What was I thinking?

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

Ok so a couple of weeks ago bought the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite. It's not that it's a bad seat, dd likes it, it fits our car but when it comes to the harness it's only 40lbs. She is tall so maybe she can make it to the top slots for the harness and be alright for the weight and age. I see a 100 lbs and thought great here's a seat for dh's car and that will cover her for the rest of her car seat life.:hitselfonhead: There isn't many seats that are good for RF and have a longer harness weight and larger height limit and still fit in our car. (it's b/c we are tall and the slope in our backseat is there) I just wanted to :blah blah blah: and I wonder if I should look for another seat and take this one back.

Namegirl · Aug 23, 2007

I'm not a big fan of those seats.

What about a Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe? It ges to 55 pounds and has a nice tall shell for taller kids.

Victorious4 · Aug 23, 2007

If you can still return it, I'd probably try to go with an Evenflo Triumph Advance -- same 35# RF limit, taller top harness position & higher FF weight limit.... Otherwise, I'd probably go with a Safety 1st Uptown & save towards a high weight FF-only seat once that's outgrown.

(forgive me for editing your post, Tiffany, I just wanted to have the name of the Triumph right to prevent confusion)

crunchierthanthou · Aug 23, 2007

Yeah, a lot of people read that 100 lb limit without realizing it only harnesses to 40 lbs. I think that's why they are so common. Can you return it after using it for a couple weeks? If so, I'd try to find something with a higher harnessing weight limit.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

Well I like to be able to put dd in the seat to be sure she's comfy in it. I haven't seen where you can buy the fisher price one in person. The triumph advance which is the one we wanted in the first place the crotch strap is shorter and in the first position digs into her legs and the second is to far out.

I don't see why after only a couple of weeks it would be a problem. Let me contact the place first.

amyg530 · Aug 23, 2007

Namegirl said:
I'm not a big fan of those seats.

What about a Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe? It ges to 55 pounds and has a nice tall shell for taller kids.

:yeahthat:

and its on sale at albeebaby.com for $129

arly1983 · Aug 23, 2007

veggiegirl228 said:
Well I like to be able to put dd in the seat to be sure she's comfy in it. I haven't seen where you can buy the fisher price one in person. The triumph advance which is the one we wanted in the first place the crotch strap is shorter and in the first position digs into her legs and the second is to far out.

I don't see why after only a couple of weeks it would be a problem. Let me contact the place first.

I have found one of these in Burlington Coat Factory and a ToysRus. It is the same shell and padding as a Britax MA/DC. If you can try her in one of those, you should have a good idea of how she fits. The main differences are the FPSVD has no built in lock-offs, no RFing tether, and the cover is not plush but more of a polyester/cotton blend.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

I can't convince dh to return the seat and get something else. He thinks that she will get more time out of it than i am thinking. He thinks 52" will cover her in the harness but i don't know how high the harness goes to for height. He's happy if we get a yr out of the seat, a yr should get more than that. I guess i need to do better research before going and getting the next one. Maybe her appt mon can help bring the message home

Niea · Aug 23, 2007

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like her head is getting awfully close to the top of the shell, which means she's outgrowing it for RFing. That reason alone would make me get a different seat with a taller shell.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

Niea said:
It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like her head is getting awfully close to the top of the shell, which means she's outgrowing it for RFing. That reason alone would make me get a different seat with a taller shell.

That's the seat in my car. I'll get a picture of her in his car, the seat in which I question.

ETA: I was beginning to think that she is close to another seat for my car. I don't believe she's 40" yet but I think she's long in the torso. I don't get accurate measurements as the dr office got a higher height than I do. Maybe I'm just measuring wrong.

wendytthomas · Aug 23, 2007

52" in that harness? *snort* No way no how. It's only 14.5" top slots (the very top is booster only). Piper would have outgrown it a year ago around 38". Maybe a 52" kid could use it as a booster, but certainly not the harness.

Wendy

CrabbyBunchX3 · Aug 23, 2007

Niea said:
It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like her head is getting awfully close to the top of the shell, which means she's outgrowing it for RFing. That reason alone would make me get a different seat with a taller shell.

ITA from your siggie pic it looks like you need to be replacing the triumph as well.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

I pulled out the extra cushion thing maybe that will buy me a bit of extra time.

So what your best guess is that alpha omega is 40" for the harness and the remain 12" is for the booster portion, would that be safe to say? I think I will email them and get the info as I want to know, if it's 40" then why buy a seat that's almost done for now, kwim?

I measured her and she looks to be around 32" and if I did the torso right then 12" there. So would she be long torso?

wendytthomas · Aug 23, 2007

I wouldn't worry about overall height too much. If you want for a child you can do their torso to overall height proportion (keeping in mind that around three kids start sprouting legs, or in my kid's case, five) and then you can go out the curve to see where their overall height will be at the top torso height. I hate to tell someone 40" for a seat, or even 52" for the booster. It's all about torso. It's like having a baby. They tell you a due date but only 5% of kids are born on that date. It's more by chance than actual preparation for a birth on that day, KWIM? Same thing with carseat height. 40" may be a decent number, but probably about 5% of kids outgrow a seat at 40". Most do it on one side or the other. Some at 36", some at 46".

