LATCH limit vs. Height Limit

[Brigala]

I know, weird question.

I have a Complete Air SE (LX) which my daughter is currently using forward facing.

She weigh 45 lbs in normal clothing. Although with winter closing in that's going to more and more often have 2 lbs or so worth of winter boots and heavier jeans added to it.

The CA has a weight of 17 lbs. So 45 + 17 = 62. The CA is pre-2014 and allows LATCH to 65 lbs, but my vehicle has lower anchor limits of 65 lbs combined.

When I install the seat with lower anchors, she has about 1/2 inch or so of growing room in the harness. Maybe a little more.

When I install it with the seat belt, she is right AT the top harness height. They look above, but if you measure carefully, parallel with the ground, she's right there.

I need to have her car seat and Squish's car seat next to each other in order to still have access to the 3rd row (which we don't need often, but occasionally). I also can't put the CA in the center because the center seat is too narrow; can't access the 3rd row with it there, although it works fine with the Onboard Air base (carrier can be moved easily to tumble the seat forward).

The CA is narrow enough access to the 3rd row isn't a problem at all. If I switch her to the Frontier 85 in that vehicle, it sorta works but I have to shove the seat over as close to the door as possible so it's off-center from the seat belt, and I don't really care for that. I'm hoping to be able to put off moving her to the FR85 full time until I am ready to move Squishy to the Radian (hoping those two will fit next to each other more comfortably).

Also, the CA and the Onboard Air are matching seats and I really want to be able to use them together for a while. I know, dumb reason, but they look SO cute together.

So... do I push the height limit on the CA or push the lower anchor limit on the vehicle? neither one is over, but without weighing her every day or getting out my bubble level every day, she could go a smidge over either measurement at any time without me noticing.

If I go with LATCH to buy more height room, I could reasonably make her take off her heavy boots in the car. They are just bogs and pull off and on easily. Then again, I know NHTSA's guidelines allow for "rounding up" on forward facing seats, so although Dorel has chosen to make a 40 lb lower anchor limit on their 2014+ seats, they could have chosen to make a 50 lb limit for this seat; by the time she hits 50 lbs she will have outgrown the height limit anyway and we're going to have to re-arrange everyone.

I guess I could put her in the 3rd row and leave a 2nd row seat tumbled forward for easy access, but that would eat into my cargo room as the 3rd row seats are *usually* stowed.

 

[DogznKatz]

Rules are rules...whichever limit is hit first then the seat is outgrown. Personally, I would check weight with winter clothes, not boots or shoes. (Docs always weigh w/o shoes, right?) So it may buy you a few months of LATCH and get you though the winter barring a growth spurt. :twocents:

 

[Brigala]

Rules are rules...whichever limit is hit first then the seat is outgrown. Personally, I would check weight with winter clothes, not boots or shoes. (Docs always weigh w/o shoes, right?) So it may buy you a few months of LATCH and get you though the winter barring a growth spurt. :twocents:

Her 45 lb weight is in normal clothes and shoes. She comes with me to my prenatal appointments and always wants me to weigh her when I weigh myself.

I know I can't exceed either limit, just trying to figure out which one I need to choose to be watchful of; if I install with the seat belt, I have to watch the height really closely, and if I install with LATCH I have to watch the weight really closely.

 

[TechnoGranola]

So am I understanding that she is at the weight limit for LATCH in regular clothing...and if you switch to seatbelt she is AT the height limit? Personally, I don't feel comfortable going over lower anchors limits as I think they are a gong show and they don't have the tolerance built in like people assume they do. So, I'd stick with the seatbelt and see if there is any way I could adjust the install to be at the same angle as the LATCH install to give her the same height room she has with LATCH. If not, I'd let her use it with her being at the height limit and keep a watchful eye so the second she was 1mm over, I'd be looking into a new seat.

Actually, who am I kidding? I'd just use the whole problem as an excuse to get a new seat that would work for the situation...

 

[Brigala]

So am I understanding that she is at the weight limit for LATCH in regular clothing...and if you switch to seatbelt she is AT the height limit? Personally, I don't feel comfortable going over lower anchors limits as I think they are a gong show and they don't have the tolerance built in like people assume they do. So, I'd stick with the seatbelt and see if there is any way I could adjust the install to be at the same angle as the LATCH install to give her the same height room she has with LATCH. If not, I'd let her use it with her being at the height limit and keep a watchful eye so the second she was 1mm over, I'd be looking into a new seat.

Actually, who am I kidding? I'd just use the whole problem as an excuse to get a new seat that would work for the situation...

She is 3 lbs lighter than the vehicle's LATCH limit (65 lbs combined) in regular clothing. And when I install with seat belt, she's AT the height limit. I have tried and tried to get it just a tad more upright with the seat belt but no luck.

The problem with a new seat is mainly that her current seat matches the infant seat. Ok, that's not entirely the problem; the other is that there aren't a lot of seats out there that are as narrow or narrower than the CA and have more height capacity. I'll have to try out my Radian in this vehicle to see whether it solves the height problem. She's right at the top slots in that one too, but again it varies by vehicle and stuff.

I've seen kids not grow a lick in the torso for months on end, so that's kind of what I'm hoping for right now. Once I put baby squish in the Radian I think my Frontier 85 (which is currently in the other vehicle) will fit well. Or maybe a Boulevard CT. I'm kinda thinking that makes more sense than a 2nd Frontier because Squishy will be able to use it, you know, in less than 3-4 years from now. But I'll have to try out the BlvdCT to make sure she has plenty of growing room in that, too. She has lots of space in the FR85 before I have to move the harness up to the next notch, but she is on the second-to-last notch in that seat.