Help, my child is too tall for her child seat and 29 pounds

unregistered · Feb 29, 2008

My daughter is a petite princess - 5 years old, 40 inches and 29 pounds (soaking wet). She has outgrown her child seat, but is nowhere near the 40 lbs needed to go into a booster. I had someone recommend a Graco seat, but the specs only go to 43 inches. I hear the Radian goes to 48 inches, but is it a decent seat? I am a little hesistant about the safety of a seat the folds in half (and incredibly expensive).

Has there been any research on thin kids in booster seats? At the rate she gains weight, she will be at the 9 year old upper limit before she is even allowed to go into a booster seat. I am quite frustrated at the BC regulations, which don't take the smaller kids into account. They say the age range for booster seats is 4.5 years and up. 10 out of 100 girls don't weigh 40lbs until they are 7, and the third percentile (3 out of 100 girls) until they are 8. Meanwhile, even the smaller kids (third percentile) are 43 inches or taller by the time they are six. I am concerned that there will be a whole group of kids in seats where the straps are lower than the shoulder blades, because they don't meet the criteria for a booster seat. Any recommendations?

petitebabes75 · Feb 29, 2008

A couple more things - her torso is 16 inches, when sitting, up to her shoulders. And we live in Canada, so it limits the car seats available.

Jewels · Feb 29, 2008

Height limits are just guidelines as children grow in different areas. Some have long torsos and long legs and others have the opposite. For FF you want to make sure that the straps are at or above her shoulders at all times. Once her shoulders go above the top slots, the weight limit is reached (which you don't have a problem with) or the ears are at the top of the seat then the carseat is outgrown and a different seat is required.

A 5pt harness is much safer then a booster with a seatbelt. The 5pt harness helps hold smaller children in the seat and keeps them safer. Usually, the higher the weight limit the higher the top harness slots are.

Here is a list of seats available here in Canada that harness to higher weight limits and have higher top slots:

Booster combo seats in Canada that harness past 40lbs are:
*Graco Cargo with upfront adjust(48lbs) makes a ok booster (17" top harness slot)
*Evenflo Chase/Vision/Tradition (47lb limit) makes a ok booster (16-16.8" depending on seat)
*Evenflo Bolero/Generations (47lb) makes a decent booster (Bolero is $120 at Walmart) (16.5" top slots)
*Cosco Apex (65lb) makes a decent booster (17" top slots)

For Higher Weight seats:
*Britax Marathon (65lbs) (17" top slots)
*Sunshine Kids Radian (65lbs) (18" top slots)
*Evenflo EFTA (47lbs) (17" top slots)

As far as the Radian goes, it is a great seat and the company also has available a summary of the crash test results on their website.

canadianmom2three · Feb 29, 2008

:yeahthat: and I second the radian. My DD still fit in the Radian by height at 8yo and 65lbs. My DS still rides in it at 5yo and 50lbs. He still has room in the top slots, and SK also allows the restraint to be used 1" over the top slots, which, for those comfortable with that, will allow even longer use.
As far as the safety of the seat, it is the nicest and best seat I have ever owned. It has a steel frame, and is INCREDIBLY sturdy (heavy though!) I only wish that I had gotten it sooner!

QuassEE · Feb 29, 2008

What a tiny little girl! How fortunate you are that you will have seats available to you to keep her harnessed for many years into the future, and that she will never have to be rushed into a booster before she is ready. Many parents who have very large children are left with no options. You, on the other hand, have so many options!

Out of curiosity, do you have a Cosco seat? Perhaps one that was advertised to you as being the "only seat" your daughter would ever need? Obviously I can understand your confusion! However, most kids do outgrow their 40lb convertible seats (especially Cosco) long before they actually hit 40lbs--even kids in the 50th percentile range. That's why there's a whole next level of seats--either convertible seats that go up to as much as 65lbs (see previous posts) or combination seats that also can go up to as much as 65lbs.

Yes, your daughter may end up finally large enough for a booster around age 8 or 9. This is wonderful. Every step towards the adult seatbelt is a step down in safety, and you have such an opportunity here to keep her as safe as possible for significantly longer than those of us with children more central on the growth curve.

Take a look at the seats suggested in this thread, and know you'll be getting your money's worth out of the seat you choose for your daughter, next.

-Nicole.

petitebabes75 · Feb 29, 2008

Her current car seat is an Evenflo, with the bar that sits in front as well as a five point harness. We picked this one as it was recommended FF from 20lbs (which didn't happen until 21 months old)

Thank you for helping me see the bright side of having a thin child. I think having to revisit this whole issue with the car seats brought back the stress of when she was young and not gaining weight.

Does anyone know how the Radian fits in a Suzuki Vitara?

Mara1973 · Feb 29, 2008

I like the Radian and own 4 of them, amongst many other seats. My 6 year old is pretty small in terms of overall size. 36lbs, 45.5 inches tall and 16.25inch torso. You can get an idea from here how much room she has left in the seat

http://www.puddlejumpers.ca/winter.html

I personally would not recommend the Apex for your little one. It is a pretty wide seat and does not fit really thin kids as well. You also need a high headrest behind the seat at all times, so not the best if you will be moving it from one car to another at any point even if your existing car has high adjustable headrests.

Mara

snowbird25ca · Feb 29, 2008

petitebabes75 said:
Her current car seat is an Evenflo, with the bar that sits in front as well as a five point harness. We picked this one as it was recommended FF from 20lbs (which didn't happen until 21 months old)

Thank you for helping me see the bright side of having a thin child. I think having to revisit this whole issue with the car seats brought back the stress of when she was young and not gaining weight.

Does anyone know how the Radian fits in a Suzuki Vitara?

I'm rather confused by the description of the seat. There are 5pt harness car seats - a belt that comes over each shoulder, then buckles into the buckle so that there's a crotch strap, a belt across each hip, and a belt on each shoulder.

There are also seats that have a tray/bar/shield whatever you want to call it, that raises above the head for in & out, and then when you buckle the child in you lower the bar over their head and the shoulder straps come down at the same time. The buckle is attached to the shield and when you click it it locks the shield down. Then you tighten the harness - so you have a strap over each shoulder, the shield in front, and then the buckle.

As far as I know, there's no such thing as a 5pt overhead shield seat.

As for the car, I don't have any experience with that one, so I'll leave that question for someone else to answer. :thumbsup:

petitebabes75 · Feb 29, 2008

It probably isn't a 5 point harness, I just think about it that way as it still has a chest clip.

Is there anything upcoming on the market that will have higher straps. Since she is already 16 inches in the torso and needs a seat for the next three or four years, even the Radian doesn't have a ton of growing space. Is it true the Radian's actual spread is more like 17.25 inches?

snowbird25ca · Feb 29, 2008

How far over the top slots are her shoulders right now in her current seat? You said that her torso measured at about 16", so her shoulders must be a few inches over the top slots of that seat I'm guessing, which means the seat really needs to be replaced immediately as it's probably been outgrown for quite awhile already.

Jewels gave you a great list of seats, and the Radian will definitely last the longest out of all of those.

I'd also try sitting her in a triumph advance, as well as an evenflo generations or chase/traditions combo seat, and see where her shoulders are in comparison to the top harness position. The triumph advance doesn't have as much growing room as the radian, but it may offer her plenty since she's on the petite side and it's much less expensive.

To help give you an idea of the triumph advance and Radian comparison, my dd is 39", 3.5yrs old and 33lbs. She is just above the 2nd from top slots, so has almost 3" torso room left in it. The Triumph Advance she has almost the same amount of room left in. This is her in the triumph advance, it was in our house, so she may lose a bit of room if it was installed, but I dont expect she'd lose much based on what others have said about the seat.

This link shows her whole view in the seat, just so you can get an idea if she looks similar size to your dd.

In the end I'd probably go with either the radian or the triumph advance depending on the amount of room she has left in it.

Jewels · Feb 29, 2008

petitebabes75 said:
Is there anything upcoming on the market that will have higher straps. Since she is already 16 inches in the torso and needs a seat for the next three or four years, even the Radian doesn't have a ton of growing space. Is it true the Radian's actual spread is more like 17.25 inches?

The Radian definately gives more shoulder room. I haven't been able to actually measure the Radian at 18" but it installs very upright so the children sit in it differently which gives them more room. My ds is just even with the 2nd from the top slots in the Radian and will be moving up to the top while in his MA he has been in the top slots for the past 8 months and doesn't have nearly the amount of room in that seat as he does in his Radian.

Rumor has it that there are new seats coming to Canada but who knows when that will be. Apparently the Graco Nautilus might be coming along with the Britax Frontier. There are some other threads here that talk about these seats if you wanted to research them a bit but remember most of the info is likely US.

Again we really have no clue when they might be available in Canada so if your DD's shoulders are over those top slots you need to get her a new seat ASAP. Also remember that Evenflo seats have a 6 year expiration so you might want to check when yours was made to make sure it hasn't expired yet and if it has then it needs to be replaced.

ETA:
Added pictures for comparison. He is pretty much the same in age in all the pictures except the Radian in which he is about 4-6 months older then in the MA.
3yrs ~just moved top slots of MA -------------------------------------Radian

47b8df08b3127cceb56ec7df0c7800000035100AaNGrdy2Ys2OA

47b8dc08b3127cceb628a41ea92d00000025100AaNGrdy2Ys2OA

canadianmom2three · Feb 29, 2008

I found this pic in my photobucket - I have it labelled DS in the Radian at 45lbs, 4.5 years old and 17" torso (which I find a little hard to believe, it looks like he has loads of room!). It was taken more than a year ago, and he still fits well in the seat. He fits best when the seat is installed with the ff recline foot in recline position. When it is in flat position, he has considerably less room in the seat.

shauburg · Feb 29, 2008

If you decide to get a Radian you should try to get one of the 48lb weight limit ones that are still being sold at some Canadian Tires, as you might be able to get it for $99.

For more info:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=35447

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=29448

The 48 lb Radians are not the best deal for everyone, but your DD will likely outgrow it by height well before she hits 48lbs, so paying more for a 65 lb Radian would not benefit you. (If you can get one for $99 that is!!!)

Jewels · Feb 29, 2008

shauburg said:
The 48 lb Radians are not the best deal for everyone, but your DD will likely outgrow it by height well before she hits 48lbs, so paying more for a 65 lb Radian would not benefit you. (If you can get one for $99 that is!!!)

As long as it isn't a short strapped one

shauburg · Feb 29, 2008

Jewels said:
As long as it isn't a short strapped one

Yes, very true - no one needs that hassle! I think I also mentioned that in one of the threads that I linked to.

petitebabes75 · Mar 1, 2008

Thank you for all your help. I will be down in the Lower Mainland in a couple weeks and will look around. Hopefully I can find a long strapped Radian at CT for $99. Not much hope of finding anything in our small town

and the Williams Lake CT doesn't have them.

Help, my child is too tall for her child seat and 29 pounds

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