Between a rock and a hard place...

I have a tall, heavy 10 month old. She's 32" tall but mostly torso and weighs 29.5 lbs. We currently have a MA that goes to 33 lbs. and I thought I would have a little more time in it because she slowed on her growth from 6-9mo (although we just might have hit a skinny day because she had been sick the week of the 9m appt). She had a HUGE growth spurt right after so yeah... Anyhoo - we do need to get a new seat for her (has been the plan for a while) so she can RF as long as possible.

That being said, would you prioritize weight or height? I am really hoping her weight will slow a LOT soon but seeing as she is close to the 35lb weight limit on most seats, I'm not sure how long 5 lbs. is going to last her. She's very active, and crawling didn't seem to make a dent in her weight gain at all.

As far as height goes, she has about 2-3 inches of torso growth before she outgrows the MA RFing by height.

I have been going back and forth between the TF, Radian and the MR65 - if the Radian gets tested to 40 lbs RFing by this summer, I will totally get it, but not sure how likely that is to happen. The MR65 *could* be okay weightwise, but I'm fairly sure she will outgrow it by height first.

Also a consideration, we travel crosscountry to see my family at least once or twice a year on planes. Having a seat that isn't ginormous would be a lot easier to haul

So... what would you do in our predicament? Wait for the Radian to be tested to a higher weight? Buy an XT now and pray that a 40 lb. limit is retroactive? I'm not big on buying the MR65 right now, because I'm really hoping her weight will level off but so far hasn't happened yet.

Wow, you certainly have 1 big baby First, I would make sure you're measuring her height growing room correctly (many parents do this wrong) by reading this.... http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=30201

I'd wait it out for a little while in the Marathon if you can. Make sure you're weighing her with clothes and a full belly (and/or diaper). We can always cross our fingers that Graco has stirred the pot and there will be more 40 pound RF seats coming.

kalamos23 said:

So... what would you do in our predicament? Wait for the Radian to be tested to a higher weight? Buy an XT now and pray that a 40 lb. limit is retroactive? I'm not big on buying the MR65 right now, because I'm really hoping her weight will level off but so far hasn't happened yet.

Click to expand...

Even if the Radian is approved to 40 lbs RF, it won't be retroactive (and who knows when it will happen - Russ has been promising it for years ).

Personally, I would strongly consider getting a MR65 (especially if you think the 29.5 lbs was on a "skinny day") since right now that's your only option for RF past 35 lbs. If she outgrows it by height before she reaches 40 lbs., then reassess based on the seats that are available on the market at that time.

I can almost guarantee that the weight limit won't be retroactive. I don't know the exact details of "why," but SK has said in the past that they can't make weight limits retroactive.

At this point, she's a lot closer to outgrowing it by weight.

I'd go for the 40 lb. weight limit on the MR. Yes, she's tall too, but there's also a chance she'll do what mine did-- keep gaining weight, but all of a sudden sprout legs (she's gained 5 more lbs. since her 9 month checkup and grown 5 inches, but only 1/4 inch of that has been in her torso!)

I think the MR was measured with about 1 inch more torso room than the MA, as well.

I'd wait for her to outgrow the Marathon (or be a smidge away) and then make a decision based on what is on the market at the moment. All the height in the world isn't going to matter if your kid outgrows it by weight.

Oh and PS I wouldn't count on any weight limit changing being retroactive.

I rechecked her height in the MA like 3 times just to make sure - have seen that link a lot and recommended it to others :-D At the most she has 3 inches to go heightwise, her head is level with the tag right now - I measured her like in the pic.

As far as weight, the skinny day was when we weighed her for her 9m appt - she weighed 27 lbs. then. There is no way she gained 2.5 lbs. in a month, and she was 24 lbs. at 6m, so I think that must have been a skinny weight bc she is for sure 29.5 lbs. now. She has slowed in weight - she was gaining at 6.5 lbs from 0-2m, 5.25 lbs. from 2-4m and 4 lbs. from 4-6m, so 5.5 from 6-10m or 2.25 in 2m isn't bad.

What we probably will end up doing is going to the weight limits on the MA and reassessing (hoping that the XT will be tested by then - if not, I'll get a MR65).