Need new seat for my very tall daughter

[PrincessJenn]

Hi all,

I need to get a new seat for my daughter. She's 19mths, 34" tall, and 30lbs.
We currently have her in a Cosco Alpha Omega, but with her recent growth spurt the straps are sitting just at her shoulders on the highest setting. Another growth spurt and she'll be out of this seat.

So the question is, which one to get. Is there anything like the Britax Regent in Canada that has the super high top slots? If not, then I guess I'm looking at the Radian, Marathon, or TF?

We want something that's larger and comfortable (as we do travel quite a bit), and if it's airline approved, even better. Recommendations?

My other question is: What happens if she continues to grow and is too big for something like the Radian before reaching the minimums for a booster? I really don't want my daughter to just barely be two and moving into a booster seat. Has anyone ever run into this? Are there any other options?

Thanks!

Jennifer :)

[theshapeshifter]

I highly recommend the True Fit - it accommodates tall children nicely, and more importantly, if you're in Canada (which I assume since you're in this forum), it goes to 35 pounds rearfacing. You didn't mention whether your daughter currently rides rear-facing or forward-facing, but rear-facing (RF) is enormously safer at this young age and so very much recommended. My son is nearly 18 months, about 30 pounds, and 36" tall and he's still very comfortable RF in his True Fit. For a toddler, the seat (any seat, not just the TF) can be installed at a more upright angle, so it still leaves a decent amount of space for the seat in front of it.

Overall, the True Fit also has among the highest top slots (eta: among the highest for convertible seats - not sure how it compares to FF-only seats for harness height), and a 65lb forward-facing limit, so it should take most children to a reasonable booster age of at least 5 years old. I have no experience of air travel with it, but it is airline approved.

In general, I cannot imagine a 2-year-old that would be too big for a harnessed seat unless there was some *majorly* unusual weight issue. Based on your daughter's current stats, I'm sure she'll be able to be harnessed till age 5 or 6. If you Google children's growth charts, you should be able to get at least a rough idea by finding what percentile her current height and weight are on, then following that curve to make an educated guess at her future size.

[canadiangie]

Hi,

Because she's under the age of 2 she really should be rear facing still. With her weighing 30lbs, the only seat that can accomodate her rear facing is the TrueFit. Without question I would a) turn her back rear facing, and b) get a TrueFit. :twocents:

I'm not sure about the TF on a plane (it's a wide seat) but again, the importance of her being rear facing on a day to day basis would outweigh my need to have an airplane friendly seat at this point.

The TF has nice tall 18" top harness slots, and allows for use up to 65lbs. It's one of our nicest High Weight Harnessing seats, and tends to last even the largest of children to an appropriate age and weight for a booster seat.

In the end, I think it's best you focus on the 'now' and take the 'later' as it comes.

The Regent is not approved for use in Canada, and at this time I'm not sure Britax has any intentions of bringing it here. In Canada our harnessed seats are capped at 65lbs. And with the Regent having 20-21" top harness slots and allowing for use up to 80lbs in the US, I'm just not sure the Regent would make too much sense up here. I hope that makes sense. (there has also been some speculation about whether or not it meets our testing standards.. though I'd hate to speculate, or drop hints about something I frankly know very little about).


Hope that helps,

[PrincessJenn]

Thanks both. That's a huge help. I was wondering about the True Fit, but most of my friends have gone with the Marathon, so I didn't know much about it. It sounds like it may be the way to go.

My daughter is currently forward facing, but it seems like it makes sense to get this one and put her back to rear facing again.


In general, I cannot imagine a 2-year-old that would be too big for a harnessed seat unless there was some *majorly* unusual weight issue. Based on your daughter's current stats, I'm sure she'll be able to be harnessed till age 5 or 6.

It's not so much weight we're concerned with, but height. She's currently 97 percentile for both height and weight (so not a fat child, just a big girl). She's been going on these incredible growth spurts since she was a year old. We're hoping they slow down, but if they don't then she could conceivably outgrow the height limits before she's four. I guess like Canadiangie said, we'll just have to cross that bridge when (if) we come to it.

Thanks again.

Jennifer

[CDNTech]

My oldest was that tall at that age... only he weighed just 22lbs. He still fits into a Radian (just barely) at 6.5 years old.

There is a comparison thread with Canadian seats showing the highest top slots with the seat in use... you can find it here (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=55415).

Given her age, I agree with the others... I'd get a TF and put her back rear facing. :)

[horseymom]

my DD is also very tall. at 2 she was 32lbs and 36" today she's 4 and 45lbs and 44.5" tall. We also had a AOE for her back at that age and she did out grow it around 2. I didin't have a choice for RF back then but I would totally get a TF and RF. we have one for our son and I love it. DD doesn't fit in the TF now though.

[theshapeshifter]

It's not so much weight we're concerned with, but height. She's currently 97 percentile for both height and weight (so not a fat child, just a big girl). She's been going on these incredible growth spurts since she was a year old. We're hoping they slow down, but if they don't then she could conceivably outgrow the height limits before she's four. I guess like Canadiangie said, we'll just have to cross that bridge when (if) we come to it.

Thanks again.

Jennifer

Ahh, I know the feeling - my DS is about 90-95% for weight but off the charts for height (he's got his own curve about 3cm above the 97% curve), so I've spent a lot of time perusing growth charts and making educated guesses about how long I'll be able to keep him harnessed. The recommended maximum height for the TF is around 48" (haven't looked at my manual in a while, so I might be off an inch), which I expect my DS to hit around 5 years old if he sticks to his growth curve.... of course, the overall height is a lot less important than torso height. Does your daughter have her height more in her torso or in her legs? If she's mostly legs, you're golden. :thumbsup: