Britax Marathon minimum hight?

[AmyN]

I have a question to all experiences Marathon users. I just purchased one for my five month old daughter, who is growing like a weed and has outgrown her Snugride by reaching the max hight limit of 26 inches. Though I have read on this board that some of you have been using this seat from the start, even at the lowest setting, the shoulder straps are over my daughter's shoulders (by almost an inch or so). I have always thought they needed to be equal to or below her shoulders for rear facing and this is also what it says in the Britax instructions. Just wondering what people have been doing about this. I am a worry wart, so now don't want to drive anywhere since it seems like she is between car seats. I just saw the posting that the new Snugride goes to higher pound and weight limit, but I don't really want to buy another when I would be lucky to get another few months of usage out of it. Any advise would be GREATLY appreciated. THANKS!

[DebbieJ]

There was a post with a similar question recently and Julie (our resident tech) responded that it's not a big deal.

I'll try to find the post.

Okay, here it is: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=13&topic_id=28434&mesg_id=28434&page=2

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/10029.gif

[melbb]

HOw far below the harness is too far? I am thinking about skipping the infant seat and going to a convertible (probably the Decathlon). Is the average newborn no more than an inch below the harness or can they be much more?

[AmyN]

I wonder how far is too far also. As I said in my original question, my daughter is about one inch below the lowest strap setting and she is 26 inches long. I am sure that when she was born and measured 19 inches and 6lb 6 oz, she would have been much lower in the car seat than one inch below the straps. The infant seat was big on her then and that lowest setting was lower than on the MA. I am so confused about how this seat is used with a 5 lb baby. I am going to try to call Britax tomorrow and see what they say about a height issue. Hopefully, we can find out what they consider safe so my mind will be at ease, as I am sure yours will be. I'll let you know what I find out so you can get an answer before your little one arrives and you can decide what to do re: an infant seat.

[MamaParis]

I believe that it isn't really something to be concerned about for such a small, young baby.

They will not "ramp" up in the event of an accident like an older/heavier child would due to their weight and size.

My DS is only on the first slots on his RA and MA and the WZ too and he's been on those slots since birth.
We had an infant seat - but those were always above his shoulders as well.

Some kids are just long in the torso and some are long in the legs - so I doubt that they can put a blanket minimum (or maximum) height for these kinds of things.

I would suggest that you just go with what feels comfortable for you.

We'll be skipping the infant seat for our next kids - we used them for our first 2 and its just not "worth" tha hassle IMO and I never felt like they were any safer in them as opposed to being in the RF convertible seats.

But with that said, we will have a back up plan in case we have a preemie or if I end up not feeling comfortable with it - which I doubt.

Also, Britax now has the Decathlon and Boulevard - which have infant padding inserts which make them a lot more newborn friendly.
The padding on the Decathlon goes under the baby too - to sorta lift the baby up.

But like I said we used the MA with our DS when he was like a few days old in my DHs truck and while his shoulders were below the harness I never felt like it compromised his safety ...

I do believe that in the past RF seats had a at or ABOVE rule at some point ...

[AmyN]

I called Britax today and surprisingly the person I spoke to had not had a question about height before or the amount of space between shoulders and straps. He checked with one of their techs who said that they allow no more than a 1" space between the top of the shoulders and the slot where the shoulder straps come out. I hope this helps you make a decision re: the seat for newborns.

[melbb]

Thanks for the information, Amy. Unfortunately that doesn't help me too much, being totally inexperienced with this. Does anyone know what the distance is from the seat to the lowest harness position? And what is average torso length of a newborn? I have no idea.

[MamaParis]

torsos vary from kid to kid ...

My marathon is measuring in at 10" on the lowest setting.

[melbb]

Thanks, MamaParis. I appreciate your attentiveness to this thread. I imagine with the Decathlon and the infant padding that the distance will be a little smaller. Seems it is worth the risk to buy this seat and hope she fits.