Best convertibles for TALL baby?

[Tommy Boy]

So my little guy is 27" at 4 months! He's also a string bean at only a hare over 13 pounds. We have a Graco Snugride that he will grow out of at 29 inches. We are having the dilemma of finding good information about height restrictions for convertibles- mainly what the height requirements are for rear facing seats.

Our worry is that he will surpass the height requirements for RF before he turns one.

So far the convertibles we have looked at are the Maxi Cosi and the Britax Marathon.

Height is definitely the main concern over weight. By the time he reaches 40 pounds, he will probably be close to 5 and we hope to have him in something like a Graco Nautilus.

Can anyone shed some light on height restrictions for rear facing convertibles? Any other parents out there with super long babies that can help with recommendations? All help is appreciated!

[o_mom]

Since babies should ride rear-facing to the limit of the convertible seat (30-35 lbs), not just to a year, you are on the right track looking at taller seats. :thumbsup:

In general, convertibles are outgrown by height rear-facing when the top of the head is even with or within an inch of the top of the seat (varies by manufacturer). For a taller baby, the shorter ones may not last them until they get to the weight limit. The Marathon will last a long time, even for a tall baby. While you say weight limit is not a concern, most of the taller convertibles are also higher weight harness seats.

To give you an idea of how tall the Marathon is, my 4.5 yo is 40 inches and is just getting to the point where his head is even with the top. Also, different kids have different torsos, so a child that is all legs will fit longer in a seat than one that is all torso, even if they are the same overall height.

Some other tall choices to look at are Sunshine Kids Radian65, Compass/First Years TrueFit, Recaro Signo/Como, Safety 1st Uptown (40 lb seat), Cosco Scenera (40 lb), and Evenflo Triumph Advance. These seats all have different pro and cons, so if you see one that you like, ask about it here.

[Joolsplus2]

The link in my siggy shows my 2 yo in her Sunshine Kids Radian rearfacing, with just loads of growing room. In the album that is linked to on that page, is her 4 year old sister still rearfacing in her Marathon with a couple inches of seat over her head (she didn't hit 33 pounds and have to go forward facing till she was 4.5, then she fit in the Marathon till age 6, and in the Radian till age 7). Both are great choices, the Marathon tends to fit in more cars more easily than the Radian does, though.

[Tommy Boy]

Thank you both! The other thing I forgot to mention is that my wife is short (5'1") and we are worried about the Marathon blocking her rear view. We also drive a 2007 Honda CR-V, and the rear seats are already slightly elevated.

[vickimaggie]

My son was also 27 inches at 4 months. When he out grows his safeseat I'll move him into my DD's old Boulevard which is the same height wise as the Marathon. He will have plenty of room to grow in that. As far as your wife's view I would put his seat on the passenger side. He's going to need a tall seat, there is no way around that. I'm not tall (5'4") and didn't have a big problem seeing over it.

[wencit]

My son was in the 95th percentile for height, and we had to switch him over to a convertible at 4 months because he didn't have much room in his Snugride, either. We ended up choosing a Marathon, and I haven't regretted my choice for a minute. He's 2 years old now and still has room to grow rearfacing. (Also, keep in mind that the rate at which kids grow slows dramatically as they get older.)

I'm 5'1 and haven't found any problems whatsoever with the Marathon blocking my view, in a Camry, Corolla, Passat, or Sienna (all places where it has been installed, in various configurations). Sometimes I do see the top of the car seat, but it doesn't block my view by much at all.

[August Mom]

I would go with a MA or Radian. Both can be tethered RFing, so you can adjust the angle some and make it lower if it is blocking your view. It won't be a problem at all outboard. In the center, you will probably see the top but it still shouldn't obstruct your view. My mom is 5'2" and was concerned about this with a MA RFing in the center of her Cadillac but it turned out to be fine. We did tether it more reclined to help a bit.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We have a baby with the same stringbean dimensions. Our Snugride only went to 26" (I think), so we moved him to the Marathon in our 2005 CR-V. To get the proper recline for him to not have a flopped head when he falls asleep, the passenger seat had to moved forward quite a bit. I can still ride in it at 5'6", but I look forward to putting his seat more upright. When it was initially installed, it was on the passenger side, so I can't tell you how hard it would have been to see around it on the driver side or in the center. DD is behind the driver FF in a Marathon. Either direction, I don't think they are really obtrusive in our model, even with the stadium seating effect. With our first, we put her in the center and it all worked out fine. You will love that seat. It is really nice. We were able to try one out in our car before we actually bought it. Check around and see if you can do that.