Did your kids outgrow their seat by height or weight?

How was your childs' car seat outgrown?

  • By height.

    Votes: 59 88.1%
  • By weight.

    Votes: 11 16.4%
  • Neither. Outgrown by both height and weight simultaneously.

    Votes: 2 3.0%

  • Total voters
    67

keri1292

Well-known member
I've seen a few people say that they expect the seat to be outgrown by weight first and I've never met a child IRL who actually did that. My dh's family is even super short but, those kids are also outgrowing by height first.
I'm sure it differs by seat manufactureer so, my dd weighs 40lbs and will outgrow the MA this winter. She's 25lbs under the weight limit. Is this what most of you are seeing as well? I can see a kid making it to 80lbs in the Regent! Just not my kids. Dd will probably be in high school when she hits 80. :rolleyes: Lucky girl.
 
ADS

Morganthe

New member
I selected both height & weight since that was the case for 2 out of three carseats.

Evenflo 5pt infant bucket... dd was within 2lbs of the 20lb top weight and she was about an inch and a smidge away from the top edge IIRC.

The Triumph was sold off before she reached either limit because I didn't like its fit in dh's Jetta with the center lapbelt. Too Perched on the pedestal and dh never would check to make sure it was kept tight -- so it doesn't count, imo.

Maxi Cosi official limit is "Under the shoulder harness, est. 40inches limit" and 18 Kilos which works out to 39.6lbs. DH has outgrown it in both areas for my own peace of mind -- at 41 inches (short torso :p) and she's bouncing around 37lbs +/-1lb any given day without clothes added in.

So as far as I'm concerned, she made it to the set guidelines. I don't like pushing weight limits since that's a definite concern for stressing a seat.

I just wish I could take the MC Harness set up and have it in the Regent. It's so much quicker to get on and off! :p I miss the single puzzle buckle. :(
 

amyg530

Active member
Connor hasnt actually outgrown the Scenera yet but hes about to, he probably only has like 1/4 inch before hes even with the top slots and hes only 28-29#. of course hes pretty tall, he was 3ft before he turned 2 (which was last month) and i havent measured him since then. one of my friends kids as well as my little cousin are both over 3 and the same size.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
I think it's possible for kids to outgrow by weight* 1st in a CarGo with high top slots & mere 40# limit ... but Leila has always been near 90th-95th percentile for height & 5th-10th percentil for weight: she's outgrown every seat by height 1st (I imagine that with high weight seats to accomodate obesity, it's difficult for a kid to outgrow by weight 1st, except maybe infant seats).

*Oops: height was a typo @@
 
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Momto2whosews

Senior Community Member
I voted "by height" but that was in an Evenflo Triumph (she was no where near 40 lbs when her shoulders reached the top slots) and the MA (would have outgrown it at around 40 lbs, but her sister needed it anyway). She's a long-torsoed kid (always in the 90+ percentile for height and weight) and I'm pretty sure she'll outgrow the Regent before 80 lbs also - but her sister will get that one too.

But in the Evenflo Chase (in gmas' car) she was exactly 40 lbs when her shoulders hit the top slots, so that was outgrown simultaneously by height and weight. I was actually impressed that this happened with a "cheap" seat.
 
Last edited:

Suzibeck

Active member
Mostly by height.

When my older two were in the Evenflo OMW, I think they outgrew it by weight first, but I'm not certain as I had moved them to convertables before they outgrew it. They were fat babies and I couldn't lug them around in it.

Every other seat, except one, has been outgrown by height first. My oldest dd has always been very solid. She outgrew her convertable by height first but she outgrew her old harnessed booster's harness in both height and weight at the same time. My younger two kids are skinny minnies and will certainly outgrow everything by height first.
 

Suzibeck

Active member
I think it's possible for kids to outgrow by height 1st in a CarGo with high top slots & mere 40# limit ...


If we had kept the Cargo we had, I think dd would have outgrown it by weight a bit before height, but not by much. She reached the top slots in our MA at just over 40 lbs.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
I voted by height because that is true for most seats of the seats I've had/ used but it depends. Benjamin is almost 4 and 39.4 lbs and still has room in the top slots of the graco cargo but he wouldn't technically be "outgrowing" it since he could use it as a booster (but he won't ;) )

Jacob was too tall for the marathon around 60 lbs and Daniel around 55. Daniel was too tall for the marathon around 35 lbs and safe embrace around 37. Daniel was too tall for the evenflo scout around 33 lbs. I just tried Benjamin in the safe embrace and he would still fit in it, he is about an inch until he would be at the top slots.

Jacob did still fit in the star riser past 80 lbs but he is pretty "solid."
 

Mama2J

Member
I voted by height. He outgrew his Evenflo convertible by height at 35 pounds. I'm not sure about the infant seat, since I moved him into the convertible at 6 months and 17 pounds. He would have last until 9 months according to weight (20 pounds), but don't know about height.
 

Simplysomething

New member
Papooses mentioned the Cargo....
Which ds1 did outgrow by weight before height. Stupid 40 # limit. If we had the higher limit, he could have used it until last summer.

I think he also outgrew the carrier by weight first (22 lb limit). His covertible seat, we stopped using before 40 lbs, but I'm certain he outgrew it by height before we stopped using it (based on photos).

Ds2, he outgrew the infant seat by weight, before he was too long ( I think). He's no where near outgrowing his convertible seat.
 

Erika Ruth

New member
My Daughters are both 80% for height and between 15%-40% for weight... So, totally HEIGHT is our factor with seats. My Daughter is 3 and has about an inch left in her Marathon...

Erika
 

jenny03

New member
Really depends on the kid and the seat. My dd had a CarGo when she was 2, and outgrew by weight at 4, with 2 harness slots to go.

But now, she's in a Regent and has one more slot left, at 46 pounds. No way will she make it to 80 pounds in this seat. My 56 inch 10 year old weighs 76 pounds!
 

abacus2

Well-known member
I selected both by height and by weight because both were true for different seats for Rachael. 20lb Snugride, Evenflo Vanguard, and Decathlon (predicted) by height. Touriva, Cosco High Back booster combo seat, and Triumph by weight. (There are several other car seats we don't own that she has only outgrown by weight.) I think Emily has outgrown the 20lb Snugride by height, but I know she has growing room in the 22lb Snugride.
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
Aiden's outgrown every single seat by height...
Evenflo On My Way V - at only 12lbs (22lb limit)
Evenflo Triumph - ~28lbs (40lb limit)
Evenflo Chase - ~ 32lbs (47lb limit)
Britax Marathon - 35lbs (48lb limit - Canadian seat)
SKJP Radian - still in this one with ~2" of torso growth left (65lbs limit)... I highly doubt that at 35lbs he will gain another 30lbs before he gains those last two inches. :D I'm hoping we can make it to 40lbs before he outgrows it by height!

Mikkel has outgrown one seat by height (I did much better with him, lol)
Graco Snugride (20lb, 26" model) - at only 12lbs
Britax Marathon - second slots from the bottom when RFing, but getting really close to the third slots... retired this seat for a Radian Premiere (80) because he has more RFing leg room in the Radian and seems to prefer the low sides for slinging his feet over the side of the carseat.
SKJP Radian - still in this one with oodles of room to grow... currently on middle slots rearfacing at 27lbs, pretty sure he'll outgrow this by height before weight as well (65lb limit).
 

natysr

New member
I voted by height (referring to the infant carrier), but we moved him to a convertible long before he outgrew it.

His infant seat went to 22 pounds, and he was not 22 pounds until he was 2 years old, so I'm assuming that he was too tall for the infant seat at that point, but I'm not really sure.

I am almost certain he will outgrow his Marathon and Boulevard by height for rearfacing before he ever reaches the rearfacing weight limit.
 

sunnytrishCPS

Senior Community Member
Both have outgrown all seats by height and never weight. My eldest is super tall, with a very long torso, so we've moved through several seats. It has made it a real challenge to find something that's going to work and last for a while, and that has been frustrating. She'll be 4 in September, and she's right at the top shoulder slot in the Apex 65. My youngest is tall, but hasn't grown as fast.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Every seat outgrown so far by either of my long torsoed DDs has been by height. DD1 got close to 40 lbs. before getting too tall to use a Platinum CarGo harnessed, but in the case of every other seat, it has happened well below the seat's weight limit.
 

Kellyr2

New member
Aaric outgrew his infant seat by length first. Then I don't think he'd outgrown his convertible when I bought the combination seat, a Cosco something, and he hit 40 lbs before outgrowing it by height. Mikayla started out in a convertible, but she learned how to undo the chest clip and wouldn't keep it on, before outgrowing it. That was when Aaric was hitting 40 lbs, so I moved her up to his Cosco seat. I have no clue how close she was to outgrowing it in either direction. Then she had not yet outgrown that seat by weight, but was very close by height, when we got the MA.
Now, she is right at the top slots in the MA, and just 47 lbs.
So, yes, most of the time, my kids have outgrown by height first, other than the one Cosco Combination seat that Aaric outgrew by weight first.
 

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