Britax lowest harness slot

[linguistmama]

Does anyone know why the lowest slot on the Britax convertibles is 10 inches? Why oh why can't they be 8 inches? Is there some reason, or is it just arbitrary?
I'm trying to decide which carseat to buy for the new baby and it would have been so convenient to just buy another Blvd. But dd was born at 7lbs and is still small at 2 1/2 so if this baby is like her it will be several months till he fits into a Britax.

 

[UlrikeDG]

It's probably related to an AAP recommendation from several years back. Believe it or not, there was a time not that long ago when most infant seats had slots that were higher than 10".

 

[bobandjess99]

It's probably related to an AAP recommendation from several years back. Believe it or not, there was a time not that long ago when most infant seats had slots that were higher than 10".

Can you (or someone) tell us more about this??

 

[UlrikeDG]

From Safe Ride News:

5. Confusing strap height advice for rear-facing child
Confusing Strap Height Recommendation for Rear-Facing Newborns (May/June 2004)

The recommendation given in the standardized CPS curriculum and in child restraint instructions calls for strap-height for rear-facing restraints to be positioned at or below the baby’s shoulders. This is an over-simplification that can lead to confusion. In many sets of instructions, there is an absolute statement that the straps “must be at or below the shoulders.”

The acceptance of this concept over the years has led to the design of many products with lower slots than in the past. Many rear-facing CRs now fall well within the acceptable criterion of 10 inches or less set by the AAP in its policy statement of 1996. That 10-inch height was low for products at that time, but is higher than the shoulders of most newborns, especially premature infants.

It can be very confusing for parents to be given a seemingly absolute rule which may not be possible to follow. CPSTs and other educators could simplify the message by encouraging parents to use the lowest available slots until the baby’s shoulders reach the higher slots. They should understand that the closer the slots are to the baby's shoulders the better. However, even if the lowest slots are above the newborn baby’s shoulders, the seat can be used. If there is a wide discrepancy, a different seat could be found (see list, right).

Editors’ Note
Better, simpler wording, in my opinion, would be "use the lowest slots until the baby's shoulders reach the level of the upper slots."

 

[joolsplus3]

There're only a couple of baby sized dummies...they toss them in the seats and make sure the seats pass the tests, they really don't 'care' if the slots are at or below the shoulders, they just care about the downward rotation of the seat during the crash. Britax used to *always* recommend using the harness slots above the shoulders, RF and FF. In Australia they always do, too. But here in the US where we have three point seats and overhead shield seats, neither of which have lap straps to help hold the baby down in the sat, they had to come up with more of a standard...'at or below' is a simple one that works for seats without lap straps to hold the baby in the seat better, and is a nice 'black and white rule' for CPS Advocates to give out, too.
I'd use a Britax for my newborn without any hesitation.
:twocents: