Talk to me about the new Clek Foonf convertible seat

[AJ's mommy]

Hello! I was just wondering if anybody can give me some infos on the new car seat coming out! I also see different coming out dates. I'm due in 3 weeks... So if it does come out around the 15th of this month I'll be ok, but if it's in September it could be a problem. I have a Radian R120 for our almost 3 years old and it will either be an other R120 or the new Foonf. Thanks so much for all your help with this one!

[Maedze]

Are you thinking in terms of a seat for your newborn?  If so, the Clek is not a possibility.  It's rated for older babies (6 months and 15 lbs minimum).  This is because Clek designed the seat to keep preschoolers rear facing, so it's nice and tall.  It wouldn't fit well in cars at the full 45 degree angle needed for newborns. 

However, it could be a great option for keeping your 3 year old rear facing :-)

It has a 45 lb limit for rear facing and a shell tall enough to accommodate the average 4-6 year old in the rear facing position. It has a 65 lb limit with a 17" top harness position for forward facing, which is comparable to the Radian. It has a an anti-rebound bar, and rigid LATCH for forward facing, which is questionable usage if you use the seat to its full rear facing capability for rear facing!

It's designed with crash force diffusion in mind.  Clek believes that it offers superior protection for forward facing children.  (Of course, we have no data to prove this one way or the other.)  Either way it appears to be a well designed product.  

The R120 will fit newborns with the infant insert, so maybe you could consider passing the Radian down to the baby and buying the Foonf for your three year old if that's what you want to do :-)

[Jenga]

100% agree with Maedze. These seats are not for newborn or small babies.

But it could be a seat for your older child to move into. That might be a good option for him if you want to keep him rear facing longer and he fits into the seat well :)

 

[~Adorkable~]

the seat is a very promising seat and i am counting the days till it comes out, but i will be counting for a while, they have pushed back to mid Sept for the preodered and "flagship" stores and into october for others.

thankfully i have some other seas to tide me over. maybe you could borrow or buy infant seat from someone you trust to tide you over till you can look at it when it comes out and either use it for your older, or use the infant seat till they fit properly in the Foonf in 6 months

[Kaydove]

It looks amazing but oh so expensive. Is there a rationale for why its so expensive, ie, it will last the child longer therefore only needing to buy one seat? Or is it just more exepensive because its so stylish? New technology?
I got a big girl so she would fit into it at 5 months and will outgrow her infant seat sooner than expected. And its available in my area now.

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[~Adorkable~]

pretty sure its not avail be in your area or anywhere, they got held up waiting for a part mold to get remade, this info comes straight from Clek, boy i wish they were!

it is the highest limit RF seat that is going to be out there i think and one of the few that is 17" (even skinnier at at the base) so yeah there are some reasons that is cost a lot, though I'm sure styling comes into play.  i am a huge fan of the apparently waterproof wipe clean fabric, as the mom to two toddlers going thru a puking phase apparently, i dream of getting this feature.

in the end i think of how much i just spent on a family car and various options and the cost of car seats seems way more reasonable, even costly ones. my kids will be sitting in and reeling on them for many many years, probably at least 5 years. so they are $7.91 a month added to the cost of my car payment, sounds good to me.

as for babies fitting, i think it has a lot to do with head control and the safety that infers rather than weight. since i am so far out of that window i have not paid too much attention to it. 

i have two on order and can't wait, maybe they won't hold up the hype, but i hated the Radians i got and returned after 3 months, so I'm crossing my fingers that these have to be better than those at least.

[Kaydove]

Baby Viva has a local store near me and they have them online as well http://www.babyviva.com/product/car-seat-finder/999513-12458/clek-foonf-convertible-car-seat.html
Same model, correct? I could be mistaken.


Is the fabric machine washable? I was looking at the Maxi Cosi Pria convertible but the fabric isn't machine washable. The fabric is nice for hot weather and helps with the sweaty back syndrome though. Stupid infant seat has that fake velour crap and it retains heat like no other. The tiny fit system is supposed to be good for a baby but she might be outgrowing that soon anyways....

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[~Adorkable~]

yeah the online store has them, but they will tell you they are not shipping yet if you go to order i bet. thats how it is at the store i preordered them from too.

Clek website says coming Sept 12 right on the front page, but they are also pushing reorders a lot it seems

.

the crypto fabric is apparently amazing to spot clean (it is on their booster chairs now and gets very very good reviews) and it is also totally removable. i can't find the info right now, but i do remember that it is fully washable, though i may be wrong, i hope not.  mind you the all black one is not the same fabric, and it does not have the moisture barrier, it is a "low" cost version and as much as i wanted a black base that takes out one of the best features so we went with one of the solid colors instead.

