Question can't find carseat tall enough for 3 yr. old.

cory_mohl · May 10, 2013

Hello, I had to purchase a DIONO Radian RXT a while ago because my son was in a Safety 1st AIR PROTECT and his shoulders are above the level of the top shoulder harness straps. (he is very long in the upper body). We also have a Britax which he is too tall for too.
He is only 35 lbs and no where near ready to go into a booster. He still fits the Diono, but at the rate he is growing, he won't in a month. His shoulders are right level with the highest shoulder harness slot.
When I bought the DIONO about 3 months ago, I knew it wouldn't be long but I needed something. Today when I was in Walmart, I saw a Graco Nautilus Multi-Stage Car Seat. and the side impact head things were way up high and the highest shoulder slot looked pretty high. I would have to actually measure the Diono and the Nautilus slot harness heights to see if the Nautilus is taller. Does anyone know or be able to link me with the specific measurements. Just stating the max child height in inches does me NO good because his upper body height is really where most of his height is, not in his legs.
Thanks in advance,
Sincerely
Cory Mohl
Canada

Keeanh · May 10, 2013

Yes, the Nautilus is taller, but not by much. It's 18", while the Radian is 17.5-ish. If your 3yo is almost out of the Radian, I would suggest the Frontier. It's 20". If that's out of your budget, there's another convertible called the Evenflo Sureride that's coming in another month or two that has 19" slots and is $140.

All the measurements are in another section of this forum. Here's the link: http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=61
Those are US seats, so some aren't available in Canada. But the ones that are available here have the same measurements. You'll want to look at "combination seats" for the harness-to-boosters like the Nautilus. The Sureride is in the "convertible" section.

featherhead · May 10, 2013

Yes, if you can afford a Frontier, that is what I would get. In a month or so we should also have the new FrontierCT, which is another half inch taller or so for top harness height.

mommycat · May 10, 2013

If you can't afford the frontier or need time to save up, would he still fit the limits for the Radian rear facing? He is light enough. I am not current on the RF height limits for the radians. If he fits, this might be an option for a while.

snowbird25ca · May 11, 2013

Keeanh said:
Yes, the Nautilus is taller, but not by much. It's 18", while the Radian is 17.5-ish. If your 3yo is almost out of the Radian, I would suggest the Frontier. It's 20". If that's out of your budget, there's another convertible called the Evenflo Sureride that's coming in another month or two that has 19" slots and is $140.

All the measurements are in another section of this forum. Here's the link: http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=61
Those are US seats, so some aren't available in Canada. But the ones that are available here have the same measurements. You'll want to look at "combination seats" for the harness-to-boosters like the Nautilus. The Sureride is in the "convertible" section.

In actual use the Nautilus lasts about 1 inch of torso growth longer than the Radian.

I agree with the others, you need to go for the absolute highest amount of growing room possible, so you definitely want to go with a Frontier when he outgrows the Radian. Hopefully his next couple of growth spurts are in his legs.

tam_shops · May 11, 2013

I agree, I'd buy the Frontier.

And, right around 3yo I had the same concern with my youngest and someone told me not to worry he'd grow legs. And, he did. It's been about a year now and I've yet to move his straps up since, but he's still getting taller...He has plenty of room to grow in his Frontier!

tam

mam521 · May 13, 2013

Just a quick question...which Safety 1st seat? OnSide Air or Complete Air?

Keeks64 · May 14, 2013

mam521 said:
Just a quick question...which Safety 1st seat? OnSide Air or Complete Air?

The complete air is taller than the onside air - the onside air is the exact same shell as the Scenera but with the air pocket padding

Unregistered · Jun 2, 2013

Wow, I didn't think I got any messages until I happened upon it in my searching. Thanks everyone for your responses.
There is a Frontier on sale right now because I think the new 2013 models are out (which I don't care about). I think its at Lussobaby or Snugglebugs Canadian websites.
I think I will buy it.
I think for me to just go up an inch in height wouldn't make much sense.
One responder asked which Safety 1st his other seat is and its AIR Complete. It seems to be level with shoulders.

Someone else mentioned would he fit in the rear facing requirements of those seats- is there a difference? I am unfamiliar with this. I guess I know the shoulder harnesses need to be slightly LOWER than the shoulder height, right? And forward facing the harness height needs to be level with the shoulder or ABOVE. Is that what you are meaning?

Also someone mentioned a new carseat coming soon with harness height of 19 inches. Do you know which one (brand) and to Canada/US or both??

I sure do hope he is will grow the other way and not just his super long torso, but I have to special order my clothes or shop for maternity clothes because I have a very long torso. So I am afraid its genetic :-(

I am so confused at this website, I don't know how to receive notifications when people respond to me. But now that I know people did, I'm so encouraged! Everyone's responses were so right on, and its fantastic to be able to run things by others who know what they are talking about!!

