Confused about harness height vs. maximum child height

BabyB'sMom15

New member
Hi,
Thanks in advance for what I know will be a lot of helpful information. I poke around here quite a bit and can usually get all my questions answered by browsing other threads; this is my first time posting.

My question is about harness heights (top slot) vs. manufacturers' suggested child height. For instance, Recaro Young Sport says max. child height for harness is 40" (I measured 18" top slots), but Graco Nautilus says 52" max. child height but the top slots are only slightly higher. How could you fit a child that is a foot taller if the top slot is less than an inch taller? Am I missing something?

(The ones I am looking into now are GN, Recaro YS and Britax Frontier, maybe Como/Signo.)

Thanks!
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
It's about torso height. Piper had a VERY long torso for a long time.

2089463811_2515e36f4c.jpg


You can see how short and stubby her legs were then (she was 18 months old).

Now elongate that from 34" to say 48". Her torso at 34" was a good chunk of her body, probably about 14.5". At 48" at that proportion she would have had a 20.5" torso. So she would have outgrown an 18" seat at 42".

Conversely, take someone with a short torso. I met a little girl tonight who at 2.5 years was on the bottom slots of her Marathon. She probably has an 11" torso. She was probably about what Piper was in height at that age (I can't remember what she was, but probably about 37"). She'll outgrown an 18" seat at 60.5". At that proportion.

Does that make sense? Piper's torso stopped growing 18 months ago, so she's actually far more proportionate now. Her torso and my torso are about the same, proportionally.

We don't put much stock in overall child height. That's the average. Well, for the seat and kids I did the average would be 51". They have to put *something* on there, but there's no way to know in what way kids grow.

Wendy
 

BabyB'sMom15

New member
Thanks for the picture and the info.

So, if I were to select the GN over the YS, I wouldn't necessarily get much more growing room, is that correct? Since the top slots are so similar?

DS is 34" overall and I didn't measure his torso height but from his bum to the top of his head (sitting against the wall) is 19". Does that seem long...?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Yes, that's too long. The torso doesn't include the head. Just from floor to shoulder.

How heavy is DS? Most 34" kiddos fit rear facing very well. What seat is he in now?

You'd get about 1/2" of torso growth more in the Nautilus than the YS (which I thought had 17", not 18" top sltos).

Wendy
 

BabyB'sMom15

New member
He's currently RF in a Maxi Cosi Priori and a Britax Diplomat. He weighs 23 lbs. and is 20 months old. Right now he only has 2" above his head in both of these seats. I plan to keep him in both of these as-is until he gets too tall but am thinking ahead to what to do next.
I wonder how much time I have...
(Love the name Piper BTW.)
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Thanks. We love her name too. :)

An inch of torso growth is 2-3" of overall growth. So you may have six months to a year, depending on speed and proportions. However, given your son's tiny size and age, I'd look for a temporary rear facing seat, rather than a forward facing seat. At least for the primary car. A Cosco Scenera or a Safety 1st Uptown are economical options for temporary rear facing seats. Closer to 30 pounds for forward facing would be ideal, and at least two, if not closer to three years old. Depends on how fast he grows. He's going to be right on the line as to being a decent size to face forward and fit in some of the seats you want. Right now he'd be too small for the Nautilus or Frontier. They'd practically swallow him alive. Probably the same with the YS.

Wendy
 

Wineaux

New member
Here's a little perspective. My DW and I are both 6' tall. That said, I wear jeans that are 30-32" long depending upon the cut. My DW wears 34" long jeans. My son has inherited his father's uber long torso.
 

BabyB'sMom15

New member
I guess DS has a long torso! He's always been around 90th percentile for height but I hadn't thought much about the distribution until now.
That's great if I could get 6 months to a year in my current set up. I need to just see what happens and stop worrying about it...getting ahead of myself!

I definitely want to RF until at least age 2 so hopefully I can get there with what I have now & then re-evaluate.

Thanks for clearing up my initial question!
 

cryswilkins

New member
The standing height of a child is really more of a guideline rather than a set in stone rule. You can use the seat until the child is at or begins to go over the top slot for forward facing. Overall height doesn't matter its all about the torso measurement.

I think (someone correct me if I am wrong) that they have to state a height limit per NHTSA, and since all kids grow differently they will be all different shapes and sizes when the get to that height.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
Crystal, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Manufacturers must list an overall height to comply with NHTSA regulations. However you can have three children the exact same height and one will have long since outgrown it, one will have plenty of room and one will be close to the limit because (like adults) children carry their height differently. One may have a very short torso and long legs, another may have the reverse, and a third may be "average". The standing height is based on those "average" kids.

Rear facing seats are outgrown by height whn there is less than an inch of seat shell above the child's head.

Forward facing seats are outgrown by height when EITHER the shoulders are above the top harness position OR the ears exceed the seat shell.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I think they estimate heights based on the seats' weight limits, too... it's fairly reasonable to expect a 40 inch tall child to be around 40 pounds, a 65 pound child to be closer to 52 inches...so that helps them fill the 'max height' blank on the manual. I knew of an extremely thin and short torsoed kiddo who fit in the Recaro Young Sport (which Wendy's right, has about a 17 inch top slot, the Nautilus is about 18.5) till he was 7 and like 45 inches and 40 pounds. He probably would fit in the Nautilus till 9ish harnessed. But 'average' kids are out of that seat around 5 and 40 pounds, out of the Nautilus at like 7-8 and 55ish pounds...just to give you a little feel for how long they last :)
 

BabyB'sMom15

New member
Thanks for all the info. I understand better now.

I'm starting to think the Signo will be a good choice for my next seat. That way I can RF past 2 years and he'll have plenty of growing room once he's FF. I'm thinking since he's skinny (only 10%) he won't have trouble with the shoulder width? I've seen other postings saying that there is not enough shoulder room when the kids get taller and in the store, it did seem a little narrow to me...
 

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