Radian height limits

[Unregistered]

Hi. My 6yo daughter is 48 inches tall and 44 pounds. She outgrew her Marathon a few months ago and now she's in a Parkway. I really want her to be harnessed and have never been comfortable with her in a booster. I've heard that the new Radians are allowed to be used even once the shoulders are past the top slots as long as the top of the ears are below the top of the seat. Is this true? I tried her in an old Radian at CT and she has 1/2 inch left before she's even with the top slots and about 3 inches before her ears are at the top of the seat. Would it be worth the money to get it? I'm thinking I could potentially get a couple years out of it (if you can in fact use it past the top slots).
Heather

[canadianmom2three]

It is true that by the books, the Radian is usable even above the top slots, until the tips of the ears pass the top of the seat shell. That said, not everyone is equally comfortable with actually doing so, for a couple of reasons

Head excursion - when the slot is below the child's shoulders, the belt curves over and then below, which allows more potential for increased head excursion (forward movement) in the event of a crash - which in turn increases potential for head injury due to striking something, and neck strain. SK states that since their seat is so well designed, and performs exceedingly well in the area of head excursion, especially so when tethered(as any child using the seat to that height would be required to be, and any child in Canada would be) that the increased head excursion is not an issue.

Spinal compression - again, when the belt is riding over and then down behind the child's shoulders, there is absolutely no rooom for the spine to move in the event of a crash. This is why the belt is usually meant to be above, or even with the child's shoulders - so that the spine is not being compressed in the event of a crash. Spinal compression is not something that is measured in crash testing, so SK can't say with certaintly what the effect of using the seat when the shoulders are past the top slot will actually be.

So where does that leave us with big kids we want harnessed? For me, it means that I will not be so hyper concerned about DS when his shoulders are in that grey area - that is when they look even on some trips, and below on others. I will use it until I am certain his shoulders are past the point of being iffy. I personally don't plan to use it once his shoulders are visably over the slot, but that's just me. That said, kids do slow down in their growth, particularly torso growth, so you may well get a fair bit of use out of it. It is actually the torso height that is most relevent, so even though our oldest DD(7) has a overall height of 52" she still fit in the Radian by torso height until very recently. On the other hand, our DS (5) is only 45" tall, but is rapidly closing on the top slots...althought I am hoping he will slow down a bit - I also want him to stay harnessed for years more!!HTH

[CDNTech]

:yeahthat: The pp summed it up pretty well. If you want to purchase the Radian, go ahead and do so... but at 6 years old, I would lean towards teaching your daughter to sit correctly in her booster and teach her why it's important.

[MomToEliEm]

At 6 years old, I would either get a Britax Regent or teach the child to sit in booster correctly. I think the Radian wouldn't give you enough to use the seat before it is outgrown.

Ignore my post, I saw you were in Canada. Can't do the regent

[snowbird25ca]

This is a really interesting and informative post about the shoulders being allowed 1" over the top slots on the radian. It's actually brought me from the side of being on the fence to being 100% comfortable with going over them provided my kids are still comfy (that's another issue though, as to if a kid would be comfy being over the top slots.)

http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=213758&postcount=9

[scatterbunny]

I don't care what technical mumbo jumbo SKJP puts out there :p , I still won't be comfortable with it until at least one other carseat maker tests and approves the same thing. It's just such an ingrained rule to me, I can't imagine how it can possibly be safe. I won't take just ONE manufacturer's word for something so huge to me.

A little over the slots? Sure, probably not a big deal. A lot over the top slots? No way. Too risky IMO.

[canadianmom2three]

VERY interesting info in the linked post - thanks for putting that on, I had not seen it before...

[snowbird25ca]

I don't care what technical mumbo jumbo SKJP puts out there :p , I still won't be comfortable with it until at least one other carseat maker tests and approves the same thing. It's just such an ingrained rule to me, I can't imagine how it can possibly be safe. I won't take just ONE manufacturer's word for something so huge to me.

A little over the slots? Sure, probably not a big deal. A lot over the top slots? No way. Too risky IMO.

That wasn't all SKJP technical mumbo jumbo though... it was actually pretty informative about nascar racing harnesses and height adjustment and stuff too. :p

[mommy_quigg]

After reading that article, I have a question. My son is right around 15" torso height. Some days he's above the 2nd to top harness slot, some days he's level with it. (cloth/disposable diaper, t-shirt/sweater/jacket, posture makes a difference). I currently have him on the top harness slot, which is 3" above his shoulders and I'm sure has a bigger angle than what they reccommend in the article.

Should I have him in the 2nd to top until he is 1" above that or reaches the reccommended angle, or keep him on the top slot? I hate that they're so far apart when all the rest of the harness slots on the seat are closer together.

[CDNTech]

After reading that article, I have a question. My son is right around 15" torso height. Some days he's above the 2nd to top harness slot, some days he's level with it. (cloth/disposable diaper, t-shirt/sweater/jacket, posture makes a difference). I currently have him on the top harness slot, which is 3" above his shoulders and I'm sure has a bigger angle than what they reccommend in the article.

Should I have him in the 2nd to top until he is 1" above that or reaches the reccommended angle, or keep him on the top slot? I hate that they're so far apart when all the rest of the harness slots on the seat are closer together.

No, leave him in the top slots. The one inch above the top slots *only applies to the top slots*.