News from ABC! Because my technology is failing me, the accompanying photos for this blog will be posted on our FB page.
Britax
New fashions! Pretty and soft.
The First Years
Their new combo seat, the B830, is not expected out until the middle of next year.
The new Via 35 (or just plain Via) is out now.
To quash the rumors, the True Fit has not been tested to 40 lbs and there’s no plan on further testing.
Diono
The new Radians are very similar to the old Radians; however, the inside dimensions are about 2″ wider than the old seats and LATCH is recommended for use in booster mode (yay!). For a rf child, the height limit is 1.5″ from the top of the seat or 44″ overall height (but focus on the 1.5″!).
Chicco
Chicco has a new Liteway stroller out around 3rd qtr of 2012 that converts to accept the KeyFit without an adapter bar. Nice!
Graco
Graco has some new offerings, some based on old platforms, some brand new.
The My Ride 65 featuring Safety Surround Side Impact Protection is a My Ride with their new Safety Surround Side Impact Protection in the head restraint in the seat. It attaches through the harness slots when the child is short and as the child is taller, the Safety Surround is built into the sides. It’s basically the My Ride weight limits EXCEPT that it starts at 4 lbs! So 4-40 lbs rf, 20-65 lbs ff. The Safety Surround Side Impact Protection is tested to Euro side impact standards and isdue out at Babies R Us in November of this year. Price point is $179.
The Turbo High Back is also redesigned with Safety Surround. It’s much more squarish in shape and offers more head protection in addition to more torso protection, and its tested to the Euro standard like the My Ride. $69 price point.
The Classic Ride 50 is–you guessed–the classic ComfortSport shell with a 4-40 lbs rf weight limit and 20-50 lbs ff. They were able to get down to 4 lbs with added infant padding. The ComfortSport will still be sold.
*New* is the My Size 65 convertible. 4-40 lbs rf, 20-65 lbs ff with an adjustable 8 position no-rethread harness. Crotch strap slots are at (approx since it’s still a prototype) 5.5″ and 7″. Top harness height is around 18-18.5″. Just like the My Ride, there’s a separate LATCH strap for each belt path. Price point is $179 and production begins in February.
The Argos and Argos Elite are upgrades to the Nautilus platform. Argos 70 has no rethread harness, 70 lbs upper weight limit for the harness and 120 lbs for the no back booster. The Elite version has belt lock-offs and width adjustable head support.
And, as reported on our FB page, the SnugRide 35 has a new lower weight limit of 4 lbs accomplished by a nice infant insert with padding between the crotch and the buckle.
Canadian news on the My Ride: they’re in the final stages of testing. Soon!
Evenflo
Amp fashions are updated and cool. Lots of color!
*New* is the Securekid 300/400. It’s based on the Maestro shell with a movable headrest. Top slots are about 18-18.5″. The 300 is the basic seat and the 400 has E3 technology and SureLATCH on it. The 300 does have push-on LATCH connectors. Price point is $129 for the 300 and $149 for the 400. They’re starting production and are hoping to ship in December (who’s going to ask for one for Christmas? 😉 ). Sorry, Canadians, this one isn’t going to Canada as of right now.
There are new fashions on the Titan, Tribute, and Triumph.
Discovery infant seat: no changes. This is the one with the Z handle.
Embrace: now 4-35 lbs and is currently shipping. This is the one with the curvy handle.
Secure Ride: 4-35 lbs with the infinite slide harness, SureLATCH connectors, and E3 tech. Price point is $179 and should start shipping in December. This is the one with the straight handle.
So, there you go. That was our Friday.
turns out they are introducing some new b safe colors to match the new stroller colors:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5usTb9dVIXg/TokGLdbMiyI/AAAAAAAAKW8/OFTiol8CaAw/s1600/image041.jpg
@LNP838, the only colors I know about for the B-Safe are the black and the red. For the Chaperone, there’s black/silver, cowmoo, green, red, moonstone (a taupe/black patterned combo), red mill (red and gray), and savannah (a taupe and black).
Did Britax have the Chaperone or B-safe in any new colors? I saw on someone else’s coverage of ABC what looked to be the B-safe in tan and lime green…just wondering if there was more.
I would love to see some new colors on the Chaperone!
@Spam, the new 4 lbs. Snug 35 should be out in the next month or so.
When will the snugride35 come with the new insert?
Susan, I totally agree – I believe it’s time that ALL new convertible and combination seats on the market are given minimum age and weight requirements in line with the AAP recommendations. In my opinion it is completely irresponsible for any manufacturer to continue to offer forward facing seats with a 20 pound minimum weight.
I’m disappointed that the manufacturers didn’t up their forward facing minimums—or at least it doesn’t seem so in your report. I wish they had aligned their seat minimums to the new AAP and NHTSA reccomendations.
Is Evenflo going to allow their handles to remain in the up position? This is such a common misuse. What about their 1.5″ clearance rule–will it continue for their infant seats?
Nice! Thanks!! Very excited to see the My Size 65 next year.
40 lbs. Rf in a comfort sport? I think they borrowed some of the crack Dorel had…
you know, for the price, the 40lb comfortsport is now even better for (bear with me here) a rearfacing-only seat for little ones (think… less expensive alternative to the coccoro)….
it’s narrow, too, so good for 3-across… if you have close-spaced kids and want to skip the infant seat and/or don’t mind buying another convertible to follow it up, it’s not bad now that they gave infant padding and the 4lb minimum.
the my size 65 and secure kid are going to be quick favorites… as with the new turbobooster… I’m glad for the narrower kids about the Monterey belt guides… but I wish they were somehow adjustable, because I loved their position for kids with broad shoulders.
The My Size 65 sounds intriguing. I may need to add one of them to my line up. Do we have any pictures?
My apologies, with having to flip between pages I missed that you’d already said the Secure Kid isn’t coming to Canada right now. I’m sure it’s because they’re already busy testing everything else to new standards, but this kinda seat would be so easy to test I’d think… it’s a shame they’re not bringing it in right away.
Couple questions I missed asking too – though you’ve probably heard them a ton… the First Years and Baby Trend combination seats – will they be released in Canada? (Also, any word on the Baby Trend infant seat and the Canadian market come new year?)
Did you happen to get any info on the Canadian snugrides? Also wondering what Canada is getting for variations on the My Ride once they’re done with the testing? 🙂
Thanks for the info. (I’ve seen some good pictures of the Monterey, belt guide is integrated differently in to the headrest so it really should fit narrower shoulders much much better – in fact I think it’ll fix it completely.)
laughing here, Judi.
Do you know if they’ve fixed any of the other issues on the Radians such as the install problems and the seat cover being hard to take off?
The Monterey wings have been fixed, but no info on how. The shoulder belt guides on it have been moved back so it should fit narrower shoulders better.
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The Securekid has an upper weight limit of 65 lbs–competition for the Nauti.
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I believe the new TB is out later this year.
Wait, are they changing the height of the comfort sport or just making it more laughable?
Oh, I like the Secure Kid. The movable headrest was all the Maestro lacked.
Really like the red/black myride cover w/ safety surround. The cover should fit on the regular myride right? I think I want it 🙂
When will the new turbo be released?
Will the new Evenflo Securekid have a higher weight limit than the Maestro?
Thank you for the update. Looks like lots of nice seats coming out. Any way you can find out what changes were made to the Diono Monterey? I’ve been told they changed the design of how the wings adjust, so they won’t open on their own.