3 Year Old with Long Torso

Isca

New member
Currently, we have a Radian 65 installed in our extended cab f-150 and I love the seat. My 3 almost 4 year old son is on the last harness slot of this seat already and his stats are as follows: 42.5" tall, 49 pds and has a 17.5" torso. According to the harness slots for the Radian, he basically has .5" to go on the 5 pt harness.

However, I have been reading that with the Radian, you can have your child's shoulders go past the harness slots, until the tips of their ears reach the back of the car seat. I am not sure how I feel about this, safety wise. I did read the info that was posted with regards to the SK's rep talking about it being safe, but I am still concerned.

I have been looking for a new/replacement car seat for him and I really want to keep him in a 5pt harness as long as possible. It just seems that with his torso length, we are at the end of the harness height for most seats.

I can't get a good install with the Regent (which had been my first choice before the Radian) in my vehicle because the back of the seat will not move forward enough and it rests on the glass window in the back.

I am at a loss as to what seat we need to be looking at.

Any ideas and thanks for any input you may have!
 
ADS

NannyMom

Well-known member
The Radian has really high harness slots. The Nautilus is maybe 1/2 inch to 1 inch higher I think. And the Regent is the only other option (which sounds like not an option for you).

Hopfully someone else will have some helpful ideas. But all I can say is, maybe he'll grow more in the legs and less in the torso for awhile.
 

monstah

New member
If the Regent wont work, your best bet is probably the Nautilus. My DS is almost even with the top slots on his Radian but still has about an inch to grow in his Nautilus. I suspect he will get atleast another year harnessed with the Nautilus. Hopefully your DS will get atleast that much time too.
The other option is the Britax Frontier. But it has a slightly lower harness height than the Nautilus and in cases like this, I think every couple centimeters count.

And my son is also 3 years old. I am in the same position as you because I couldn't get an acceptable install with my Regent either.
 

TnT's Mom

New member
Oh, long torsed children...I have one of those myself!

The Nautilus might work but I would try to test it out first...preferably installed. My 4 year old son is 42.5" tall and has an almost 16" torso. We are on the top slots of the Nautilus but we do have about an inch to grow. When I put him in the seat in the house we were on the 2nd from the top slot but once installed in the car I lost some harness height and the 2nd from top slots are too low for him so I had to uninstall and move the harness to the top. Someone else can probably explain why you lose harness height sometimes once the seat is installed...I actually am not exactly sure.
 

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