https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:37:38 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852047 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 12:16:09 +0000 Foodnerd81 2852047@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a britax frontier- which wasn’t cheap! After reading the link @catgirl: posted I still feel good about keeping my 43 lb 5 year old harnessed in it. She’s not mature enough for a seatbelt yet. But I’ll keep an eye on this as she gets closer to the higher weight limit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852046 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:57:51 +0000 kiddosc 2852046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catgirl: Thanks for the additional link. </p> <p>I think it's interesting that crash testing procedures haven't been updated in 15 years and that seats are designed to pass a test that wouldn't be reproducible in modern vehicles. The seats in my car certainly are not flat and cars aren't even allowed to be sold without a shoulder belt anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852045 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:54:14 +0000 peachykeen 2852045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catgirl: This makes me feel a lot better. </p> <p>Given that the Cosco isn't our everyday seat, I feel like it's safer to use it while traveling rather than risk damaging our nicer seats or not using a car seat at all. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852044 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:47:27 +0000 hitchhiker 2852044@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh. I bought the Britax Frontier a few weeks ago for my 5.5 year old. She's still under 40 pounds, so she needs to be harnessed. I think I will just leave her in the Britax for now, but it's making me think...</p> <p>@catgirl: thanks for posting the csftl link. It's very thoughtful. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852041 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:37:09 +0000 catgirl 2852041@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm still figuring out how I feel about these results. We were planning on buying a britax pioneer or frontier for my mom's car for DD to ride in. She is tall, especially in her torso, and there are not many seats that will last her a long time. I'm not sure what we will decide to do yet. </p> <p>I also liked this article a bit more than the one from the car seat blog:</p> <p><a href="https://csftl.org/consumer-reports-combination-car-seat-report/" rel="nofollow">https://csftl.org/consumer-reports-combination-car-seat-report/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852039 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:33:25 +0000 peachykeen 2852039@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh, we just bought the Finale in the spring as our travel seat (it's SO lightweight!) and DD1 rode around in it in Europe when she was still 3.5. If it's really only the higher weight range that it doesn't perform well for, I may continue using it as an infrequent travel seat until she's ready for a booster (pending more information). Hopefully if it's really unsafe they will do a recall. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/fyi-major-failure-of-popular-combination-seats#post-2852033 Thu, 18 Oct 2018 11:12:02 +0000 kiddosc 2852033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Over the last several years, Consumer Reports has been conducting more stringent safety testing beyond that required by the government, to be able to rank the seats on the market as Good, Better, Best. They are just now conducting testing on combination seats (seats that go from a forward facing harness to a booster seat) and discovered that several very popular brands of seats had MAJOR structural failures near the top of their weight range when used in harness mode. There haven't been any official recalls yet, but I know that many people here have mentioned owning these seats: </p> <p>Britax Frontier ClickTight Harness-2-Booster<br /> Britax Pioneer Harness-2-Booster<br /> Cosco Finale DX<br /> Harmony Defender 360 </p> <p>Here is the actual article from consumer reports:<br /> <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-car-seats-from-britax-cosco-harmony-break-in-consumer-reports-tests/" rel="nofollow">https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-car-seats-from-britax-cosco-harmony-break-in-consumer-reports-tests/</a></p> <p>And a recap and some recommendations:<br /> <a href="https://carseatblog.com/46164/consumer-reports-crash-test-findings-britax-frontier-and-pioneer-cosco-finale-harmony-defender-receive-basic-rating/?fbclid=IwAR0vF8_M4uMCMziGzlSbXXkWJpnpRV5eobFeBs0QrNuBqYmppE2CjyFreuQ" rel="nofollow">https://carseatblog.com/46164/consumer-reports-crash-test-findings-britax-frontier-and-pioneer-cosco-finale-harmony-defender-receive-basic-rating/?fbclid=IwAR0vF8_M4uMCMziGzlSbXXkWJpnpRV5eobFeBs0QrNuBqYmppE2CjyFreuQ</a> </p>