Outgrowing the Wizard at 21 months??

[KrisM]

A friend of mine has a Wizard and a very tall 21 month old. At his 18 month check, he was 37 inches tall. He's less than 40 inches now, but his shoulders are at the top of where the harness adjusts to. In other words, she's turned the knob all the way and the harness doesn't get any higher. His head isn't above the top of the seatback yet. I thought it was supposed to go until his ears were level with the seatback. How does this work in real-life?

Any ideas? If he's really outgrown in, what do they do now?

[uccomama]

Does he look like this in the seat? This is a photo of my DD when she was almost 7 at 49" tall and had max'ed out the Wizard.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/uccomama/sashawz.jpg

If he really has outgrown the WZ then I would put him in a Husky.

Deborah

[KrisM]

Well, he's blond :), but that's about where he sits in the seat.

I just realized the ear test is at the seatback, not the headrest. So, his ears are about at the seatback now. Yikes!

[uccomama]

Wow, he is a big boy. She really doesn't any other choice but the Husky/Regent because he probably max'es out the other heigher harnessed seats, the SafeGuard's top harness slot is 18" and its a tall seat, but even then it would probably not be the best bang for her buck at $429.

The only comfort I can offer her is his legs will start to grow much quicker than his torso from this point onwards, so she will probably get a decent amount of use out of a Husky/Regent.

Deborah

[KrisM]

Yes, he's very tall. His mom is 6'2" and his dad is 6'10", I think. He's been at about the 50th percentile for twice his age for a while! So, he looks like your average 3.5 year old :).

Thanks for the photo and the info. I hope the Husky does last longer!

[kijip]

Are you sure the headrest won't go higher? I only ask because my son is about the same height as your friend's son (maybe a touch taller) AND he has a freakishly long torso (his legs are super short!) and he still fits in the wizard fine, with lots of growing room. He too, is often taken for a 3 plus year old. I know that when I was playing with the knob on my Wizard I thought I had topped out and it was harder to turn for a half turn and then loosened and it went *much* further up. Perhaps she stopped at this point? Also the harness must be fully loosened to use the knob to adjust upwards. The 7 year old that the pp showed is a full 10 inches taller than Toby and your friend's child- I think she should make sure that it really is as high as it will go before shelling out for a new seat! I have never seen a kid less than 2 not fit into this seat. Just my two cents.

[KrisM]

She took the seat out and tried to make it go higher and didn't have any luck. The headrest is a couple of inches above the seatback. I tried mine and that's about where it gets to, too. How high should it go? I think she's going to need a new seat at some point, since he's so young yet, but if she could get another few months out of it, it would be great!

[Joolsplus2]

Remind her also that the harness needs to be on/at/just slightly below the shoulders, NOT above the shoulders, and that the pad makes the slots look at least an inch lower than they really are.. that *could* be your ace in the hole to get him a little longer in that seat. If he's not wearing size 6 shirts, I think he's got to have more time in that seat...I hope!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[KrisM]

He's FF (36 lbs). I thought straps should be at or slightly above the shoulders when FF?

By "pad", do you mean the pad that moves with the headrest?

[kijip]

I am going to assume that Julie meant the headrest pad since I was noticing this on mine a while ago- I adjusted it to where it was even with Toby's shoulders and then on feeling behind the head rest pad I realized that the slots were pretty far above his shoulders and lowered the knob again- the slits in the pad do not line up with the slots on the seatback. Like Julie said, usless he is as big as a 6 year old, I hope he has space in that seat! Toby is almost the exact same size as the boy you describe (He is 35 pounds, about 38 inches tall) and he really fits with a lot of room to spare.

[Joolsplus2]

"at or above" and "at or below" don't apply to the WZ/BV, because you can always just put it "at"...no slots one or two inches away from the shoulders to wonder which is right. It wouldn't be *way* below, just snugly holding him down, so that the headrest can be properly positioned (if it were way below, of course, he could lean forward, that would be bad!).

But yeah, like Katie (uh oh, was it katie? short attention span,here!) said, the pad for the headrest really interferes with letting you see where the straps really are, it makes them look lower, kinda, and really muddy the issue.

Anyway, it still kinda sucks that he's growing out of this seat...so much for that 95th percentile 6 yo it's based on, lol!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[KrisM]

She talked to Britax who was doubtful he was outgrowing it and suggeted she find a CPS Tech. So, she went on Wednesday. He's got about 1/2 inch before he's trully outgrown it. Obviously, this will happen well before he's ready for a booster! She's calling around looking for a Husky to try out.

FWIW, he's in a size 5 shirt and 3T pant already. So, he's more torso than leg.

[kijip]

My child is in the 97% for his age, roughly the same size as this child and I know he has years to go in his Wizard so I think the child here is a rare exception to the rule. Certainly most parents can buy this seat in confidence that it will last years, not months! Kris- I am sorry that it has been a bust for your friend. I hope she finds a nice price on the Husky!

[Joolsplus2]

Whoa, yup, time for a Husky.. We had a little cousin like that who was enormous... in the 5's at age 2...when he was a baby like 6 months old, he was the size of a 2 year old, and people thought he was severely retarded, because he was just acting like any normal 6 mo lying on the floor drooling.. I haven't seen him in awhile, but I bet HE would have been out of the WZ at 2.5 or 3, too!

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[KrisM]

He's been measuring at 50th percentile for twice his age. He's way above the charts for his age. So, he's your average 3.5 year old now, but all torso.

Like Julie's friend, she has a tough time with strangers - why is he still in diapers?? Um, he's 21 months old! She got dirty looks feeding him jarred baby food at about 11 months, when he was around 33 inches tall. It's tough!

Thanks for all the help. At least I was able to let her know about the Husky. The CPS Tech said that because of his size, she could put him in a booster! Yikes.