Our Graco Size 4 Me (Pic Heavy)

Maggie · Jun 13, 2012

I have tried, without much success, to find something to contain my dd3's giant torso until she's at least 3 (the end of august.)

We absolutley love it! She has tons of growing room, both rear and forward!
I put in a shot of her sitting in a radian to show how much room she doesn't have it. She is NOT strapped in correctly.

Size 4 Me all the way up, hard to see since it's all black, but the top most harness slot is way up by her ears.

Cool Latch

In our 06 town and country. Straps are just buckled, not tightened properly. She is on the 6th headrest position, so 2 more to go!

All the way up (the headrest and her finger

)

Her in a frontier all the way up

Compared to the Graco all the way up.

Fit our scary googly eyed baby very well!

Lots of room between the headrest of the vehicle (mazda5) and the Graco headrest (which is all the way up) Headrest is VERY sturdy and they way it extends, I don't see a problem with it in smaller vehicles. The mazda 5 isn't huge and the seat is adjusted to where the driver usually sits. Still plenty of room.

My average height 5 year old. Too heavy (42lbs) but tons of room left for forward facing.

With the radian, radian is installed with AA.

Radian height from seat

Graco

cookie123 · Jun 13, 2012

Wow! That's a lot more height. I forget if anyone said - can all that height be used ff and rf or do they have a height limit?

Spam · Jun 13, 2012

thank you! Cute models. Are you comfortable going past the 40" stated height rule? That is one tall seat

I'm waiting for more cover options... hurry up Graco!

oh and does it puzzle with the FR85?

Maggie · Jun 13, 2012

I have looked and looked through the entire manual and there is a 50" FF height limit but nothing anywhere about 40" rf.

Under the height and weight section it just says that the straps must be at or below the shoulder for RF and the child must be 40lbs or less. Nothing about an overall height. I've looked over and over through the manual. Haven't looked at the stickers yet though. The headrest is extremely solid. Nothing at all like the MA70 or boulevard/advocate headrest. I had a peg convertible for awhile and I can see why they didnt want you to rear face all the way to the top of the headrest. It was flimsy. This one feels like it's an extension of the shell.

Is it actually in the manual somewhere or was it just some rep that posted something somewhere on the good old internet?

Brianna · Jun 13, 2012

Maggie said:
I have looked and looked through the entire manual and there is a 50" FF height limit but nothing anywhere about 40" rf.

It's on page 27

Maggie · Jun 13, 2012

Yep, there it is. Putting it under the "Height and Weight Limits" probably would have been a good place for that....

As a tech, I can't advise a parent to go against the manual.

As a mom of a 2 year old who is 39.5" with most of it being in her torso, I will RF her past 40" because we have no other option right now and I won't turn her forward until she's at least 3. If I can save up for a foonf in a few months that might be an option for us. but right now I've made the parental choice to use it past 40" because she has way more than 1" above her head.

agave · Jun 13, 2012

If it helps, my 4 yr old finally started growing legs between 3 & 4.

SoCalCarSeatMama · Jun 13, 2012

Wow! What is your dd's torso height? I'm guessing her seated height is around 23-24" based on the photo of her in the Radian.

MomToEliEm · Jun 13, 2012

Would you mind verify some measurements and update some missing data for the measurements/data spreadsheet?

Lowest Harness Height: 7 in. with insert; 8.5 in. w/o insert
Highest Harness Height: 17.5 in.
Shortest Buckle Position: 4 in.
Longest Buckle Position: 6 in.
Crotch Buckle Length: <data missing>
Internal Seating Depth: <data missing>
Internal Seating Height:<data missing>
Internal Bottom Width: <data missing>
Internal Shoulder Width: <data missing>
External Seat Width: 18.5 in. across back / 18 in. at cupholder / 15 in. at base
Seat Weight: 19 lbs.

Maggie · Jun 13, 2012

mamajuls said:
Wow! What is your dd's torso height? I'm guessing her seated height is around 23-24" based on the photo of her in the Radian.

Last time I measured her it was a bit over 16". That was about 2 months ago. She shares dresses with her 5 year old sister.

MomToEliEm said:
Would you mind verify some measurements and update some missing data for the measurements/data spreadsheet?

Lowest Harness Height: 7 in. with insert; 8.5 in. w/o insert
Highest Harness Height: 17.5 in.
Shortest Buckle Position: 4 in.
Longest Buckle Position: 6 in.
Crotch Buckle Length: <data missing>
Internal Seating Depth: <data missing>
Internal Seating Height:<data missing>
Internal Bottom Width: <data missing>
Internal Shoulder Width: <data missing>
External Seat Width: 18.5 in. across back / 18 in. at cupholder / 15 in. at base
Seat Weight: 19 lbs.

After the kiddies are in bed I'll head out with my tape measure and get those for you

ketchupqueen · Jun 13, 2012

Holy cow, they made the Nauti RF! LOL

T4K · Jun 13, 2012

ketchupqueen said:
Holy cow, they made the Nauti RF! LOL

Wait, the Nauti doesn't rear face?

cowgirlsmommy · Jun 13, 2012

She's adorable! I just wish Graco would rethink the strict 40" rule.

MyTwoSons · Jun 13, 2012

Spam said:
oh and does it puzzle with the FR85?

I didn't have time tonight to uninstall and flip them around to see what it looks like on the non-cup holder side, but if you want to see it I could do that tomorrow evening. I'm still trying to decide if I want them both installed with latch (currently) or seat belt, so taking them out tomorrow is no problem as I want to play with the install method anyway.

If anyone wants any other pics just let me know. I need to figure out how to use photo bucket though!

jenfrogmom · Jun 15, 2012

cowgirlsmommy said:
She's adorable! I just wish Graco would rethink the strict 40" rule.

don't most car seats have a stated height and we go by the one inch rule?

Carrie_R · Jun 15, 2012

Yes, but we're not really supposed to do that. It kind of came to a head last year with the bruhaha (sp?) over the CA's 40" rule. If you opt to use it past, you're using parental discretion and going against the manual. (I'm undecided my personal stance on it, but I definitely find it very frustrating when there's gobs of shell height left, particularly since standing height is not a good measurement of torso height.)

molly&elle · Jun 15, 2012

Ohh I like it!! But why the 40in rule, ugh!!

jenfrogmom · Jun 15, 2012

As a tech, I would say to follow the manufacturer guidelines, as a parent, I would use the one inch rule.

Carrie_R · Jun 16, 2012

I'd be tempted to agree, but my concern is that 1" from the highest headrest position is going to be way, way taller than any 40" child will ever be. So how high did Graco test it? At what point did it fail that they put such a low limit (considering the seat's capabilities) on it?

I have a 40.5" child who rides in the seat and he has 3-4" above his head in headrest adjustment 4. I've asked this before -- and there's no satisfactory answer -- but what makes him unsafe where he is but a 39.5" kid safe in headrest adjustment 6?

That's what makes it difficult to call "parental discretion" on this one, at least out at its extremes.

featherhead · Jun 16, 2012

Carrie_R said:
I'd be tempted to agree, but my concern is that 1" from the highest headrest position is going to be way, way taller than any 40" child will ever be. So how high did Graco test it? At what point did it fail that they put such a low limit (considering the seat's capabilities) on it?

I have a 40.5" child who rides in the seat and he has 3-4" above his head in headrest adjustment 4. I've asked this before -- and there's no satisfactory answer -- but what makes him unsafe where he is but a 39.5" kid safe in headrest adjustment 6?

That's what makes it difficult to call "parental discretion" on this one, at least out at its extremes.

:yeahthat: I would want to know which headrest positions were actually tested rear-facing.

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