Torso growth? What can I expect?

Shaunam

New member
Ok, so I know all kids grow at different rates, blah, blah, blah. :p But can anyone give me an idea of what to expect for the next couple of years?

My DS is 22 months, 34.5" and has roughly a 15" torso. Yes, he's proportioned funny. :) Right now, we have him in a regent, where he's *thisclose* to needing the 3rd slots, but I'm very confident he'll make it to at LEAST 4 in it, longer I'm sure.

But in february or march, I'm going to need two more seats, one for my MIL's car and one for my mom's. We don't have much to spend, so I think we're going to get 2 evenflo chase seats. I put him in one at wal-mart and fiddled with the harness and it seems like a decent spare seat. Without the extra padding and with a fairly trim diaper, he's right at the second slots, which gives him 2 more inches. Once he's wearing underwear full-time he'll have an additional 1/2".

SO....

2 1/2 inches. Is there ANY way he'll make it to 4 in this seat (in the harness obviously)?

I checked the cdc growth charts and if he stays on the curve, he'll grow 6 inches in the next 2 years. How much of that is likely to be torso height?

It also said he'd hit 40 lbs at rougly age 4.5-5 so I'm not really worried about that.

Also, he's been falling down the charts steadily for the last year (especially in weight). He was BIG, but he's definitely closer to average than he was.

I'm still probably going to get the seats, as we can't afford 2 radians or 2 regents (we can't even afford 1, really). I thought about 1 fpsv and just switching it between the cars, but ugh, no thanks. Just thought I'd try to get an idea of what to expect.

***Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. It's more about his growth than about car seats, so I thought it would be better here. :)
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
An inch of torso height is about 2-3" total height. However, your son is all torso, so that may not hold true. But in general, that's the rule.

How much does he weigh? Maybe we can help you nail down a budget friendly choice that'll be good for the cars they need to be in, and for his size and age. Also, what cars will the new seats be going in?

Wendy
 

cmm7

New member
If the estimated growth for the next two years is correct and his torso height stays at the same percentage of his body, when he hits 40.5" his torso will be about 17". But, from the other thread, I noticed younger kids have longer torsos. Not sure what those kids will be like in a year or so or how the older kids' torsos were when they were little, but a lot of the extremely long torsos were in children under 3.
 

Shaunam

New member
An inch of torso height is about 2-3" total height. However, your son is all torso, so that may not hold true. But in general, that's the rule.

How much does he weigh? Maybe we can help you nail down a budget friendly choice that'll be good for the cars they need to be in, and for his size and age. Also, what cars will the new seats be going in?

Wendy

He's about 29 lbs now. He's only gained a lb in the last year (actually, he went up to 30, back down do 28 and back to 29 :p ). He was FAT as a baby. He's actually still kind of chunky now. But he looks like he'll be a fairly slim child. DH and I were both small and slim kids.

We don't have a set budget really, just as little as possible. We are moving 2 states away at the end of January and starting competely over. We will be staying with MIL until we get our own place and we will literally have no extras for a long time. We have debt to pay off and we'll have to save to get our own place. You get the idea. The more we spend on seats, the longer it's going to take us to get settled. Car seats will be a necessity though, since MIL and my mom will be splitting childcare between the two of them. My mom will have him once or twice a week and my MIL will have him the rest of the time. If my mom would only have him once a month, I'd just get one seat and switch them, but I don't want to be doing that twice weekly.

My mom has a 91 ford tempo and I have no idea what my MIL has. It's old. And there's only one working seatbelt in the back. It's one of those seatbelts that is two seperate parts ad they are both attatched to the clip. So the shoulderbelt is attatched to the clip at a separate part than the lap belt portion. It pulls out and locks at the lap belt part though, so no locking clip is needed. Sorry if that's not clear. :eek: No airbags in either as far as know. I don't know about headrests.

I'm hoping that this won't be an issue in two years. Either we'll be in a better place financially and we can get better seats or won't need them to babysit and won't need seats in their cars. Right now, I'm just glad we got the regent while we could afford it.
 

SusanMae

Senior Community Member
Since the seats will be used in grandparents cars---would the grandparents be willing to help pay for them? That could help you out some.

Susan
 

Shaunam

New member
Since the seats will be used in grandparents cars---would the grandparents be willing to help pay for them? That could help you out some.

Susan

Both grandmas are about as financially well-off as us. :eek: My mom is disabled and on a fixed income and my MIL is on leave from her job so she can take care of HER mom, who is very old and sick. They live off GMIL's retirement and SS. There's a *small* chance my mom could chip in $50 or so, but I'm not going to ask her. She's already going to be watching DS for almost no pay.

I'm kind of hoping by the time he outgrows these seats that there will be something better on the market. Like as big as the regent, but less expensive. Is that too much to ask? :cool:
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I'd take him to Walmart again and try the Scenera. It's $40 usually, has the highest RFing weight limit in the US, 35 pounds (RFing is MUCH safer, I'd be wary of putting such a small and young kid in a Regent) and a tall enough shell so most kids can reach 35 pounds. After that, though, it's just an ok FFing seat, low slots for FFing (they have to be at or above for FFing, at or below for RFing) and a 40 pound weight limit. But at the price he can get some time out of it and then you can maybe buy something else.

