torso height versus harness height

mykidsmom · Apr 20, 2009

My 5 year old seems to have a long torso given the clothing sizes she wears.

However, when I measure her torso (seated against a wall), her torso height does not seem large, and also doesn't seem to correspond to the harness height she needs in car seats.

For example, her Torso measured 14.5.

But In a radian, she requires the top slots, the next set are just below her shoulders. I tried her out in a Marathon for kicks, it was in the store uninstalled, and I think she may just have barely fit (even with the top slots).

But that doesn't seem to make sense given the 14.5 inch measurement does it? Shouldn't her shoulders be lower on the seat with that measurement?

joolsplus3 · Apr 20, 2009

Did you have her cross her legs when you measured her against the wall? That can make them rather a lot taller than if they have their legs straight out, for some reason. And yeah, it's not exact by any means...heck, we used to just be able to tell how a kid would fit in a new seat just based on their height, weight, age, and how they fit in their current seat, this new-fangled torso measurement stuff still confuses me, lol.

mykidsmom · Apr 20, 2009

joolsplus3 said:
Did you have her cross her legs when you measured her against the wall? That can make them rather a lot taller than if they have their legs straight out, for some reason. And yeah, it's not exact by any means...heck, we used to just be able to tell how a kid would fit in a new seat just based on their height, weight, age, and how they fit in their current seat, this new-fangled torso measurement stuff still confuses me, lol.

hmm, I can't remember. So maybe the way she was sitting made her measurement shorter than it should be?

ketchupqueen · Apr 20, 2009

It can also be that some quirk of your vehicle means that you lose a lot of torso room because of the way the seats install...

monstah · Apr 20, 2009

ketchupqueen said:
It can also be that some quirk of your vehicle means that you lose a lot of torso room because of the way the seats install...

My kids gained (shrunk down) about 1/2" in their harness's from our old vehicle to our new one. Spooky.

Measuring against the wall just gives you an approx. idea of how a child will fit in a seat. :thumbsup:

ETA: I just measured my 3.5 year olds torso for another thread. Sitting "criss cross applesauce" his torso measures 15.5" he has outgrown the MA and is even with the top slots of the Radian. So your measurement sounds pretty accurate to me. (He wears 5T shirts.)

torso height versus harness height

mykidsmom

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