Anyone know how I can receive alerts of responses to my questions or to others that I am following?
Thank you sincerely,
Cory-lynn
Sask. Canada
Mommy of an almost 4 year boy and 36 weeks pregnant to another precious boy

oddduck · Jun 3, 2013

The Evenflo SureRide will be out soon and has a 19" top harness height, but with him only being 3 -- I also agree that you may just be better off to bite the bullet and get a Britax Frontier. The current model has top slots around 20".

My nephew was also larger at 3.5 and had outgrown all seats his parents had (16-16.5" top slots) so I lent him our Graco Nautilus (18.5" top slots) and he still fits in it now at 4.5.

cake... · Jun 3, 2013

I had the same problem. My 3y3mo son's torso is just shy of 18 inches now. We bought frontiers when he outgrew his Complete Air and thankfully should have adequate room in the frontier to last him till booster age.

tiggercat · Jun 3, 2013

Unregistered said:
Wow, I didn't think I got any messages until I happened upon it in my searching. Thanks everyone for your responses.
There is a Frontier on sale right now because I think the new 2013 models are out (which I don't care about). I think its at Lussobaby or Snugglebugs Canadian websites.
I think I will buy it.
I think for me to just go up an inch in height wouldn't make much sense.
One responder asked which Safety 1st his other seat is and its AIR Complete. It seems to be level with shoulders.

Someone else mentioned would he fit in the rear facing requirements of those seats- is there a difference? I am unfamiliar with this. I guess I know the shoulder harnesses need to be slightly LOWER than the shoulder height, right? And forward facing the harness height needs to be level with the shoulder or ABOVE. Is that what you are meaning?

Also someone mentioned a new carseat coming soon with harness height of 19 inches. Do you know which one (brand) and to Canada/US or both??

I sure do hope he is will grow the other way and not just his super long torso, but I have to special order my clothes or shop for maternity clothes because I have a very long torso. So I am afraid its genetic :-(

I am so confused at this website, I don't know how to receive notifications when people respond to me. But now that I know people did, I'm so encouraged! Everyone's responses were so right on, and its fantastic to be able to run things by others who know what they are talking about!! Anyone know how I can receive alerts of responses to my questions or to others that I am following?
Thank you sincerely,
Cory-lynn
Sask. Canada
Mommy of an almost 4 year boy and 36 weeks pregnant to another precious boy

Hi Cory-Lynn!
I have a similar shaped son (turning 4 in August, 37ish pound, 40in, all torso, currently rear facing in a radian but would need the top slots for forward facing).
In order to fit rear facing in the Radian, he must be less than 44in tall, have 1.5 inches of hard shell above his head, and be under the weight limit of your model. Depending how long ago you bought it and which model it is, it could have a rear facing limit of anywhere from 30-45lb. My son is right at the 1.5in above the head mark, so we are turning FF soon!
I have decided to wait for the Frontier CT because I think I will need the extra harness tight. The Britaxes are also nicer to use (in my opinion) than the Graco Nautilus. And the ease of install on the CT is phenomenal!
My older kids also had longer torsoes and did even out a bit eventually, but I did have to booster earlier than i wanted to. I think it's better to buy a taller seat and not need it than buy a shorter one and regret it.
You can subscribe to threads, but there is no notification feature that I am aware of. I find replies by looking at threads I've posted in. On the app, I go to current threads, and select "participated". That lists all of the threads I have posted in.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

snowbird25ca · Jun 4, 2013

Glad you found the answers helpful.

There is an ability to get notifications when somebody posts to your thread, but you need to register in order to make use of it. Registration is free and once you're out of moderated status you'll be able to subscribe to threads through a choice of options. Immediate notification sends you an email as soon as someone posts, but doesn't send you another until you've read the thread. There are also options for daily summaries etc. When it's something I want to follow closely, I usually use the instant notification choice. Forum default is no notification, but I believe you can change that in your preferences.

tiggercat · Jun 5, 2013

snowbird25ca said:
Glad you found the answers helpful.

There is an ability to get notifications when somebody posts to your thread, but you need to register in order to make use of it. Registration is free and once you're out of moderated status you'll be able to subscribe to threads through a choice of options. Immediate notification sends you an email as soon as someone posts, but doesn't send you another until you've read the thread. There are also options for daily summaries etc. When it's something I want to follow closely, I usually use the instant notification choice. Forum default is no notification, but I believe you can change that in your preferences.

You learn something new every day! Thanks!

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

dragonfly8 · Jun 5, 2013

The new Britax Frontier CT (click tight) and Pinnacle CT have a top harness height of 20.5".

I have a tall 7 year old, who fits with room to grow, in the Frontier CT, in harness mode.

I haven't read through all of the replies yet, but I'm sure it's been mentioned already

snowbird25ca · Jun 5, 2013

tiggercat said:
You learn something new every day! Thanks!

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

Quite welcome. I rely on this feature a lot, lol.

Question can't find carseat tall enough for 3 yr. old.

cory_mohl

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Keeanh

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