Clek Foonf Car Seat

SandyEggo5 · August 2013

Hi ladies! If you have a Clek Foonf, would you mind sharing your thoughts about it? What do you think of it? How do you like it? Pros? Cons? Would you recommend it? I'm thinking about getting one and would love to hear from anyone who has experience with one. TIA!

miabambina · August 2013

I have it, and have been using it for four months now. My son is a big boy and we wanted to be able to rear face as long as possible. The install was super easy. I love the magnets for the straps. The material is so easy to wipe clean, it's seriously amazing. The weight is actually something that draws me to it, it's such a solid seat. But we will not be moving from car to car or traveling with it, so it doesn't need to be easy to move. He is super comfy in it.

eyenigh · August 2013

miabambina said:

I have it, and have been using it for four months now. My son is a big boy and we wanted to be able to rear face as long as possible. The install was super easy. I love the magnets for the straps. The material is so easy to wipe clean, it's seriously amazing. The weight is actually something that draws me to it, it's such a solid seat. But we will not be moving from car to car or traveling with it, so it doesn't need to be easy to move. He is super comfy in it.

All of this. My son is super tall and the seat is a great fit for him. The seat really is built like a tank, too. I feel like if there were an accident, the seat would survive better than any other part of the car!

ebp913 · August 2013

The Foonf is the only seat on the market that allows you to use LATCH and the seat belt for forward facing so you actually can get use out of it even with the LATCH weight limits.

ebp913 · August 2013

LibbyLouHoo said:

ebp913 said:

The Foonf is the only seat on the market that allows you to use LATCH and the seat belt for forward facing so you actually can get use out of it even with the LATCH weight limits.

Hmm. There is nothing that I can find in the manual that says that both can be used. It does say you have to do a seat belt install once your child reaches 48 pounds forward facing or 40 pounds rear facing though.
https://www.clekinc.com/pdfs/foonf_Owners_Manual_US_EN.pdf

It's a new change and it's not in the manual yet. Was told it should be added soon. I talked to a Clek CPST about it and I am positive it is true.

LyndseylovesHugh · August 2013

ebp913 said:

LibbyLouHoo said:

ebp913 said:

The Foonf is the only seat on the market that allows you to use LATCH and the seat belt for forward facing so you actually can get use out of it even with the LATCH weight limits.

Hmm. There is nothing that I can find in the manual that says that both can be used. It does say you have to do a seat belt install once your child reaches 48 pounds forward facing or 40 pounds rear facing though.
https://www.clekinc.com/pdfs/foonf_Owners_Manual_US_EN.pdf

It's a new change and it's not in the manual yet. Was told it should be added soon. I talked to a Clek CPST about it and I am positive it is true.

This is what they told me too and they will be coming out with an updated manual soon.

We LOVE ours! Like others have said, it is very heavy but that was a draw to us. We do not move it, it stays in my car and that is where she rides 99% of the time. We bought a less expensive seat for my H's car. It was very easy to install, but it would be a PITA to move from car to car because of the weight. I feel so safe with her in it, I LOVE the material, it wipes clean so easily. Most importantly, I love that I will be able to RF her for a long time. Other PPs have mentioned that it sits up high and that is true. It does not make it harder to put her in my car, and she likes being able to see out of the window, but it does sit so high that when I put it behind the passenger seat I could not see out of that window. Luckily it is not a huge seat front to back so it fit fine behind the driver seat (I drive a VW Tiguan, which is a small SUV and my 6'1' husband can sit comfortably in the drivers seat with the Foonf RFing behind it). I love this seat so much that even though it was expensive I will not even hesitate to buy another one when we have another baby.

ETA: Their customer service is amazing! If you get one, or if you are on the fence, "like" their facebook page and they will answer any question you have. I was concerned it would not fit in my car and they actually had pictures of it RFing in a VW Tiguan to show me and even knew how far up the front seat was with it installed.

LittleApple · August 2013

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

GirlWithTheMostCake · August 2013

I would buy a Foonf 50 times over. Crash tested 30% better than the best seat on the market and they actually released their results. It is built like a tank. Rear facing longer is a huge plus. I'm hoping to do that until 3 at the very least. Easy to install, amazing fabric that doesn't stain. I think the seat is just better than every other on the market and I do realize it was more expensive, but I wanted to make sure that was the best and saved on other things. If you are concerned about reaching Latch limits it can be seatbelted and LATCHed together. It's been tested that way for anyone who wants to do it.

