Issues with a My Ride 65 with safety surround

MissusF · #1 January 14th, 2013, 02:46 PM

Hello, I have a question about my MR 65 Safety Surround

DH and I chose this seat while I was pregnant with the intention of using it from day 1. I went with the Safety Surround because I heard it was great for newborns. We used it for 10 days and decided we wanted an infant carrier after all. DD is 11 months old now and close to outgrowing the infant seat so we pulled the MR out of the closet to reinstall.

Here is my issue, she's outgrown the Safety Surround seat padding so that had to be removed. She has still not outgrown the Safety Surround head support but will be outgrowing it very soon when we move the shoulder straps up the next notch. The instruction booklet does not indicate whether the head support has to be used rear facing, just that it can only be installed through the middle three strap slots (it's in the top one now). However, there is a sticker on the side of the seat that says the head support MUST be used while the seat is rear facing. Well, if that is true then dd will quickly outgrow the rearfacing capabilities of the seat

. I want her to remain rearfacing for at least another year and made sure that this seat would rf for 40 lbs when I bought it. I called Graco and told them I was upset that my daughter will be outgrowing the seat at barely a year old. The customer service agent put me on hold for a while and then said that it is in fact ok to use the seat rearfacing without the head support. But why then would they put a freaking sticker to the side of it saying otherwise????

What are your feelings on this? I googled to see if other people had issues with the seat but could only find one review of someone with the same problem. That person said that Graco admitted that the seat should not be used rf without the head support and issued her a refund. Now I'm wondering if I should just buy another seat.....

Also, dd is a shrimp at only 28" and 16.8 lbs at 11 months. Her size isn't the problem at all.

Thank you for any advice!

stargatemommy · #2 January 14th, 2013, 03:13 PM

I had the same issue with mine. It was the first convertable I got for my now 21 month old when he was 9 months old. Graco had me return mine to them for a refund. They are now advising parents to simply remove the safety surround when they outgrow it. It used to say that it had to be used in the manual and on the safety surround head rest itself. They must have fixed the manual but not the stickers....

Also, where is this review? It might have been me....

MissusF · #3 January 14th, 2013, 03:50 PM

Thanks Erica! I think the review was on the Babies R Us website. I'm a little unnerved that previously the seat was deemed unsafe without the head support and Graco's solution was to take them back and give a refund but now it's ok to simply take the head support out? I think I need to just buy a new car seat. I'm so annoyed by all of this. I stressed SO much about picking the perfect car seat when I was pregnant and spent months researching different seats. Finally bite the bullet and buy one and have something like this happen

. We've had it over a year now and the box and receipt are long gone so there is no returning it.

amylynne01 · #4 January 14th, 2013, 06:20 PM

Call back again, and see what the second person says. I have heard what the first rep said - to just take it out once it's outgrown. I think they thought the rule to require it RFing sounded good in theory, but in practice, it simply wasn't practical. If I heard the same info twice from separate Graco reps, I'd trust it, and continue using the seat.

stargatemommy · #5 January 14th, 2013, 08:10 PM

Yeah, that review is mine!

I was super duper frustrated with the whole situation. I ended up get more in my refund from Graco than I actually paid for the receipt, but they made me return the seat before they'd return my money. Which meant that I had to go out and spend even MORE money on something that should have been good to start with!

MissusF · #6 January 15th, 2013, 03:01 PM

Well, the consensus is that this seat is just not going to work

I went on a fairly long drive today and dd fell asleep. The head support seems to push her head forward anyway and when she sleeps her chin flops on her chest. I'm also not convinced that it is all that safe given the controversy about whether the safety surround is needed or not. I'm going to call Graco back and tell them my concerns and hopefully they'll agree to take it back and give me a refund.

Any advice on what seats won't have the head flop issue? I'm looking at a Radian and True Fit right now. DD is a skinny minnie so I'm more concerned about her getting too tall for her seat than too heavy. DH and I are both really tall so she'll probably follow suit. I have a big SUV so size of the seat isn't an issue. Thanks!

amylynne01 · #7 January 15th, 2013, 04:48 PM

If she's tall and skinny, the True Fit is a great option as is the Graco MySize 70 (also called the Size 4 Me 70 or the Headwise). The MySize is taller than the Radian by about 3".

stargatemommy · #8 January 15th, 2013, 04:54 PM

I agree with Amy. True fit and size4me are good options for lightweight babies.

MissusF · #9 March 1st, 2013, 01:40 PM

Sorry it's taken me 6 weeks to update on this! We got Claire a new seat so calling Graco about the My Ride kind of fell off my list of things to do

. But then I got tired of it sitting in my dining room so I finally called them today. The rep was super nice and immediately offered to send me a shipping label so I can return the seat and then they'll send me a refund. I was expecting to have to fight with them a bit but I didn't at all!

We ended up getting a My Size 70. We've been using it for about 6 weeks now and I love it!

Thanks for all your help on this issue!