We also have an Extend2Fit 3 in 1 that is pretty easy to tighten. I have heard the regular Extend2Fits can be hard at first, but do get easier as they get broken in. I also just learned that if you pull the slack out of the harness from behind the seat, which is super easy to do on open backed seats, it makes it much easier to tighten. (Ease of tightening is really important to me -- I got rid of a 3 year old Chicco NextFit because it was IMPOSSIBLE to tighten. Although I heard that was a common problem in the early models that has been at least somewhat fixed now.)

[acmom]

Yes, the button/lever you push as the bottom to loosen the harness and then strap you pull to tighten. I just installed a size4me (which I think is the same as the fit4me and mysize 65) that I grabbed on sale for DH's car. It's not a huge deal for his car bc it's a backup seat and she only will ride in it occasionally. But I need to get a 2nd for my car but want the tightening to be easier since it will be her everyday seat! I was going to look at other Gracos (hoping to save a little over the Britax we had for other kids) but if that metal piece is the same on all, I'll pay for the Britax!!


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[acmom]

Yes, the button/lever you push as the bottom to loosen the harness and then strap you pull to tighten. I just installed a size4me (which I think is the same as the fit4me and mysize 65) that I grabbed on sale for DH's car. It's not a huge deal for his car bc it's a backup seat and she only will ride in it occasionally. But I need to get a 2nd seat for my car but want the tightening to be easier since it will be her everyday seat! I was going to look at other Gracos (hoping to save a little over the Britax we had for other kids) but if that metal piece is the same on all, I'll pay for the Britax!!


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

[gymnbomb]

Yes, the button/lever you push as the bottom to loosen the harness and then strap you pull to tighten. I just installed a size4me (which I think is the same as the fit4me and mysize 65) that I grabbed on sale for DH's car. It's not a huge deal for his car bc it's a backup seat and she only will ride in it occasionally. But I need to get a 2nd for my car but want the tightening to be easier since it will be her everyday seat! I was going to look at other Gracos (hoping to save a little over the Britax we had for other kids) but if that metal piece is the same on all, I'll pay for the Britax!!


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains

I don't think the problem is the piece of metal -- I think the difference is due to the harness system design itself, which is not the same in all Graco seats. Because I have noticed some with the metal lever are really easy, others are not, and I am fairly sure the Chicco seat with the really awful harness had a different kind of button. I expected to love it because I loved our Chicco infant seat, but it was a whole different beast

That said, get the seat you love, because you don't want to hate it every single time you use it!! If you're looking at the Britax Clicktights, look at the crotch strap and make sure it isn't going to be short enough that it bothers you or your child -- that's really the only big complaint I've heard about them. If you're looking at Graco, the Milestone and Extend2Fit 3 in 1 (and maybe 4Ever?) have a different harness system than some of the other seats and it does make a big difference, but they are in the $180-250 range depending on sales.