VERY VERY tall 8 month old!

[Newby]

HELP!!

My 8 month old is almost 31 inches tall! She is so tall that I can't seem to find a rear-facing/convertible seat that will fit her. From what I've read all rear-facing seats in Canada are only approved up to 32 inches. The Britax Marathon is approved in the states rear-facing until 49 inches...but in Canada its only approved for 32 inches!

What to do???

[skaterbabscpst]

The height listed is just a guideline of when the average child will outgrow the seat. Because children can carry their heights in different parts of their bodies (two children who both measure the same height can fit in a seat completely differently), you want to watch where the child's head is in relation to the top of the seat shell.

As long as you have at least an inch of hard plastic above your baby's head, you're fine. :)

[hipmaman]

Height limit is a guideline and the rule of thumb for outgrowing rf carseat are as mentioned by Rebekah.

But since your baby is tall (I'm not sure in the torso or the legs) you should also be watching out for criterion for outgrowing a ff carseat too. When ff, a child would outgrow a carseat if the tip of ears is higher than the top of the carseat OR the top harness slots are lower then the shoulders.

The Radian has the highest top harness slots. The Apex has the same height if you have vehicle headrest that tall to extend fully. The Marathon has lowest among these 3 seats but still is higher than other convertibles.

[skaterbabscpst]

Just remember to leave your baby rear facing until he outgrows the seat by height or weight. The longer Baby is RF the safer she is. The odds of outgrowing a Britax Marathon or the Sunshine Kids Radian by height (less than 1 inch of seat shell above her head) rear facing before reaching the weight limit are pretty slim.

The weight limit is set in stone.