Can someone help trouble shoot Chicco Next Fit car seat

jschmidt6 · March 2014

Hey there,
I read a gazillion reviews and did tons of research about convertible car seats before purchasing a 2014 Chicco Next Fit for my 8 month old. It seemed like the only complaint was that the harness is hard to adjust when the baby is in the seat. Well, in my opinion those reviews were spot on. My baby is 17.9lbs, on the smaller side and obviously he's rear facing. My problem is that with the head support lowered down all the way so that it fits his head, the harness is 100% maxed out with no slack. So I can't make it loser and it seems tight. Since its winter he's been wearing a light sweatshirt so I thought maybe if I put him in the seat with just a onesie on it would be more comfortable. Well it still seems too tight and it's hard to buckle at the crotch. Loosening and tightening seems really hard, you have to basically pull with all your strength. Has anyone experienced this? Have you found that either the recline position or the head rest height effected the harness adjustment either in length or difficulty in loosening/tightening? I thought these issues were fixed on the 2014 model so I'm confused. Also the one we purchased from BRU happened to have already been open because the safety tags/warnings were cut off and it wasn't in the plastic bag. After paying $250 I'm kinda bummed because otherwise it seems great....

hbrockman01 · March 2014

We have the NextFit and it was purchased shortly after release. My DD has been in it since about 3mths and she 10mth and almost 20lbs now...

We still struggle from time to time with the harness but I found that as long as there is approximately 1-2inch of head rest between the top of her head and the top of the seat its good. It has taken sometime to get use to the seat straps. My advice is when baby is in pull the slack out from around the legs, scoot the chest bar all the way down to where it snaps in and the should pads down to chest bar. Once there we pull it tighter, then adjust the should straps into place, tighten, and then move chest bar up into place. Seems like a lot but after awhile you get use to it plus it helps (I think) to loosen up the straps.

Hope this helps.

AKB090609 · March 2014

How tall is he? Have you taken the infant insert out? Are the straps at or below his shoulders if you go up a notch on the headrest?

Based on you picture, it looks like the headrest is a little low (co paired to how my DD looks in hers) I think if his shoulders were not on the headwings it would be easier to tighten.

LittleApple · March 2014

It looks like the headrest needs to be up higher. Shoulder straps should be at or slightly below his shoulders.

LittleFish1 · March 2014

I'd return it because if those were not intact, you don't know the history of the seat. Cannot help with adjustments. You can join Car Seats for the Littles. That is a group on Facebook that has people who can answer your question if you're still having difficulty.

jschmidt6 · March 2014

Yeah, I think I will try pushing the head rest up, but hopefully that won't shorten the harness since its attached to the same piece. Right now the straps come out from behind his back about 2 or 3 inches below shoulder level, which looks uncomfortable, but that's what the instrunctions say to do!

ss265 · March 2014

Adjusting the head rest up makes a big difference. You can also tighten/loosen the straps a few times when he is not in it, to "loosen" them up.

We had the same issue with DS's Chicco when we first purchased but now it is much easier to tighten.

And ditto PP, I would exchange the seat if you think it wasn't brand new when you got it.

JENandJEH · March 2014

I would definitely take the seat back and exchange it. If someone purchased it and returned it after cutting the tags off, they may have done so because of the harness issue which doesn't sound typical.

Our Nextfit was hard to tighten until I was able to move the headrest up one click but now it's much easier. The straps are deceiving on this seat because they appear to be coming from below the shoulders but if you feel under all of the padding, they are actually coming out from the seat a bit higher and the padding pushes them down a bit so make sure you stick your finger in there and see where they're actually hitting him. Also, Chicco has now said that you can use the seat without the shoulder pads and once we removed those, it was also easier to tighten.

Even when the headrest was at the lowest position, I was/am able to loosen the harness and there is QUITE a bit of room. It sounds like maybe something is snagging the straps and not allowing it to loosen all the way. I would return the seat (which it sounds like someone already did and the store just put it back on the shelf) or at least call Chicco and talk to them about the issue.

Slpafford · March 2014

I purchased 2 Nextfits after doing tons of research. I knew people had complained about it being hard to adjust but I figured it couldn't be that bad. I was wrong! I ended up taking them back today after days of trying different techniques and tips I read about online to tighten the harness. It was so hard to tighten that I didn't feel DS was being strapped in properly. I also think I shouldn't have to stand outside the car for 10 minutes fighting with the harness. Especially since the Nextfit isn't one of the cheaper seats. I'm super bummed because I love all of our other Chicco items. If you have doubts I would go to a store and just play with them. We took DS today and tried all the different seats and found something that worked better for us.

megandscott07 · March 2014

You have to take that insert pad out in the bottom. That will probably help a ton. Then like other PP raise up the headrest a bit.

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