Carseat weight limits

[jjordan]

Okay, so I know of course that carseats have weight limits. The thing I'm wondering about is, when talking about when the child has outgrown the weight limit, people on discussion boards always talk about weighing their child while fully clothed (in whatever they wear in the car). BUT the instruction manuals specifically say "child's weight," and we think of that as being naked weight. In fact if I never hung around on carseat boards, I'd just take the manual literally and assume they are going by the actual child's weight. So... aren't they? Aren't the manufacturers smart enough to realize that the child will most likely be wearing clothes, and so they build in a little tiny cushion there?

The motivation behind this question is, my dh is transporting 3 kids in his car tomorrow and it is easiest to get 3 across if they're all rearfacing. Without going into the details, is it okay to put dd in her "pretty" seat (33# RF limit BV) or should I insist she go in the Radian (35# RF limit)? Last week she was consistently weighing in at 32# (naked) on my parents' bathroom scale, which seems to me to be accurate. So I am reasonably sure she herself is within the 33# limit, but with clothes she may well be over.

If it matters, it will be a very short trip (1/2 a mile or so). I think I am making a mountain out of a molehill!

[Joolsplus2]

The crash test dummy is key. It weighs exactly 34.xx pounds with xx.xx pounds/ounces of clothes on. Seats with a 33 pound limit are rounding down, they know the seat will actually do fine with that 35.xx pound 3 yo dummy, but saying 33 gives parents some wiggle room (since parents rarely know their kids' weights or weigh them outside the ped's office...).
But I also think the manuals are assuming your child is clothed when they say 'child's weight', they don't expect you to factor in clothing or get your kid naked for precision.

Not that I'm saying to knowingly use a seat beyond 33 pounds, but don't worry if your kid eats a huge plate of scrambled eggs one day and creeps above the weight limit and you don't notice, if you happen to get into a crash that day, your child is not likely to be in mortal peril.

[jjordan]

Thanks Julie! I think I will tell dh that she will be fine in her BV if she wants to ride in it.