Please help -- seat for tall skinny child

I am in SERIOUS need of help/advice, etc. Please bear with me as I'm going to be thorough and detailed.
My son is almost 4 1/2 year old. He is 43 inches tall and 41 lbs (tall and skinny). We are having a terrible time with car seats.

Just bought a few months a go a Radian65. I kid you not, he is already almost too tall for the harness (about a half inch to go). It fit perfectly in the center postion in our Civic so I was thrilled. But he is so skinny that I can fit several fingers between him and the straps, but if I tighten it, it cuts him in the shoulders cuz he's so tall. And when he falls asleep he slumps forward, so his shoulder pull away from the seat.

Here's the issue -- a booster won't fly because when he fall asleep he will slump forward and the seat belt will simply slide foward with him, giving no restraint. So it seems a harness seat is they way to go for a while. The weight limits on "large kid" seats don't help cuz he's so skinny. The Radian will hold up to 65 lbs, he's only 41 lbs and he'll be out of it by spring at the latest because he's too tall. Then there's the issue of finiding a seat that will fit in the center position of our Civic.

Mostly I'm trying to find the best harness seat for a tall skinny kid who fall asleep slumped forward. I don't even like that his head as no support when sleeping but I don't kow HOW to fix that. What's not okay with me is how, even in this seat, when he slumps forward the straps have so much slack that his should come off the seat. I watched him last night and thought if we had an accident he'd break his neck. But I can't tighten it cuz it'll cut his shoulders.

I am at such a loss. I don't want to go anywhere if he might fall asleep, and as it is, we'll have to get another seat in a few months and can't go to a booster cuz the seatbelt won't hold him when he sleeps. Basically he's a 4 year old the size of a 6 year old (only skinny).

I really could use some help/direction/assitance. I'm at a total loss.

Melissa

Most kids don't reach the weight limit of a higher weight seat, so he's not alone there.

Sounds like a Regent is the way to go for you guys. It harnesses up to 80 pounds, which you won't care about, but it has 22" top slots. Sounds like your tall guy needs it. Sounds like he has a long torso, too. My 4y3m old is 39.5 inches, so 3.5 inches shorter, and has probably three inches of torso space left in the Radian (she's only 30 pounds, so she's never going to exceed a seat by weight). A 22" top slot may be just what he needs. It's 5" higher than the Radian. And it doesn't sit on a base, just like the Radian, so it won't be too much taller. Not like a huge seat on a Britax base anyway.

I hope some others will chime in on a Regent installation in the center of a Civic. I've heard that it's hard to find a car it WON'T fit in, but I think someone can specifically talk about the Civic.

HTH

Wendy

Thanks. I looked this afternoon at the Britax Regent and thought it looked good. The only others I saw that were possible are the Recara and both the Safeguard Child Seat (to the tune of $430!!!) or the Safeguard GO Booster (an interesting booster seat with a 5 point harness good to 57 inches. The ONLY booster with a harness).

Am I right in that the Regent has a recline option?

And does anyone have suggestions for forward facing kids falling asleep with their heads dropping painfully forward???

Thanks again,
Melissa

There are several boosters with harnesses, they're called combination seats, but the Safeguard is one of two that harnesses over 40 pounds. The other is the Apex 65, which has top slots of 17 or 19", so it won't help you much. I don't think the Safeguard's top slots are much higher than the Marathons, though I hope someone else will help me out. Just because it says 57" (which is a guide anyway, a seat is outgrown when the shoulders are above the top slots, when the ears are above the shell, or when the weight is surpassed, not when they hit a magic height number) doesn't mean it harnesses to 57". Likely not, in fact. But as you pointed out, it's not terribly cheap anyway.

I think the Regent can recline, though I'm not sure how much. It has a recline bar, though I don't know if that's because the bar reclines or it reclines the seat, and if so how much, or if it's just used for installation help. I'm not sure. A regent owner will chime in I hope.

Wendy

I have a tall & super skinny 4 year old, too

Her primary seat is the Regent & I would love to try out the original SafeGuard Childseat or their new GO. The Regent has a recline bar which is mandatory for certain installation methods & optional for another (sorry I don't remember details on that without my manual -- always read the manual) She is about 1" away from the 2nd highest slots on the Regent & her big sister is almost 9 & still just barely fits....

My 4 year old outgrew the CarGo before the Recaro Young Sport, using the recline option in both for a bit of added height room -- she was hardly even with the top slot of the RYSport when we moved & stopped using it. Then Grandma needed a seat & bought the Apex: at first she had more room in it than the RYSport (not much more though) & now she's just about even with the top slot after only a few months.... The RYSport was our favorite except for it's minimal 40# harness weight limit -- the deep wings filled with EPS foam provide a great feeling of security & can help keep kiddo properly positioned even when sleeping if you have ALR belts: what year, make, model vehicle do you have?

Harnessing longer is still safer than graduating/demoting to a booster, but if you have more than 1 vehicle you might save $ by using a Regent or something similar is the primary vehicle & a dedicated booster as a spare seat (especially handy if others drive kiddo since a properly used booster is safer than an improperly used harness & after some help from you he might be able to learn to use the booster properly without you worrying about the other adult doing it right).

Did you try the recline setting on the Radian? Are the harness pads on the seat to keep it from cutting into his neck/shouders?
The Go wouldn't work, they height limit is not with the harness, it's for the booster alone, my dd is 7 and just right too tall for the Radian and the Go. (LOTS of room to grow in the Regent, which I think might be a tich lower than 22, but is incredibly tall nonetheless...my 9 yo still has loads of room to grow in it...he was a 43 inch 35 pound 5 yo, so I know tall and skinny, lol)

We have a 2004 Honda Civic. Yes to the recline with the current seat and the pads (such as they are) are on.

