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@looch: it has a 9 year life. So it does expire.
@zippylef: This is a great spreadsheet! Thanks for finding/posting it. Yeah, I hear ya about the booster, too. But I've read the booster isn't all that great. And the straps on the Radian are difficult to adjust tighter/looser (not a smooth pull like infant seats). But I know the Radian will fit in my vehicle! And it seems to have more internal room. But then that means the side-walls are thinner, so does that make the seat less safe?
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@allison: I wish this seat had been available when I purchased our convertible. Really, 9 years beats my Britax.
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@allison: I don't think the thinner is necessarily a bad thing and I don't think it makes it less safe. I did read that the Foonf is narrow in the inside and might not be ideal for babies with broad shoulders.
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@zippylef: Yeah, basically my child is large and I want to get whatever he will fit in the longest. He's longer, percentile-wise (97th) than weight (~87th). That spreadsheet actually had the Foonf's highest harness height at 17in, so that's another point against them, with the Radian at 17.5.
It's looking like the Radian, for us. Dammit. What about you?
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@allison: Honestly, it's looking Radian for us too. I think the extra inches of buckle height and the roomier interior is doing it for me.
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@zippylef: Yeah. Well, it was fun to dream!
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@allison: Meh, just saved me $130!
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Well, after going back and forth (and back and forth), we finally decided to pull the trigger on the Foonf! Just ordered it from Amazon. Ultimately, what made my decision was that the company seems to be a really great, honest one. The seats are made in North America (Canada). And it installs more tightly and easier than the Radian (I read that some vehicles don't agree well with the Radian).
We'll see if it lives up to the hype!
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@allison: Let me know! We still havent pulled the trigger on either one.
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@zippylef: FWIW, we have four radian 120s (no headwings) and really like them. Don't need the angle adjusters in our odyssey or explorer, and got an easy, tight install. We got ours for $200 each, so even if you want to rxt, watch for sales at diapers.com, albeebaby, justkidsstore, etc. and you should be able to get it cheaper. I also just realized we can RF tether, so we're taking care of that tonight.
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@allison: I am excited to see what you think! The more I see about this seat, the more I like it!
Eta: what fabric did you get?
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@zippylef: @LovelyPlum: I'll post photos when I get it!
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We bought one last night. We compared it with the Radian (which was our other option), and the Clek was just so much better in terms of construction.
Our DS is almost 5 months and already outgrowing his infant seat (he's almost 29'' tall), so we really wanted a carseat to accommodate his height.
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@ValentineMommy: Ah! What color did you get? We got the green one.
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We saw the Foonf in a store in Boston last weekend. It looked really solid, but felt super hard, too.
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@allison: All black. I really wanted the faux hawk print, but couldn't justify the price difference just for a pattern...especially when it's already so expensive.
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Installed!
The seat seems really solid (it's very heavy), and it actually was a pretty easy install. The manual is a pain in the ass, though. It tells you to "see section on ____", but doesn't tell you where that section is, so I was constantly flipping back and forth through the manual, trying to find all the instructions I needed.
Here's some photos. It fits in between the two front seats pretty easily. The carseat is reclined all the way, and the driver's seat is all the way back.
Sorry the first pic is so blurry...
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How does your lo seem to like it? I showed this seat to dh and he wants to look into getting one too when our daughter is ready.
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Okay, that's it! I want one! 3/4 of the way down on the manufacturers site & I see THREE ACROSS! We could easily put P in it for the rest of her RF & FF carseat years and maybe by the time she's ready for a FF booster we could upgrade the next into it..... maybe. lol
We spent almost 200 on P's Combi & it has a pretty short lifespan in terms of height/weight limits so I think I could easily swing the justification to spend more on something that would last SO much longer!
@allison: You wouldn't happen to know how long their lifespan is would do, what's the expiration time?
ETA: WHOA I just saw on the carseatblog it's got a NINE YEAR lifespan! totally worth it!
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This looks awesome! Thanks for the pics. Can I ask, what kind of car do you have it installed in?
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@runsyellowlites: the three across sold me on it too! Well, that and the safety features
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@rrachael: we actually haven't tried it out yet! I keep wanting to just drive somewhere, just so we can try LO out in it. We're going to Asheville tomorrow, so I'll update after that.
@runsyellowlites: yes, 9 years! It has the longest usage time and the highest height/weight limits (though, depending on the proportions of the kid, the Radian may actually win out on the limits, not including the Radian's booster).
@LovelyPlum: This is a 2007 Jeep Liberty. It has the smallest backseat (fore-aft), and the Foonf fits, no problem.
Three-across is a great feature! The Radian has this, as well.
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@rrachael: @runsyellowlites: @LovelyPlum: @zippylef:
Update on the seat after our day trip:
Getting him in and out of the seat was a bit more difficult than with the infant seat, because it sits so high up and my baby is heavy. I have to liiiift him up into it, making sure not to hit his head on the ceiling! I do like that the straps can pull out really far so you can drape the clips over the sides and out of the way while putting baby in. The seat also has magnets on the sides to hold the metal part of the buckles, but I don't think they're strong enough to be very useful.
The biggest problem we had was with head slump when he would fall asleep. The head rest/wings are a separate piece which raises the level of the head in relation to the body (does that make sense?). That, accompanied with the fact that it doesn't sit at a 45 degree angle, caused my LOs head to fall forward when he fell asleep. I tried to move it to the side a few times, and sometimes it would stay. But sometimes it wouldn't. I looked it up on car-seat.org, and found reference to it being addressed by Clek's president (I think?). Search for "head slump" at the link, but it's toward the bottom of the OP.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=214206He was much more chatty than usual; I think it was because he could see out of the windows for the first time! Some might be concerned about over-stimulation, but because the seat is a convertible (so only used after baby can sit up well), I don't really think it's an issue. My LO would chat for a bit, then go to sleep. He definitely didn't sleep as well as he would in the infant bucket, but that's to be expected, I suppose (
).We actually tweaked the install to attempt to get more of an angle, and I think we were successful. Can't be sure until we test it out with the baby, though.
This thing is rock-solid. It is just a beast of a seat and I definitely feel very good about my child sitting in it (and I am VERY particular when it comes to safety gear).
If you have any more questions, let me know! And if you get one, let me know, too!
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@allison: I've seen the head slump as an issue for quite a few convertibles! And I do think that overall infant seats are easier to get a child in & out of (usually because the seat is out of the car when putting the child in it.)
The only thing I'm concerned about it how tall it is... and if I'd be able to see over it! lol
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@runsyellowlites: I don't think the height would be an issue now, but it might be as you need to raise the head rest, before you turn FF. If it will fit behind your driver's seat, that would probably be the best place for it, visibility-wise.
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@allison: have you tried cutting a pool noodle to get a better recline? At his age the recline is more for comfort than safety, which is why it's more important in infant seats compared to convertibles.
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This is not helpful information, but I just have to share. Every time I see this thread pop up, I think that "Clek Foonf" can't possibly be the name of something! It sounds like Joey (Friends) speaking French
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@allison: If you vehicle allows for multiple reclines then you could definitely try the pool noodle to give a more comfortable recline (per the manuals recline instructions of course)... it did say you could use a pool noodle to get the necessary incline though.
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@Shutterbug: I think it's been pretty successful in getting thread hits!
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@runsyellowlites: the manual said you could use one?
@mrs. bird: I haven't even thought about this because the base doesn't seem like it would sit well with the noodle. I'll have to see how he does with it now, but I may be doing this. We've got an 8 hour road trip coming up and I'd really like him to be as comfortable as possible so he'll sleep a lot!
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@allison: yep! page 30!
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@runsyellowlites: "..."if vehicle owner's manual allows multiple positions..."
What does this mean?! I've read through the child restraint section in my vehicle manual, and don't see anything about this, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for...?
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@allison: Some seats have more than one recline position for rear facing... I didn't check the foonf so that's what I meant. Depending on what the manual says the recline needs to be at. From my understanding some vehicles have different allowance & restrictions... if it doesn't say anything about it in there then I would just go by the foonf manual.
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@runsyellowlites: I still don't really understand, but whatever! I'm just going to go with the car seat manual, like you said
I'm totally going to do the pool noodle if his head slumps still. Thank you for the suggestion!
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@hilsy85: I had never heard of that blog before. The author's review of the car seat was very comprehensive. But I am now mostly intersted in what the other Hello Bee members have had to say about her. In any event, I will be checking out her blog sometime soon!
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@allison: which infant car seat did you use/ like?
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I got the Maxi Cosi Mico. It gets great reviews, has side impact protection, and, because it's a European brand, has a smaller footprint than most. But I regret getting it because it has a lower weight/height limit than most other infant seats. My LO was in the 50th percentile until he was born! Now he's 97th...
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@allison: I just ordered the Clek Foonf in Paul Frank Heart Shades (it should be here tomorrow). We are getting a second Foonf for DH's car (but his car won't be here until August, so he hasn't picked the fabric yet!) Thank you so much for this thread and for making me aware of this awesome beast of a car seat!
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@MsLipGloss: omg this is so cute! I already bought britax advocates for both kids otherwise I'd totally get this!
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@MsLipGloss: Love that print!!!!!! I'm pretty sure I have DH on board to get us some.... tehe
).
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