Habs2Hart · August 2013

We were given one as a shower gift. We're a long way off of using it, but a friend of mine has it and loves it. The fact that the frame is steel instead of plastic really appealed to me.

kmc84 · August 2013

GirlWithTheMostCake said:
I would buy a Foonf 50 times over. Crash tested 30% better than the best
seat on the market and they actually released their results. It is
built like a tank. Rear facing longer is a huge plus. I'm hoping to do
that until 3 at the very least. Easy to install, amazing fabric that
doesn't stain. I think the seat is just better than every other on the
market and I do realize it was more expensive, but I wanted to make
sure that was the best and saved on other things. If you are concerned about reaching Latch limits it can be seatbelted and LATCHed together. It's been tested that way for anyone who wants to do it.

The crash results you are referencing are simply not true. All car seats are crash tested pass/fail only by the NHTSA. The variations in performance are not released. Clek may have done their own crash testing, but we have no idea of knowing what their testing consisted of. If a seat is used correctly 100% of the time, it does not matter if the seat was $50 or $500. You pay more for bells and whistles, not safety.

Just to clarify another statement you made, the LATCH and seatbelt can be used together only in forward facing mode and ONLY with this specific car seat. Please pay close attention to the LATCH weight limits of your vehicle.

ebp913 · August 2013

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.

kmc84 · August 2013

ebp913 said:

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.

No, you are wrong. The REACT system in the Foonf has nothing to do with LATCH. REACT is the crumple zone of the steel frame. It is in no way integrated with LATCH.

ebp913 · August 2013

kmc84 said:

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.
No, you are wrong. The REACT system in the Foonf has nothing to do with LATCH. REACT is the crumple zone of the steel frame. It is in no way integrated with LATCH.

Sorry but that's not true. See this thread and the responses from the Clek CPST.

https://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=245019&page=3

kmc84 · August 2013

ebp913 said:

kmc84 said:

ebp913 said:

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.

No, you are wrong. The REACT system in the Foonf has nothing to do with LATCH. REACT is the crumple zone of the steel frame. It is in no way integrated with LATCH.

Sorry but that's not true. See this thread and the responses from the Clek CPST.

https://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=245019&page=3

Very interesting. Thank you for that link. I hope they get their updated manuals released ASAP. I would have liked to have seen an answer about the REACT performance with out rigid LATCH since the rear facing LATCH is not rigid.

ebp913 · August 2013

kmc84 said:

kmc84 said:

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.
No, you are wrong. The REACT system in the Foonf has nothing to do with LATCH. REACT is the crumple zone of the steel frame. It is in no way integrated with LATCH.

Sorry but that's not true. See this thread and the responses from the Clek CPST.

https://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=245019&page=3
Very interesting. Thank you for that link. I hope they get their updated manuals released ASAP. I would have liked to have seen an answer about the REACT performance with out rigid LATCH since the rear facing LATCH is not rigid.

I know its a little confusing that the one is somewhat contingent on the other. I feel like I didn't realize that was true from their website, I only saw it on that thread.

kmc84 · August 2013

ebp913 said:

kmc84 said:

ebp913 said:

kmc84 said:

ebp913 said:

LittleApple said:

Why would you even want to use both LATCH and Seat belt at the same time?

Their seat has technology they call REACT which helps absorb the forces of an accident through the LATCH system. So you'd want to be using LATCH to take advantage of that.

No, you are wrong. The REACT system in the Foonf has nothing to do with LATCH. REACT is the crumple zone of the steel frame. It is in no way integrated with LATCH.

Sorry but that's not true. See this thread and the responses from the Clek CPST.

https://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=245019&page=3

Very interesting. Thank you for that link. I hope they get their updated manuals released ASAP. I would have liked to have seen an answer about the REACT performance with out rigid LATCH since the rear facing LATCH is not rigid.

I know its a little confusing that the one is somewhat contingent on the other. I feel like I didn't realize that was true from their website, I only saw it on that thread.
The website is a bit misleading. The thread was very helpful. My humble apologies for saying you were wrong

GirlWithTheMostCake · August 2013

kmc84 said:

I would buy a Foonf 50 times over. Crash tested 30% better than the best seat on the market and they actually released their results. It is built like a tank. Rear facing longer is a huge plus. I'm hoping to do that until 3 at the very least. Easy to install, amazing fabric that doesn't stain. I think the seat is just better than every other on the market and I do realize it was more expensive, but I wanted to make sure that was the best and saved on other things. If you are concerned about reaching Latch limits it can be seatbelted and LATCHed together. It's been tested that way for anyone who wants to do it.
The crash results you are referencing are simply not true. All car seats are crash tested pass/fail only by the NHTSA. The variations in performance are not released. Clek may have done their own crash testing, but we have no idea of knowing what their testing consisted of. If a seat is used correctly 100% of the time, it does not matter if the seat was $50 or $500. You pay more for bells and whistles, not safety. Just to clarify another statement you made, the LATCH and seatbelt can be used together only in forward facing mode and ONLY with this specific car seat. Please pay close attention to the LATCH weight limits of your vehicle.

