How do you know when your child is too tall for carseat?

[kotzally]

I have a 2.5 year old who is in a Britax boulevard some of the time and an Evenflo Triumph the rest. He is about 30 lbs. and 37 inches, how do I know when he has outgrown the Evenflo in height?

Also with the Britax the center strap is sooo short, is this the same with other Britax's? My 4 month old will be needing a new seat once he is out of his infant and I wondered if I should look into another Britax because of the strap issue....

Thanks,
Elizabeth

[Joolsplus2]

A carseat is outgrown when the shoulders creep just above the top slots or the weight limit is reached, whichever comes first :)

The harnesses on those two seats certainly are different in the crotch strap department... you should go with the one that is most comfortable and easy for use to use properly every time (usually people who go from Britax to Triumph are worried that the buckle is so long it will gut their kid in a crash, and the Triumph owners are worried the crotch strap is too short on the Britax, you get to see them from both sides, lol). www.safetymadeeasier.com shows the new Triumph Advance, which may suit you nicely, it's a Triumph, but has an infinitely adjustable harness and goes to a tall 18 inches, and a high 50 pounds (so more like a Boulevard in that respect).
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[all together ooky]

With either seat: The seat is outgrown by height when the shoulders are above the top slot (you may have to feel under the cover to be able to tell), OR when the top of the ears are even with the top of the seat.

The center strap=the crotch strap? I think they are the same length for all of the Britax seats. On the Decathalon you can choose three different crotch strap positions. I never found it a problem on my MA though. The COSCO crotch strap on our Scenera seems much shorter.