3 new seats for a skinny long torsoed 4yo

[aimeeandaaron]

Help! It looks like I will have to replace all of our carseats in the next 6 months.

My son will be 5 in December, he is 42.5 inches tall and weighs 33lbs, the problem we are having is that his torso is very long. Around 16.5 inches. So he is outgrowing all of his seats and he is still way to light for a booster.

The first seat that I will need to replace is our travel/grandparent seat that is currently an Evenflo Chase. His shoulders are barely below the highest harness slot when it is sitting on our living room floor, and since I have now learned that that may change depending on the installation, I no longer feel comfortable with it since I never know what I might be installing it in to. I would love something lightweight for this seat, that would hopefully get us to 40 lbs. I went looking at seats today (very little selection near us), and there was an Evenflo Generations at Babies-R-Us that seemed to have well over an inch of room, but the same seat at Baby Depot had none at all, and the harness heights are listed as 17 inches in the tables - are there different versions of this seat, or was I just hallucinating? He was at the top slot in the Safety 1st Apex 65 they had at Babies R Us, so that one is out, unless there are other versions with higher harness slots. The Ride Safer vest says that we could use it at 35 lbs, but I wonder about the safety at that low weight (and also some people have mentioned that it doesn't fit small kids well). Any ideas on that? Do you use it with a booster, or alone? Any ideas for other lightweight seats that may have a longer functional harness height than just what gets listed in a table? I may not get him to 40 lbs in one of the available lightweight seats, but if it was less that $200, I may just do it so we wouldn't be carrying whatever ginormous seat we get for our cars through airports, or entrusting any expensive seats to baggage handlers at least for whatever time it gives us.

Our everyday seats are 2 Britax Wizards that I thought we had plenty of time left in, until I dialed them up to the hight harness height just yesterday. In our 05 Acura TL his shoulder is maybe 1/2 inch from the harness at the top, and in the 99 Honda CRV he has a bit more. I know the Regent has the highest harness heights, but it is also HUGE and would probably mean that we would have to move him outboard in the Acura because we do sometimes put an adult in the backseat, and there is no way someone would fit next to this seat in the center. The CRV also doesn't have latch and I'm a bit worried about getting it installed in the center, especially since dh takes the seat out sometimes to haul things and he isn't great at getting seats in well if it is hard, and it doesn't have side airbags, so I don't like the idea of him outboard in that car. It sounds like my other options if I want to try to get him as long as possible in this next seat, would be either the Recaro Como, or the Safeguard seat? I think someone said the Recaro is wider that the Wizard, but it looks like the shape may leave more space for an adult next to it. Anyone know? What about the Safeguard seat? I've also heard these seats are very tall, how tall, particularly compared to a Wizard with the wings dialed all the way up? I can barely see out the back of my car as it is! Any new seats coming out in the next 6 months or so that might be worth waiting for?

I will spend what I need to to keep us all comfortable and safe, but I'd prefer not go crazy.

Also, this may sound stupid, but I used to always keep the harnesses a bit above his shoulders, so I knew they were okay, but now that I can't raise them at all, how exactly do you tell when they are even?

Also, how do you find stores that have a good car seat selection so that you can try them out without ordering them online?

I've already learned a lot reading the forums, and I'd be grateful for any suggestions, insight, or experience anyone has to offer.

Thank you,

Aimee

 

[Jeanum]

I'm not sure about variations in the Evenflo Generations models and their top harness slot heights, but it could vary possibly if one version has more padding and boosts the child up a bit more in the seat. Also, maybe you already knew this, but just in case, here goes: The Apex has 4 sets of shoulder harness slots, and you have to raise up the headrest to reveal the top slots. Sometimes those top slots get overlooked.

It tends to be the boutique type baby stores that carry some of the seats you're asking about, like the Safeguard and Recaros. The seat manufacturer websites usually have a store locater to help narrow down vendors in your area, and then you could call the stores and ask what seats they specifically carry. Is there a USA Baby in your area? Some locations carry quite an array of seats, and you could call first to verify what they carry. (Trust me, calling around first might spare you a trip. Some USA Baby locations don't sell carseats and focus more on baby furniture as I unfortunately discovered when I eagerly drove to a store almost an hour from my house, lol).

Happy shopping, and hope you're able to find a place to try more seats out.

P.S. A tip for figuring out if the shoulders are even with the top slots is to make sure you're checking the actual slots in the seat's shell and not just in the cover, because the cover might shift around and make the cover slot appear a bit higher or lower than the actual slot in the seat. You could use an emery board or popsicle stick in the slot and see if the stick is level or angled at the shoulder. Another thing to watch for is if the shoulder strap appears to curve down behind the shoulders at the top slot even a tad, then that's a sign the shoulders are above the slot.

 

[henrietta]

The Sunshine Kids Radian 65 will give him a bit more room, b/c the top slots are @ 18". It also folds for travel, so it would be good for lugging around.