Piper is 41" with a 15.5" torso. So they're about equal proportionally, and I consider Piper fairly long torsoed. Though like I said, her legs are starting to grow separately now. Her torso hasn't grown in months and she's put on over an inch and a half.

Wendy

bobandjess99 · Aug 23, 2007

veggiegirl228 said:
So what your best guess is that alpha omega is 40" for the harness

I measured her and she looks to be around 32" and if I did the torso right then 12" there. So would she be long torso?

NO! NO! NO!

TOTAL height means NOTHING! It is ALL about torso height. PERIOD. My dd outgrew the both your seats WAY long ago. She wouldn't have fit in the AOE past about 22 months old, which is when her torso height hit 14.5 inches. Her total height at that point was about 34 inches tall. Granted, she is long-torsoed, but even a more average kid is NOT going to make it to 40 inches in this seat.....
If her torso is 12, and the top slot is 14.5, you have about 2.5 more inches of torso growth. That could be up to 2 years? Or perhaps as little as one? Either way, you are pretty much guaranteed this seat won't harness a kid past 3, even a really small, short kid.
that means, at age 3, you have to buy another harnessed seat ANYWAY. Just get one now, because at least you can return ths seat, and get the money back for it, whereas in a year or 2, you won't be able to. It's a crappy investment.

(I also agree, the triumph looks to be too short, you need to replace that one as well. )

ETA, to give you an idea of how VERY different the torso measurement versus overall height can be, the pp said her daughter is 41 inches tall with a 15.5 torso, and she is 5 yrs old, and my dd is 36.5 inches tall and just shy of 3 yrs old...but ALSO has a 15.5 inch torso!!!!
So you see, a 2 yr difference in age, and a 4.5 differrence in overall height - but yet the same torso height!

Kids REALLY do vary so much...the AOE is just not worth the money, get something with higher slots. Really.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

Thanks for all of the help. If I can just explain it where dh can understand why I am starting to doubt this seat we would be alright. I hate the idea of her using this seat for only a yr and that's a lot of money to throw away for such a short time. Her triumph isn't even a yr yet (got it in Jan) I email Safety 1st to ask the question regarding the harness just to see what they might say.
So here is another question.....

What seat is good for tall torso child, tall parents, and a funny back seat in middle position (95 accord)

I can't spend a lot of money as we are needing 2 seats. I like the FP one but I haven't seen it in any of the stores mention in pp.

ETA: here's what it states about return policy:

Merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. Exceptions: Televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund.

I don't see any problems, i just make sure I have everything that it came with and back it goes.

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

Here I figured that dd wasn't going to sleep I would go and get pictures. I also measured from bottom of seat till highest harness setting and I figured 3" at most from where she's at till she's done. Now mind you I have guess that she's grown about 3" in 3 mo (know for sure on Monday)

veggiegirl228 · Aug 23, 2007

ok here's my car:

sorry the pictures look a bit dark but needed to get pic of dh car before work in morning and I just figured what the helk on mine's

snowbird25ca · Aug 24, 2007

veggiegirl228 said:
Here I figured that dd wasn't going to sleep I would go and get pictures. I also measured from bottom of seat till highest harness setting and I figured 3" at most from where she's at till she's done. Now mind you I have guess that she's grown about 3" in 3 mo (know for sure on Monday)

By highest harness setting, do you mean highest *usable* harness setting? Because the uppermost position of the headrest can only be used in booster mode.

Assuming you're planning to keep her rf'ing as long as possible, by the time she outgrows the seat rf'ing, she'll almost definitely have outgrown the seat ff'ing. In fact many kids will outgrow the seat ff'ing before outgrowing it rf'ing.

I'm not sure exactly what you asked safety 1st when you emailed them, but remember that regardless of what they say about height, if your dd is 39" and 35lbs and her shoulders are over the top usable harness position, the seat is outgrown even if they're saying 40 or 45 or 50". Actual total height is irrelevant. It's all about torso and how she's fitting the seat.

In the pictures in your car, the first picture she looks like she has a tiny bit of room left in the seat. The 2nd picture she looks pretty much at the limit. The height limit evenflo uses for rf'ing is that there must be 1" of hard shell above the top of the head. If there's not 1" of shell above her head, then the seat is outgrown.

I would honestly go with a triumph advance - you know the current triumph you have installs well, it's relatively inexpensive but will get your to 35lbs rf'ing and 50lbs ff'ing, and has top slots the same height as the MA/FPSVD.

Could you maybe take pictures of the crotch buckle? I'm not familiar with the new Advance manual, but is there any requirement about position of buckle? Usually manuals say at the setting closest to child... I know the Radian is an exception to this, but you may be ok with the buckle being on the outer setting if the manual doesn't say otherwise..

Jordynsmama · Aug 24, 2007

By highest harness setting, do you mean highest *usable* harness setting? Because the uppermost position of the headrest can only be used in booster mode.

This a very important piece of info ppl probably miss so you understand this and your dh does too right?

What was I thinking?

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