Torso lengths

TheNimpsGirl

New member
Dumb question time :eek:... so I see all the time people reference how short, average or long their DC's torsos are. Is there a chart I don't know about? I mean, what makes a child's torso one or the other? Is it in relationship to their overall height? Other children's torso lengths at the same age?

I just wonder because only now at eight months did I move DS's slots up on the SS1 but I read that other people have done this months ago for the LO's. Anyways... just wondering as it seems that torso height seems to be fairly important with how kids fit in seats and what harness position they are in :)
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
No chart, but it sounds like you have a short torsoed LO, which is fabulous for carseats. Seats are outgrown rear facing by height when there's less than 1" of hard shell above their head, and forward facing when their shoulders go over the top slots (there are other criteria for outgrowing seats, but these are what matter in terms of height). So if you have a long torsoed child their heads will reach the top earlier, and their shoulders the top slots earlier. If you have a short torsoed child they can sit in the same exact seat for a LOT longer than their same aged, same overall heighted peer.

Does that help?

Wendy
 

Spam

New member
:yeahthat: Some children have longer legs and shorter torsos, great for car seats, some are even legs and torso, and some have longer torsos and short legs like my lo.. here he is in the ss1 at 7 months and on the top slots

DSC_0003.jpg

DSC_0002.jpg
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
Just hang around here long enough and you'll get a good idea of when kids generally outgrow certain seats. :p If they outgrow them earlier, they have a long torso; if they outgrow them later, they have a short torso. Etc.

I'm blessed with a short kid who is also leggy/short-torsoed for his height, so he still has about 1/2" left in his Nautilus in harnessed mode, and can still fit in the Radian. :p (And he happens to like harnessed seats, too, so still sits in them.) The short torso was especially nice when he was younger and still needed to be harnessed. I don't think my DD has quite as short a torso.
 

TheNimpsGirl

New member
Thanks everyone. I had just always wondered. And yes, compared to others DS probably does have a short torso. He's little all the way around so at this rate I think he'll be in a car seat for a very long time. Which works for me!
 

scatterbunny

New member
Just nodding with the others. :) A child's proportions can change over time, too. My daughter was always long-torsoed (as well as very tall for her age) until about age 4. Then her legs started catching up, and torso growth was almost at a standstill for a year or so. She needed slim jeans for a few years, and in some brands, still does. In the last 3-4 inches of overall growth, her torso has probably only grown an inch. The vast majority of her growth has been in her legs.
 

Amaris

New member
My oldest son was also another that had a long torso for the longest time, then his legs caught up. He outgrew most 40lb seats by his 4th birthday, and the regent just before his 7th. His torso is still somewhat long, but he's evened out overall, now wearing a 12-14 jeans and a 10-12 shirt. My middle child has an average to long torso, but not as long as his brothers. My daughter on the other hand has the longest torso of our children. She outgrew the ss1 before she turned 1. Right now she's in a radian and when it's upright she's got 2 slots left, but reclined for rear facing she's even with the 2nd slots from the top. I wish for short torsos on my kids, but it doesn't seem to happen.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
ya, you just get used to it, lol.
To giv you an idea of how ridiculous dd's torso is/was, here she is, in a graco comfortsport....(ya, the pic is awful misuse, but back then i didn't know better) That slot that is about a half inch above her shoulders? That is the TOP slot. Of a supposed 40-lb convertible carseat. She is 8 MONTHS old in this picture.
2005_05230046.jpg
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
You do get a feel for it if you hang out around here long enough to compare you LO to other people's same age LOs, but a quicker easier way to tell is when your kid is mis-matched for pant/shirt outfits. For example, if he wears a size 10 shirt and size 14 pants, he is short torsoed like my son.
 

mommaon112903

New member
Josef is a long torso'd kiddo, but recently has been getting more "even" with himself. For a LONG time he would wear shirts two or three sizes bigger than his pants :eek: Now he is wearing shirts only one size bigger than his pants/shorts.

Below is him in his Regent, for the first time, at 3.6yrs of age and using the bottom slot. We ave been moving harness slots approx every 6-9months :eek: Josef will be six at the end of November and is using the last harness slot currently.
DSCN1867.jpg
 
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scatterbunny

New member
H needed the second-to-top slots on the Husky/Regent at 3y9mo! She was even with the second-from-bottom slots when we bought the seat for her at 2.5yo.

http://cpsafety.com/articles/FFAlbum/Hayley.aspx

She didn't move up to the top slots until right around her 6th birthday, though. Her torso growth slowed way down at about 4.5-5yo. She was too tall for the Regent by 7.5yo, so it took 18 months for her to move from being just over the second-to-last slot and being over the last slot.
 

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