If he doesn't have room in it, I would check out other convertible seats and see if you can get him RFing, though the Evenflos have a 30 pound limit, so they and Graco aren't a good idea for RFing. And Britax is out of budget. So look at the Safety 1st/Cosco/Eddie Bauer seats. They're just as safe as anything out there provided they're used correctly. They're often more budget friendly, and they have a great RFing limit.

Wendy
 

Shaunam

New member
I'd take him to Walmart again and try the Scenera. It's $40 usually, has the highest RFing weight limit in the US, 35 pounds (RFing is MUCH safer, I'd be wary of putting such a small and young kid in a Regent) and a tall enough shell so most kids can reach 35 pounds. After that, though, it's just an ok FFing seat, low slots for FFing (they have to be at or above for FFing, at or below for RFing) and a 40 pound weight limit. But at the price he can get some time out of it and then you can maybe buy something else.

If he doesn't have room in it, I would check out other convertible seats and see if you can get him RFing, though the Evenflos have a 30 pound limit, so they and Graco aren't a good idea for RFing. And Britax is out of budget. So look at the Safety 1st/Cosco/Eddie Bauer seats. They're just as safe as anything out there provided they're used correctly. They're often more budget friendly, and they have a great RFing limit.

Wendy

We have a scenera and he's too tall to rf in it (head is level or just over the top depending on his diaper) and his shoulders are dead level with the top slots. Also, his shoulders are almost wedged in there. I tried him in all the other convertibles at wal-mart and he's either level with or just below (I'm talking 1/4" below) the top slots. We made an educated decision to buy the regent. He fits perfectly in it. I know it's hard for people to comprehend how a child under two can fit in a regent, but I don't think anybody realizes just how tall and broad my DS's torso is. Actually I think I have a picture.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shauna.m/detail?.dir=b0c9re2&.dnm=2638re2.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shauna.m/detail?.dir=b0c9re2&.dnm=7373re2.jpg&.src=ph

These pictures were taken almost 3 months ago. Sorry for the odd angle. It sat weird in my dad's old car, thank goodness we have our own now and can get a perfect install. :)

Please don't make me feel bad about rf'ing. It would be so much less complicated if I had a normal sized child, but for some reason, I was given a giant, oddly-proportioned child. I'm 5'2" and DH is 5'9" or so. I don't really understand it. :confused: He was rf'ing until 17 months and for that, I'm thankful. It's better than the minimum and I try not to feel guilty for turning him.

I know he would probably fit rf'ing in an aoe or similar for a bit longer, but I can't justify buying a seat for just a few more months of rf'ing. He will outgrow it ff'ing soon (he's at the top slots, or rather the next to top since the top is for the booster mode) and I wouldn't use it as a booster, so it really is pointless.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Pictures speak a thousand words. He is a big guy, even with so little weight on him. He looks like he fits great in the Regent. Which is remarkable for such a young kid. I don't think my daughter would fit well in one yet, but she's four and VERY petite (just a pound heavier than your guy and the narrow shoulders of her paternal grandmother).

If he outgrew seats RFing then there's no reason to feel guilty. It was hard for me to picture a 29 pounder too big to fit RFing, but you're right. It's not just about weight, it's about height too.

Wendy
 

Shaunam

New member
Pictures speak a thousand words. He is a big guy, even with so little weight on him. He looks like he fits great in the Regent. Which is remarkable for such a young kid. I don't think my daughter would fit well in one yet, but she's four and VERY petite (just a pound heavier than your guy and the narrow shoulders of her paternal grandmother).

If he outgrew seats RFing then there's no reason to feel guilty. It was hard for me to picture a 29 pounder too big to fit RFing, but you're right. It's not just about weight, it's about height too.

Wendy

Thanks. I know I'm coming across defensive and I don't mean to get pissy, but there was another post (the first one I posted to after I registered) and it had kind of a judgemental tone and I just don't want anyone to think I'm uneducated or ignorant about car seats. I actually read everything I can and I'm constantly fondling seats in stores to see how they work. :cool: I'm really good at installing seats too. I eventually want to become a cps tech, if I can ever get my butt to some classes.

DS does carry his weight differently than other kids. Most people think he's closer to 35 lbs. He's definintely not. He's chunky, yet kind of light. Weird. The nurse at the doctor's office even commented on it. And it's annoying sometimes because I can't buy things like underwear for him by the weights on the package. I always have to size up at least 5 lbs.
 
Don't feel bad about having to turn your ds. He just isn't going to fit long in a lot of convertibles with their highest slots at 17" or so, and probably not at all RF. I have an AOE, and although I read in a couple of places that it has 18" slots, I've measured them at 17". My Radian is only maybe 1/2" higher at its top slots.

Those 2" of torso height can equate to 4-6" total height, though, so he could have a ways to grow before his torso tops out the 17" seats. Also, I've noticed with my kiddos that their torsos seem much longer (proportionally) when they're very young, but by school-age it seems to even out a bit with overall height.

I can understand that it would be the best case scenario to have one carseat for each of the grandparents' vehicles, but if you are looking to get a seat that your son won't outgrow quickly, you may want to consider choosing to purchase one Regent to share between the two vehicles. Inconvenient, I know, but.... :( That's my take on it. Good luck with your move!
 

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