It can be an install problem in some vehicles, but that can usually be overcome if you know who to ask (ask here!).

hths

henrietta

 

[aimeeandaaron]

My concerns about the Radian as a travel seat were that it is actually as heavy as the britax seats which I HATE lugging around when we travel. Maybe the compact shape would make them easier?
I'm also concerned about the installation issues particularly since none of the grandparents' cars have LATCH, and although I'm sure most rentals we get will have it, the taxi's probably won't, and the seat belt installations sound like they have the biggest issues.
It does sound like I would get a lot longer with the harness height on that one though if I can find one to try out.

 

[Suzibeck]

An option to consider the the 86-Y harness paired with a highback booster. They now let you use it with any booster. You do need a top tether, but not LATCH to do this. I don't know if this would work in any of your situations, but I thought I'd throw it out there. I wish I had one to use with our Parkway for youngest dd.

 

[Defrost]

An option to consider the the 86-Y harness paired with a highback booster. They now let you use it with any booster. You do need a top tether, but not LATCH to do this.

The 86Y would be a good travel option, but not for this child. OP said he was 33 lbs; you have to be at least 40 lbs to use the 86Y.

To the OP: the Ride-Safer vest doesn't allow you to use it with a booster; it doesn't work that way. I think EZ-On sells another vest that might work, though, lemme check... Yes, the 203 starts at 20lbs. It looks like you'd need to buy the EZ-On tether mount to go with it (hooks to the top of the vest, creates a "Y" to hook to a tether anchor). No booster. I would definitely prefer a harnessed seat over this, but I can see how it would be quite problematic with a child with such a long torso, and this vest would definitely be better than, for example, a Radian that wouldn't install in the vehicle you had.

Also, yes, the Radian is easier to carry if you get the carry-strap. It's just as heavy, but the fact that it folds and has the carry-strap means it's much easier. But again, it has the seat belt install issues, which doesn't make it a good option if you use it in a lot of different vehicles without LATCH.

For your own vehicles/daily use, my general rule-of-thumb is that a harnessed seat is best (like the Regent), HOWEVER if you find yourself stuck because his torso is too long for a harnessed seat, and you have no other option but to put him in a booster, adding the 86Y would be better than just the booster.

 

[aimeeandaaron]

So I went yesterday to look at seats. Went to 3 stores that were withing a few miles of each other (had to drive an hour to get there). I tried out the Radian and the Safeguard and the RYS.

I know the RYS doesn't have higher slot heights, but I was hoping that he would have more space in it because of the angle installed, and it could give me a bit more time to see how he was growing, then I could at least use it again once he was ready for a booster. No luck there, he was right at the top slot once I got it installed in the car.

The Radian would work for a while, but he didn't seem too comfortable in it, and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with having to decide whether he was 1" above the slots, so I'd probably want to replace it when he gets to the top slots, which really won't give us much room.

I did like the Safeguard seat but with the headrest up, it was a couple of inches higher than the Wizard with the wings up, and I would never be able to see out of the back of my car with him in the center. The seat depth was also really short, even for my short legged kid. For $450 I would want it to be perfect.

I think I'll be ordering the Como online to try out. I am really counting on it to work. I don't think I can handle any more boutique baby stores though.

The worst part was the Right Start employee who "helped" me try the RYS in my car (it looked like he had a whole lot of room in it on the floor). She had no idea how to do it, so was really no help at all, but when ds said he liked his Wizard better, she told him "but that is your baby seat, you are a big boy, don't you want a big boy seat" That was after I said that the seat wasn't going to work for us. Thanks a lot lady for putting ideas in his head. I'm hoping to get at least 6 months more out of that seat in dh's car, and I may be replacing it with one that looks a whole lot like it in my car. I don't need my son deciding he doesn't want to be in something that looks like a car seat anymore.

I haven't come up with anything for our travel seat. We are going on vacation in 5 weeks, and at this point I am hoping that he will either still fit in his Chase, or gain a couple of pounds and fit in a Ride Safer vest.

I think I will be moving our main seat to the grandparents cars when they need one until he is either big enough for a booster, or someone comes out with a better option for them.

 

[aimeeandaaron]

Thought I'd update with my experience with the Como. I got it a couple of days ago and I'm very happy with it.

Ds is just below the second harness slot to the top, so he has about 2 inches of torso growth to go. The narrow sides don't seem to bother him much at all, and although it looks as if it is already pretty snug, if I push on the cover next to his shoulders there is actually plenty of extra room there. My son has broad shoulders for a kid who is otherwise a string bean, so I think that there should be a lot of skinnier kids for whom the shoulder width won't be a problem, but I can see it being an issue for older kids of average-high weight/height.

I took off the wings because they made it hard to see if he was at the right harness setting, but ds has been asking for them back. Maybe now that I have a feel for the seat I'll let him try them again?

The twisty straps do look like they are going to be annoying.

The best part - I can see out of my back window again! I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten with the wings all the way up, but the visibility was awful with the Wizard in there. It made me realize the Safeguard would have been a disaster! The Como hardly interferes at all.

I think we will at least be able to get to 40lbs in this seat, then I'll need to decide whether to get him a booster, or some yet to be made newer, taller harness seat, but I'm happy to at least have a decent option for the present.