My son is 16 months, ~24.5 pounds, and strong as a mule. He is currently in a RF Marathon. Problem is...sometimes he gets PISSED when I buckle him in. It's not every time, but often enough that it's becoming a problem.

By the time I'm done buckling the thrashing kid in, he's plants his feet on the seat and pushes as hard as he can. So, the seat has to be completely removed, repositioned, and buckled back in at least twice a week now. He manages to thrash and kick so much that it is loosened to the point of not being safe IMO.

If it were my girls' seats, it would be NO BIG DEAL to re-do the seats. I can put their seats in in less than 5 minutes each with no problem. (They're FF in Marathons) His seat, however, isn't so simple. Getting it installed correctly RF is a PITA and takes NO LESS than 30 minutes every single time. I've done it at least a dozen times already since we bought the seats a few weeks ago and it's not getting easier.

So, do I keep spending 30-45 minutes at least twice a week fixing his seat? Or do I turn him around? I feel guilty even asking cause if he was under a year or under 20 pounds and we had this problem, I'd have to suck it up and fix it every time if necessary. But he's not, and I'm SO tempted....

Is it tethered? Are you using the lockoffs? Do you have autoretracting belts? Stupid questions, I know, but I can shake the minivan with our carseat. It's not budging.

I've got a kicker, and he can thrash all he wants to, and he's not able to loosen the seat.

Can you take it to a tech, and have them install it, and see if it can be put in tighter?

He's not even close to the upper end of the RF range for that seat, 33 pounds, and I think I'd fight as hard as I could to keep him RF. It's just so much safer.

Yes it's tethered. Yes I use the lock-offs. Not sure on the seat belts...we have the kind where you pull them all the way out, then release them, and they stay 'locked'. Whatever that is called.

My girls are FF in the Marathon, and I can push, pull, tug, shove...you name it. Those things don't MOVE. But I just can't get the seat to fit that well RF.

My bestest friend in the whole world is the one and only Yup n Nope, so I can have her look at it to double check my handy work. I'm pretty sure I've got it as tight as possible though cause she taught me how to install them...guess she got tired of coming over to fix them whenever I took them out for whatever reason.

I'd butter her up, and have her come back over. You should be able to use the bight of the seat, and the tether to make it rock solid.....

It sounds like you've got autoretracting seatbealts, which should make it easier....

I had trouble learning with the RA/MA rearfacing. I got a lot of great tips at carsafety.org/local tech, and I really got the hang of it after that.

All it'll take for me to come back over is some free time with my DH! Sans ALL Kiddos. hehehehehehehehe