[Sharlla]

ill be getting one next fall for DD when new baby outgrows the infant seat and takes over our current convertable.  DD will use it until she outgrows the RF then new baby will get it.  i do hope it goes down in price but my other 2 seats will have expired anyway so i would likely spend that much replacing those anyhow. i love that it lasts 9 years
 

[chickabiddy]

The Foonfs are not available anywhere now, and if the listed minimum is 6 months, a 5mo child can't use it (though that child will probably be 6mo by the time it comes out).

[brigala]

I have had a Foonf prototype in my Honda Civic. It's a very nice car seat. But honestly, I probably wouldn't trade my Radian for one. It's an even tighter fit next to a Coccoro (which I had installed in the center that day) compared to the Radian. It takes up more front-to-back space than a Radian with an angle adjuster (this probably varies from vehicle to vehicle), and I couldn't install it at all outboard with the anti-rebound bar. Maybe if DD were an only child and I were putting it in the center it would work out. It's so HIGH up off the ground when RF that I don't think I'd want to use it RF in my Suburban, either. 

I might get one eventually when DD is FF. I'm actually really impressed with the FF safety technology built into the seat, with the rigid LATCH and crumple zones and everything. I know everyone talks about the Foonf as the be-all and end-all of RF car seats (if you can afford one) but for my vehicles and my children I actually think the Radian is a better RF seat. But in my opinion the place where the Foonf really shines is as a FF seat. 

[AJ's mommy]

Thanks for all your posts mamas. I didn't even realize it was for infants 6 months and up... Now I don't really know what to do especially if the release dates are in September even possibly October. I don't have an infant car seat and I'm not planning to buy one either. DS outgrew his by 3 months cause he had such a long torso... and I don't have that seat anymore. I'm not even sure yet how to place the 3 cars seat in our Yukon. The way my Radian is setup behind the passenger seat leaves little space for the front passenger (me normally!!!), but if I put an other behind the driver seat I do not believe my husband will have enough space to drive comfortably!!! And it seems like I have no choice but to put my DS1 (5yo) in the middle in his Britax marathon if I want to buckle in the newborn and DS2! I really wanted to be able to get the Foonf... but I guess I will have to pass. Unless I can get it for my oldest FF. What are the height and weight limit for the Foonf FF? My DS1 is 44 inches tall and 42lbs and will outgrow his Britax Marathon soon. Any suggestions for my approching dilemma would be greatly appreciated! 

[Kaydove]

I believe the foonf max weight limit is 70 lbs ff. Not certain though.

I'm looking at the Maxi Cosi Pria which has a max weight rf of 40 lbs and with the Tiny fit system, its really safe for even preemies and it has a max weight ff of 70 lbs. I went to Babies R Us to look at it and they even walked it our to my car to see how it would fit! That helped a lot since my PT Cruiser is hard to fit for carseats. I just need to find the red colour on sale...
If there's a Babies r us near you, go with your DH and try the car seats there to how they would fit with either of you in the front seat. You could try to find a seat with similar measurements as the foonf to see if the foonf could possibly work.

I think we're going to skip the foonf because I'm almost certain DD already outgrew her infant carseat with her super long torso. I don't think I can wait till September. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to measure if shes within one inch from the top of the shell since the shell curves at the top with extra padding. I'm not good at written directions at all so I'm going to take photos of her in it and post on car-seat.org for help.

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[Sharlla]

the max FF is 65 lbs
 

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by Kaydove 

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to measure if shes within one inch from the top of the shell since the shell curves at the top with extra padding. I'm not good at written directions at all so I'm going to take photos of her in it and post on car-seat.org for help.

Get a book that's one inch thick.  Sit her in the carseat and put the book on top of her head.  If there's room above the top of the book, you're good; if the book peeks over the top of the shell it's time for a new seat.

[~Adorkable~]

thats a great measuring idea!

[Hawkfire27]

Hi, not sure why you say the fabric on the maxi cost pria 70 isn't washable?.. I wash mine all the time and dry on low temp. The headrest is not made to be removable though. I just cut the back elastic and it came off easily and it stay in place excellently without it! I love the maxicosi! And so does my one year old

[Hawkfire27]

Hi, not sure why you say the fabric on the maxi cost pria 70 isn't washable?.. I wash mine all the time and dry on low temp. The headrest is not made to be removable though. I just cut the back elastic and it came off easily and it stay in place excellently without it! I love the maxicosi! And so does my one year old

[Kaydove]

I read on the Maxi Cosi website that its not machine washable, but if it works for you to throw it in the washer than that's great to hear!

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[Kaydove]

Also, what colour do you have?

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