WWYD?

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Eva has asked to go back into a 5 point harness. She got "too tall" for her Marathon (shoulders above top slots) last summer and has been in the Parkway since. The problem is, she doesn't always sit properly.

She weighs 55 lb. I just rechecked her in the Marathon. Her ears are about an inch below the top of the seat back, but her shoulders (which measure right at 17.5" up against the wall) are definitely above the top slots. Would you put her back in the Marathon? (It doesn't expire until September.)

From page 30 of the MA manual:
IMPORTANT: Once the top slots become necessary, the child may continue to use the restraint until the top of the ears become level with the top of the restraint shell or child’s weight exceeds 65 pounds (29.5 kg).
 
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melniemi

New member
Not if her shoulders are above the top slot. Britax will verify that she is too big.

Buy that regent from babyuniverse. 192, baby:D
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I checked the manual online, and it says the same thing. Britax says the manual is wrong?
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Oy, tough call...

My interpretation of the manual has always been exactly what you're quoting, but I know others interpret it differently by looking at the ff'ing section and saying at or above. But that little warning box to me looks like it's saying once the top slots are necessary it's ok to keep using the seat as long as the ears are within the shell and to ignore the strap height - kind of an exception rule.

I also have heard if you call Britax they'll tell you to stop using it once the shoulders go over the slots - but then again, the old roundabouts said at or above for both rf'ing & ff'ing, and had the ears at top of shell limit for rf'ing as well and we tell parents to follow whatever manual they have & I'm not sure what Britax would tell those parents...

I'm not sure if I'm helping your decision much here or not... you're not somewhere to easily access a seat like a nautilus are you? (Deployed overseas IIRC?)

Given that you don't have an option to replace the seat, I'd personally - as a parent, weigh down on the side of being ok continuing to use the seat until the ears reach the top of the shell. As a tech I interpret the manual the same way, but am on the fence because of the varying things I've heard from Britax.

So what would I do.... probably use it for a few months (unless she outgrew it sooner,) and then try the booster again. And if she's clearly not going to be booster ready for awhile, I'd try and get a nautilus or other relatively inexpensive seat shipped over.

(To put the at or above & MA manual in a little bit of perspective, other seat manuals clearly state that once the shoulders go over the harness at the top height the seat is outgrown. The MA is not making this statement at all in my evaluation - I've read and re-read the manual trying to find a way to interpret it differently because of the debate that's happened on this before, but I still come to the same conclusion - that the MA is allowing shoulders over top slots. It has a similar harness geometry to the Radian which is supposedly part of why the shoulders can go over the slots in the Radian, so maybe that's part of it - and maybe Britax is just caving to industry standard pressure in not allowing shoulders over the tops of the slots on the new seats being released?)
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
On hold w/ Britax....

ETA: OMG! I'd forgotten how very much I HATE their hold music.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Gah. OK, I spoke to "Heather" who first said that my child was over the 40 lb weight limit. :rolleyes:

I stated again that it was a MARATHON, and she said it was outgrown if the top of the ears above the seat back OR the shoulders above the top slots OR the weight limit exceeded. I directed her to page 30 and read the passage aloud to her. Then, she read the passage aloud to me. Then she said that it was "misleading" and that if the child's shoulders were above the slots, there was a risk of "compression".

I said I'd definitely be reporting that one to NHTSA, as the manual is quite clear, and apparently incorrect. So, I guess I'm off to fill out a form.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Gah. OK, I spoke to "Heather" who first said that my child was over the 40 lb weight limit. :rolleyes:

I stated again that it was a MARATHON, and she said it was outgrown if the top of the ears above the seat back OR the shoulders above the top slots OR the weight limit exceeded. I directed her to page 30 and read the passage aloud to her. Then, she read the passage aloud to me. Then she said that it was "misleading" and that if the child's shoulders were above the slots, there was a risk of "compression".

I said I'd definitely be reporting that one to NHTSA, as the manual is quite clear, and apparently incorrect. So, I guess I'm off to fill out a form.

Bah. :rolleyes:

Is there still a Britax rep on the CPSPList? Maybe post there too and see if you can get a response from someone higher up in the food chain about the wording?

(You'd think a CS rep would know a MA had a 65lb weight limit, I mean come'on, they only make 2 seats with 40lb limits and the others are 65lbs or 80lbs. Wonder what would've happened if she'd told someone the Regent had a 40lb weight limit. :rolleyes: )
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I've been taking the tops of ears rule as 'THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING...THIS KID IS TOO BIG ALREADY!'...some parents just need things said to them 14 ways, and this is one of them. We have been wondering about this for years, I wonder if you're the first one who's reporting it? (Action Ulrike is on the case!)

:)
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
She apparently thought I said, "Roundabout." I'm sure I said, "Marathon," but whatever.

Maybe they meant it as a final warning type thing, Julie, but that's definitely not how it was worded.
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
I wouldn't do it. If the 'rule' is not to have shoulders over *any* slot when FF (b/c of spinal compression), it seems that this would also apply to the top slot as well...?
 

amyg530

Active member
while you;re at it, report page 5 (i think) of the online MA manual, it says rear facing where it should say FF
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
I'm not doing it, but I'm more than a little miffed with Britax for this error in the manual. This seat has been out for almost 6 years now, and they still haven't corrected it? I almost didn't even post, because I thought it was obviously OK, but I was pretty sure I remembered reading that some people had been told not to use it above the top slots. I thought maybe it was a misunderstanding, because I'd checked the most recent version of the manual online, and it said the same thing my 2003 manual says.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
I wouldn't do it. If the 'rule' is not to have shoulders over *any* slot when FF (b/c of spinal compression), it seems that this would also apply to the top slot as well...?

Not necessarily. The risk of spinal compression decreases as the bones develop, same as for RF/FF risk, so it's possible that a child old enough to be over the top slots in a Marathon wouldn't have that risk.
 

ktmo

New member
I think that the problem with the manual is that it talks about the requirements for forward-facing on page 7:

Only use forward-facing with children:
• who are at least one year of age and
• who weigh between 20 and 65 lbs. (9.1 – 29.5 kg.) and
• who are 49” (124.5 cm.) or less in height and
• when the top of the child’s ears are below the top of the child seat shell and
• when the harness straps are located in the nearest slots at or above the child’s shoulders, parallel to level ground (Fig. B).


but it doesn't discuss it anywhere else in the manual.

Katie
 

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