Recaro Young Sport

[ctevans1]

My three year old is in a Recaro Young Sport in harness mode. The manual states there are three rules for making adjustments.

1) The harness belts must be at or above the shoulders.
2) Shoulders must be below the head restraint.
3) The child's ear (or middle of the head) must be centered in the head restraint.

She's fine with the second two rules, but the belts are just below her shoulders. The way this was written in the manual - I can't tell if you adjust the seat if any one single rule isn't met. Or if I should leave it until the other's aren't met either.

My concern is that if I do adjust it now so the belts are above her shoulders, her head will no longer be centered in the head restraint.

What's better? Belts below the shoulders (and they are barely below the shoulders) or a head restraint that is too high??

Thanks for any suggestions!

Chris.

[southpawboston]

we had the same problem with our YS. it's impossible to achieve all three criteria since every kid has different dimensions, KWIM? i.e., the distance from the shoulder to the ear is very different if you have a short or tall neck.

i would say that the fit of the harness at the shoulders is the most important. if the harness strap is below the top of the shoulder, you should move to the next higher position, even though it may result in the strap being significantly higher than the top of her shoulders. the position of the side wings with respect to her head is probably less important, since SIP is not really a criterion for the performance of a carseat according to the US testing methods... it's just a nice perk of some seats which may or may not contribute to crash performance.

on the other hand, if the strap is only *slightly* below the shoulder as you say, i wonder if you have already removed the toddler cushion? that's the removable seat cushion insert. it's optional. if you remove that, that may bring her seating position a fraction of an inch lower, placing the straps at or above the top of her shoulders.

[joolsplus3]

:thumbsup: Nodding in agreement. I'd focus most on the fit of the harness being 'at or above' the shoulders.

[ctevans1]

Yeah I took the cushion off quite awhile ago. Actually it fell off just about every time I took her out of the seat so one day I just didn't pick it back up!

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll concentrate more on the belt position and then decide if I should make the adjustment.

[southpawboston]

you probably already know this but you must match harness slot position with headwing position, right? each is done separately but they must match up. most people know this but i wanted to make sure!

[ctevans1]

Yeah I know about that.

Thanks for checking though. It would be a pretty easy step to miss for some who only halfway read instructions.