Already outgrowing the MA at 20 months! What to do?

[junebugmidwife]

I had planned to keep DS rear-facing for a long time, until he got to the 33lb weight limit. However, he is a tall, wiry kid who is 36" tall and 24#! He is still RF in the second-to-topmost slot in his Marathon. I am amazed at how quickly he's moving out of that thing!

So we will be carseat shopping again much sooner than I thought, and am wondering what to do, thinking about the Regent/Husky. Any other reccomendations? Any opinons on the Recaro SPORT? I had never heard of it before, but looks good and like it might be the best option to be able to adjust the back for tall kiddos. I think DS will continue this way and be TALL, so need to plan with that in mind.

I am sad to have to move to a forward-facing seat, are there any alternatives for the very tall toddler?

Thanks!

[Joolsplus2]

He can technically stay rearfacing till about 50 inches tall or 33 pounds (till the tops of his ears are even with the top of the seat shell...yes, that IS safer than forward facing).. see the pic of my dd in my sig? I promise, his legs WILL start to grow at about this age, and his torso lengthening should way slow down. But yeah, afer the MA, there's the Regent or www.safeguardseat.com that have taller top slots.

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

[junebugmidwife]

Thanks! Any thoughts on the Recaro products?

I have been hoping his torso would slow down a bit. I knew about the top of the ears thing, but it seems that when the straps are going a long way out of the slots to reach his shoulders that they slip off his shoulders much more easily, even with the chest clip properly positioned, which concerns me. They don't do much good if they slip off!

[Momof3Labs]

The Recaro YS has a similar harness height as the Marathon, so that won't help you. Plus, you'd have to FF him in the Recaro, whereas he has a lot of time left RF in the Marathon. The only thing with significantly higher slots than the Marathon is the Regent/Husky. My DS is 42" and 37lbs (and still fits in the Marathon well - your DS must have an incredibly long torso) and just outgrew his RA, so I spent a lot of time looking at the options. Of course, I didn't even look at anything that cut off at 40lbs since we're so close to that point.

I personally wouldn't say that your DS is outgrowing the MA already. If he is still only at the second to top slots, he may have another couple of years left in it. So keep on eye on how he fits in it, but I wouldn't run out and buy a replacement seat yet!

[momtoB]

He can technically stay rearfacing till about 50 inches tall or 33 pounds (till the tops of his ears are even with the top of the seat shell...yes, that IS safer than forward facing)..

************

Julie now I'm a little confused. I thought you had to turn the seat from rear-facing to f/fing once the top of the child's head was w/in an inch of the top of the seat shell. Do I understand you correctly that with the MA you can keep your dc r/fing until the weight limit even if their head is peeking up over the top of the seat shell? I just ordered a Britax BLVD and am wondering (since they're technically the same shell as the MA right) if this is true with that seat as well. Why is it different with the Britax seats, because they can be tethered r/fing unlike other brands?

Cheryl
ds-4/21/03
27lbs, 37" and w/in 1" of growing out of his Cosco A/O harness.

[kijip]

Just wanted to reinforce what the previous posters said----you likely have a long time left on the MA. I would be willling to bet a min. of 2 years and perhaps even 3 years. For example, my 2 and 1/2 year old has been hanging out at the same harness height (we have the Wizard) for over 6 months now, despite being much taller than he was 6 months ago----it has all gone on his previously very short legs. Tots growth will slow after 2 years in most kids, stubby legs will grow. My son is quite tall, with a long torso, as well--- he was also about 36 inches at around 2 years. So I would sit tight for now and keep RF him in that MA.

[Joolsplus2]

The 'general' rule is that infant seats, you want to move out of when there's about an inch to the top. Converitbles generally when the head is even with the top (per the AAP, but Evenflo says the head must be an inch lower)...Britax is special, they are so convinced that rearfacing is safest (of course, they DO have plenty of backup studies to prove it--there is NO question RF is safer than FF), that they allow you to use the seats forward facing AND rearfacing till the tops of the ears are even with the top of the seat (assuming the weight limit isn't reached... hard to imagine a 33 pound kid with their head even with the top of a Marathon... see the picture in my siggy of my tallish 4 yo rf in hers?)

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