Radian and shoulders above top slots.

Top slots and shoulders

  • No, I'm not okay with it and I will NOT use the seat if shoulders are above top slots.

    Votes: 17 37.0%
  • Yes, I'm perfectly fine with it and I will use the seat (please indicate how long use continues).

    Votes: 20 43.5%
  • I'll never have this problem; I'm addicted to buying seats. AKA: Clicky.

    Votes: 9 19.6%

  • Total voters
    46

Mae

Well-known member
Are you personally okay with using the Radian when the child's shoulders are above the top slot?

From the manual:

Forward-facing: Straps should be in nearest slot at or above the level of the child's shoulders.

Note: When using the uppermost harness position, level of child's shoulders can be above harness slot as long as the child is proper height (see page 34).


Page 34:
Maximum Height:
Child is too tall for restraint if tops of the ears are above the back of the restraint OR if the child is more than 53" tall.


If you personally are okay with using the shoulders above the top slot, how long until you stop using it? Half an inch? A full inch?
 
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ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I currently have a daughter in one slightly SLIGHTLY above the top slots (though if she sleeps she slumps a little and is just at or below.) I'm okay with it until a) it can't be tightened properly, b) the child is uncomfortable with it, c) it CAN be tightened properly but doing so causes the child to visibly squish down or d) it is outgrown by another limit (probably one of the first 3 will happen first.)
 

courtfrog2

Active member
I have a question regarding this. My DD is approx 54 inch and 68lbs, very short torso. When placed in her sister's radian (She does not ride in it, but I am just curious) that is installed in my van, she is at the top shoulder height... about 1/8 inch above. She still has a good inch before her ears are even.

Would you guys be comfortable with that even though she is above 53inches?

This is not what she rides in... she is 10 and rides comfortably in a monterey. She likes trying it out though. She has ridden once in a pinch a month or so ago because I forgot the Monterey.

Either way... would you guys be comfortable using it above the height limits but still within the weight and torso limit?
 
Last edited:

Morganthe

New member
:scratcheshead:
Well, I put YES, I'm okay with it. However, dd had a different plan. :rolleyes: She was a smidgeon over when she complained it was too tight around her neck and pressing uncomfortably on her shoulders.
Lean kid too. Just before her 6th birthday she was 47lbs? & 48" short torso. But didn't want anything more to do with the seat.

I even had the Britax chest clip which provided more width across the chest than the original. :shrug-shoulders:
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Would you guys be comfortable with that even though she is above 43inches?


The stated height limit is 53#, not 43#.

I might use it for a child above the published height limit if she still fit (shoulders below straps, ears below shell). I wouldn't for a 10yo, though -- I'd move to a booster.
 

courtfrog2

Active member
The stated height limit is 53#, not 43#.

I might use it for a child above the published height limit if she still fit (shoulders below straps, ears below shell). I wouldn't for a 10yo, though -- I'd move to a booster.

Oops... its' early. I meant 54 LOL. She'd be a tiny 10 year old if she was only 44! Changing it now...

She is in a booster... this was hypothetical because some of the kids in the lower grades at the school are my 10 year old's size.
 

tiggercat

New member
I'd use it a smidge above the top slots in a pinch (so I votes 1/2 inch), but I can't see how it would be comfortable for the child.
 

tiggercat

New member
Would you guys be comfortable with that even though she is above 53inches?

Either way... would you guys be comfortable using it above the height limits but still within the weight and torso limit?

No, I wouldn't. I'd ignore the stated height limit for a kid that still fit by ears and shoulder height, but I wouldn't ignore it for one that is already too big by shoulder height. That's like making an exception for an exception and is too far of a stretch for me.
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
I would, and did. In order to accommodate 3-across in our small Focus wagon, DS rode in a Radian from Sept. - May. When we moved him out of it, he was 64 lbs., 51", and his shoulders were about .5" above the top slots. I think they were slightly above when he started using the seat last fall. (Though on some days they seemed to be slightly under - maybe it depends on whether I check when he first gets in the seat vs. when we get out of the car.) He said the seat was comfortable, never complained about the straps, etc.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Well, it didn't bug me from a safety perspective, but DD sure did think it was uncomfortable. Here's her progression from 6 to 9.5... I think for a leggy kid the 53" limit is realistic, she was 54.5 in those last pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/joolstag/BitsyRadian107# (I'm glad they dumped the 'ears at the top of the seat' warning they used to have, you can see she'd be a good mile over the top slots by the time that happened, lol, just kidding, but really way over them!)
 

AtTheSouthDam

New member
Yes, I would probably use it if the child was a bit over the top slots, about 1/2" or so. I threatened DD1 with it in Seattle if she didn't sit in her booster correctly (she was going NBB). It was enough of a threat that she sat like an angel the whole time. She finds the RN too narrow, so that would make more likely to buy a new seat for alarger child.
 

Lulu

New member
I am comfortable with it, but I likely have no reason to ever do it- I use the radian for my youngest and she has an older brother in a fr85. I'll probably just give her that seat when she outgrows the radian. My son will be ready for a backless by then, or maybe even no booster at all.
 

libranbutterfly

New member
I am okay with going over the top slots, in a pinch. My typical 5 yr old still has 1.5 inches until she gets even with the top slots, so for her, no, it would be more practical to go to a booster than chance it. If it was my three year old, and new seats were out of the question, probably.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
No, I wouldn't. I'd ignore the stated height limit for a kid that still fit by ears and shoulder height, but I wouldn't ignore it for one that is already too big by shoulder height. That's like making an exception for an exception and is too far of a stretch for me.

:yeahthat:
 

Maedze

New member
My oldest is essentially *at* the top of the Radian and he does not ride in it anymore, partially because it's installed with LATCH, and partially because he claims that he's uncomfortable in it :confused: He *looks* fine to me, no more compressed than he looks in the Nautilus harness, but I'm not willing to listen to him complain about it ;). He just got an RSTV.
 

monstah

New member
Yes. I still put my DS in the RN even though he is over the top slot when we take long trips. He is under the overall height limit, he just has a very long (& solid) torso.
 

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