Hi there I have a questions about the Britax Regent I just recently bought it for my son he is about 35# and the install instructions seem confusing! Does anyone have this seat that could help me out! Thanks so much for any replys!
M.:)
I'd also suggest going to a Fire Department to have it installed. My husband is a firefighter and had to take a 40 HOUR CLASS to learn all the ins and outs of installing car seats correctly! That being said, they should be pros and can probably save you a lot of time and effort :) Good luck!
There are two belt paths for installation, short belt path for over 40lbs, and long belt path for under 40lbs. You can use the short belt path for under 40lbs too, and when my boys started using the Regent they were around 35lbs, I just installed short belt path to make sure they didn't pass up 40lbs with the long belt path installation. At this point I would skip the LATCH installation because most cars LATCH only works to 40lbs, and he's close enough to that to not bother.
First put the recline bar on. It won't stay in on its own, so get a rubber mallet and pound it in a little (it will say this in the instructions too.) Then sit your son in the seat and adjust the harness to be at the slot that is just at or just above his shoulders. You do not want it below his shoulders for forward facing, this is dangerous and in a crash if the harness is below his shoulders can cause spinal compression.
once you get it adjusted to fit your son in the house, take it out to the car for installation. If you run it the long belt path, the seat belt goes up over the seat, then down at the bottom through the belt path, then back up over the seat and buckle the belt. If you choose short belt path, thread it through the back of the seat and through the seat (make sure it goes under the padding and cover, don't go above the cover or padding for short belt path, the belt should be against the plastic). Then back the seat and buckle.
Read your vehicle manual to learn how to lock your seatbelts. Once you get the belt threaded through and buckled, lock the seat belt, then pull on the shoulder portion of the belt by the buckle to tighten the lap belt. Push the front of the seat in with your knees so the recline bar goes into the back of the seat, then climb into the seat and use your body weight to tighten the belt down, and then let it retract back into the car.
THe Manual can be confusing, but it does have some good pictures. Where are you located? There are alot of SAFEKIDS checkpoints in the MPLS area, a good one in Rogers at the Chevy dealership that is a Safekids checkpoint. If you were closer to me (I'm near Monticello) I would help you! I can get the Regent out of one car and into antoher in less than 5mins.3yrs of practice doing it!
Good luck, and if you need hlep find a safekids contact, read the manual step by step while installing, and send me a pm if you have a question.
And don't forget to hook the top tether! Its very important and required over 40lbs!
I have that seat and love it but it is challenging to install. Latch/anchors is the easiest to install if you can't do that then I suggest having a carseat tech install it for you and teach you how to install it. There is the short belt path and long belt path. I can't get it tight/strudy enough in my car with the short belt path so I use the long belt path.
This website is full of experts than can help you:
This is a another mom website and they have a carseat chat group that is also helpful
We bought the Britax Roundabout and I agree that the instructions are very confusing. Our car is a little older (2000) so it had different instructions for cars without the updated latches. I went on line to their website and you can watch demos on how to install it and that really helped us. Good luck!
Take the car seat to the local fire or police department they will be able to show you how to install it the correct way.