Your statement is incorrect. Yes, all car seats go through PASS / FAIL testing and if they pass they are deemed safe and sellable in the US. However, that does not mean in any way that all seats are created equal. Many companies go above and beyond to add their own convenience features, bells and whistles and additional safety. There is no standard of testing in the US for that additional testing. And yes, ALL companies do their own independent testing. That testing is always more intense than what the govt requires. Sadly, NHTSA's testing is pretty lame to say the least. It's up to the parent to make their own final decisions. I personally chose an Orbit car seat for my newborn because I wanted a seat that was completely lined in foam and not partially. I also considered the Cybex Aton for that reason, but I liked the EPP foam in the Orbit over the EPS. As parents it is up to us to do our research and deduce what is best for us and of course what fits best in our cars. Simply saying they are all equal and all fine is just not the case. That's like saying all cars are the same. It's what NHTSA wants us to say. And the independent crash results by CLEK were released. To my knowledge no other company has made the decision to release their results and no other company has refuted the results of Clek, which is telling in itself.

kmc84 · August 2013

@GirlWithTheMostCake
How can Clek claim 30% better if the seats are not going through the same testing?

Also, for the record, I am not saying that the Foonf is not a good seat, I am considering it for my own LO when she will fit in it.

Habs2Hart · August 2013

kmc84 said:

@GirlWithTheMostCake How can Clek claim 30% better if the seats are not going through the same testing? Also, for the record, I am not saying that the Foonf is not a good seat, I am considering it for my own LO when she will fit in it.

Would you trust plastic or steel in an accident better? That's a pretty good indication right there. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the foonf and realize that it's a far superior product in design to many of the other plastic base car seats out there. And that's just to an uneducated eye, not to an engineer.

ebp913 · August 2013

Habs2Hart said:

kmc84 said:

@GirlWithTheMostCake How can Clek claim 30% better if the seats are not going through the same testing? Also, for the record, I am not saying that the Foonf is not a good seat, I am considering it for my own LO when she will fit in it.

Would you trust plastic or steel in an accident better? That's a pretty good indication right there. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the foonf and realize that it's a far superior product in design to many of the other plastic base car seats out there. And that's just to an uneducated eye, not to an engineer.

You can think that yourself but you just can't know that that is true. Plastic may bend better and absorb better in an accident than steel and that's why people discourage making blanket statements about the safety comparisons of different car seats. Literally, there is no way to know that an all plastic seat doesn't perform better than one with steel. You cannot know this information. You can decide that it's better for you for whatever reason but it isn't "safer".

kmc84 · August 2013

Habs2Hart said:

kmc84 said:

@GirlWithTheMostCake
How can Clek claim 30% better if the seats are not going through the same testing?

Also, for the record, I am not saying that the Foonf is not a good seat, I am considering it for my own LO when she will fit in it.

Would you trust plastic or steel in an accident better? That's a pretty good indication right there. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the foonf and realize that it's a far superior product in design to many of the other plastic base car seats out there. And that's just to an uneducated eye, not to an engineer.

I agree with everything epb913 stated above.

Car seats are one time use safety devices. Plastic or steel, they are designed to absorb the forces of a crash to lessen the force directed to the child. All car seats on the market have passed the same standardized testing. You said yourself that you are not an engineer and neither am I. We do not have any knowledge as the the functionality of carseat design to be able to say that one is safer than another. I would be equally comfortable putting my baby in (for example) a plastic Graco or the steel Foonf.

Meery82 · August 2013

I thought about getting the Foonf, but I just couldn't get past the price. And we would need 3, one for my car, DHs car, and my mom's car. Lots of $$! It looks like a quality seat though. Unfortunately, there aren't any local stores where I could see it in person. We ended up going with Chicco Nextfits. They are very nice seats with a tall shell to allow for longer rear facing (which I really had to beat that concept into my husband's head- somehow he didn't get the need! But that's a whole other topic) with a smaller price tag (plus I was able to get them cheaper with coupons and sales).

Meether · September 2013

We recently got one bc we got rid of our britax advocate. We like it so far, I have a pseudo suv (very very small Infiniti ex35) and had to find a slim seat, which is why we ended up looking at it. DD is 3 and we turned her forward facing in it. It seems very well made, but I'm not a carseat buff so I can't go into functions and specifications. We have an orbit baby in DH's car and we like that also.

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