So far it looks like the Regent. Not that I want to spend the moola, but the Safeguard also goes up 19 or 19.5 inches on the harness slots and is WAY easier to adjust than the regent which looks like you have to re-thread each time you adjust it up!!???

I truly wish someone out there had a Safeguard. And I live in Massachussetts -- there are NO retailers anywhere near here (closest is actually NYC and I'm not going there just to try a seat!).

your child must have heck of a long torso, or my dd has a supper short one and long lets b/c i think dd is 44 inches and only on the second to the top slots and she as well is very tall and skinny, i woudl also suggest pulling out the recline mode so that it will sink the child down a little and maybe the harness will work a few more months or so???

my DD outgrew her MA at nearly 6 when she was 44 inches tall...

Mellex said:

there are NO retailers anywhere near here (closest is actually NYC

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Same here I'm in upstate NY, just as close to Canada as I am far from NYC ... if I had the $ to choose between the Regent & SafeGuard Childseat I wouldn't hesitate to figure out when I'd make the drive down -- that or find a retailer to ship who will accept returns/exchanges just in case it doesn't work out We love our Husky/Regent & I have no complaints about adjusting the harness, even though I did really like the adjuster on the Boulevard (similar to the SafeGuard). Kiddo also misses her "pillow wings" on the Boulevard (similar to the SafeGuard) but a blankey does the same job when she feels sleepy.

Honestly, if you can afford either the Regent or the SafeGuard Childseat then it can be extremely helpful to allow kiddo to choose between 2 or 3 safe, affordable options -- to encourage cooperation...! Maybe there's an upcoming excuse for a ride & dinner in the city

One More Regent question

Okay -- looks like we'll try the Regent. One more question cuz it's been an issue before -- anyone know the seat depth?

adding to the previous message: I'd actually like to know the depth of the Safeguard seat as well. (not the whole chair depth, just where their butt sits). If anyone knows the measurement for both seats I'd love it.

Tough to get ahold of their customer service!!!

I don't know for sure about the SafeGuard Childseat, but I think a CPST here with one said that it's at least as deep as the Regent & the Regent seat depth should be the same as my Husky, which I just measured at about 13 or 14 inches -- sorry, I'm not exact, it's clod & raining (also, I did not remove the cover for this measurement) ... maybe someone else can verify how close that is to the real thing Anyway, it's deeper than any of our other seats & the shape is also such that lots of kids find it very comfy because they can lift their legs up to sit "criss cross apple sauce", etc

Have to go Safeguard

Thanks for all the data -- it looks like I actually HAVE to go the Safeguard route cuz the Regent is quite large and we have a Civic. At 22 inches it leaves no room for anyone next to it (we always put seats in the center position, particularly cuz it is a small car). The Safeguard is 19, which doesn't seem like much of a difference but that several inches has an impact. Also the Regent is 30 inches tall and would block my view out the rear window.

The rep from Safeguard said she measured from the seatback to where the child's knee bends and got about 11 inches. That's kinda shallow, close to what we have now in fact, but again, I think the Regent would be too big and might even go off the front edge of our back seat. It's just too giant a car seat for our little car!

So I called in all my xmas gifts from family and we'll try the Safeguard. My fingers are crossed!

Hm, I hope someone else with both seats can chime in -- I've always been under the assumption that the width, depth & height of the 2 were extremely similar.... That if one fits, the other should

BTW, we have a Civic, too: 2 Regents fit easily in the back, but so that the center is unusable, but with a lap only belt the center is already unusable except for installing some few seats that can handle the hump. Who & what (carseat) else do you need to fit in the back? How often?

Well, a web merchant I looked at (elitecarseats.com) has a comparison feature and the specs are pretty different as far as size. Two inches difference in height 3 inches in width.

I'm sure I could fit the Regent in the outer position in our Civic I just really don't like to. I've always looked for seats I could center position. I just feel better and our son can get carsick, so being in the center so he can look out the front window helps enormously. (btw, our civic has a shoulder belt center).
We don't need to fit anyone in there much, but on the occasional times and our DS is feeling needy or unwell, and wants me to sit back there with him, with a large seat in the center I could never do it.

To be honest, it's always something of a crapshoot, and I just check return policies before I order. What else can I do???

Ah, makes sense

There was someone on here a week or two ago selling three Safeguard seats. I don't know her, but Julie apparently does and I would buy any seat sight unseen from Julie if she told me it was safe, so I think you could probably trust this lady. She posted in Coffee Break, and I think she was asking $350 for them, so about $100 off.

wendytthomas said:

Most kids don't reach the weight limit of a higher weight seat, so he's not alone there.

Sounds like a Regent is the way to go for you guys. It harnesses up to 80 pounds, which you won't care about, but it has 22" top slots. Sounds like your tall guy needs it. Sounds like he has a long torso, too. My 4y3m old is 39.5 inches, so 3.5 inches shorter, and has probably three inches of torso space left in the Radian (she's only 30 pounds, so she's never going to exceed a seat by weight). A 22" top slot may be just what he needs. It's 5" higher than the Radian. And it doesn't sit on a base, just like the Radian, so it won't be too much taller. Not like a huge seat on a Britax base anyway.

I hope some others will chime in on a Regent installation in the center of a Civic. I've heard that it's hard to find a car it WON'T fit in, but I think someone can specifically talk about the Civic.

HTH

Wendy

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Just to clarify, the Regent only has 20" top slots. The only other seat that is bigger than that is the new Roosevelt from IMMI which has 22.5" top slots. But it is a medical seat and can only be sold for medical purposes. I talked to the creator of the seat, and he is unsure at this time whether or not they will make a sister seat to sell to the general public.