Issues with Regent in '01 Suburban

[AuLait]

First off, thank you for such a wonderful site packed with information

I'm gonna hit you with a long description here, so bear with with me!

I'm having major issues with installing our Regent in our '01 Suburban in the third row. We have captain chairs second row and a full length third row. We have a new baby arriving in May and so we were going to move our 4 and 3 year old to the 3rd row and put the baby in one of the captain chairs.

Our 4 year old is in the outboard position in the Regent (due to the size of the Regent and the 3yo's Roundabout, center install isn't an option). He is nearing 50 lbs, so we need to install the seat with the tether. The lap belt is too short for the long route, but we simply cannot get a tight install with the short route.The buckle is at an odd angle, right at where the seat belt threads through the seat and even when the belt feels tight, the seat moves around. We cinched it down with the tether and this helps, but it still wiggles what I feel is too much (husband doesn't think its too much).

We do have a tether available on one of the captain chairs but that would mean (for accessibility reasons we'll have one captain chair folded down) that the newborn would have to sit in the 3rd row which isn't ideal.

We do have a Parkway booster and that does fit much better, but then I stress over safety, knowing how the harness is safer.

My questions are this: Is there advice you can give for getting a tight installation in the 3rd row? And if I'm not able to get a tight install, should I use the Parkway instead or try to figure out a different seating configuration?

Many thanks!

	Booster Seat A booster seat raises your child up so that the car's lap and shoulder belts fit correctly. The lap belt should fall across the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should go across the middle of the shoulder and chest. A booster seat is used for older children up to about 80 pounds. Some states have passed laws requiring booster seats for children up to age 8 or 80 pounds. Check your state's law.

	Britax Roundabout - Click for more info With the introduction of the new LATCH laws, Britax has improved even further upon their famously popular Roundabout Convertible Car Seat. This car seat has been praised by just about every consumer safety organization and mom and dad out there - and for good reason. It is easy to install, compatible in just about every car, super comfortable for baby, stylish and most importantly safe! Ask around and you will see that everyone raves about this car seat.

	Britax Regent - Click for more info The Britax Regent is the safe way to carry your older and larger passengers, all the way up to 80 lbs. Known as the "king of all car seats," the Britax Regent will accomodate your little king or queen for far longer than traditional car seats or booster seats. The Regent features a large roto-molded shell, comfy extra-thick comfort foam, washable covers, Patented Versa-Tether™, flexible buckle LATCH system, patented HUGS™ system, and tangle-free polyester 5-point harness.

	Britax Parkway - Click for more info The new Parkway Booster from Britax builds on their company's reputation as the maker of some of the safest seats on the market today. It's one of the only boosters to offer True Side Impact Protection - the EPS foam-padded headrest and side "wings" aren't just great for naps, they're engineered to provide vital protection to your child in the event of a side-impact crash. (Side-impact crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 6-14, making this an issue of major importance for booster seats.)

[MnMadhouse]

OKay--what is the date of manufacture for the Regent?

Another idea is with lap belts, there is a locking mechanism under the plastic "buckle" that pinches the seatbelt and locks it. What you CAN do (depending on your date of manufacture) is use the short belt path, tighten it, then unbuckle the seatbelt and flip it over. This helps pinch the seatbelt and locks it.

Let me know about the date of manufacture b/c they switched up the installations for Regents in June. TY!

	Britax Regent - Click for more info The Britax Regent is the safe way to carry your older and larger passengers, all the way up to 80 lbs. Known as the "king of all car seats," the Britax Regent will accomodate your little king or queen for far longer than traditional car seats or booster seats. The Regent features a large roto-molded shell, comfy extra-thick comfort foam, washable covers, Patented Versa-Tether™, flexible buckle LATCH system, patented HUGS™ system, and tangle-free polyester 5-point harness.

[AuLait]

Thanks for the reply!

The date of manufacture is 3/30/06.

I think I might have misspoke though... I'm trying to install the Regent with the shoulder belt, not a lap belt. Sorry about that!

It baffles me that the shoulder belt on the captains chair is more than long enough for the seat, but the one in the third row is about 2 inches short.

Thanks again for your help.

	Britax Regent - Click for more info The Britax Regent is the safe way to carry your older and larger passengers, all the way up to 80 lbs. Known as the "king of all car seats," the Britax Regent will accomodate your little king or queen for far longer than traditional car seats or booster seats. The Regent features a large roto-molded shell, comfy extra-thick comfort foam, washable covers, Patented Versa-Tether™, flexible buckle LATCH system, patented HUGS™ system, and tangle-free polyester 5-point harness.

[MnMadhouse]

I wanted to make sure b/c they changed the installs June 2007 and I wanted to make sure!

You can have it installed either way. 3rd rows are so picky! I can't get a good install on my 3rd row b/c the buckles are in the middle of the seat

Okay, when you are installing the seat with the seatbelt, using the short belt path, does this seatbelt lock? You can tell if it locks by pulling the seatbelt all the way out (the shoulder belt) until it stops, then when you let it back it, does it make a racheting sounds *click click click*? If it does, then that means you switched it to being a locking seatbelt. If it does NOT, you may have to use a locking clip. Also, the female buckle (where the seatbelt clicks into), does it have LONG webbing or a really long plastic cover?

Our 03 Tahoe and 95 suburban have the long webbing on the end of the buckle, so I have to twist it down (up to 3 times) to get it to where teh buckle wasn't IN the belt path and to get a tight install (except on the Tahoe as the 3rd row installs are not good installs--I only had like 10 minutes to play with it, so I need to get back out there and try it again--after the winter!)