MA strap issue

[HIU8]

DD is almost 3 1/2. Just recently (like within the last week) it has gotten soooo much harder to buckle her in to her MA. She is FF. Last time I weighed her she weighed 40 lbs (that was back in August). It seems like she magically grew a ton thicker as buckling her in is very very hard. Forget even using a light fleece as there is literally no slack in the harness and I have to pull to buckle. The seat hasn't been uninstalled in about 3 months so I don't believe the harness is stuck or anything (although I'm probably going to uninstall to check). Has anyone else experienced this? DD's MA won't expire until March 2012. What did you do--live with it or get a different seat? I really don't want to have to get a new seat yet (we are planning on giving her DS's FR85 and getting DS a dedicated booster OR getting another FR85 for DD, but it's not the budget yet).

[christiedavid3]

Yeah, I'd uninstall it and make sure it's not stuck, or twisted anywhere. I'm assuming you're loosening it with the front harness adjuster. Where are the straps in relation to her shoulders? If they're too low, they might get too tight.

[HIU8]

DD still has a good inch before she is even with the top slots, so lots of growing room. I expected her to outgrow the seat by height around 4 1/2 (about a year earlier than DS did). DS was actually tight in the harness for a bout 6 months and I lived with it. DD will be tight for at least a year or more and I'm not sure I (or she) will be able to deal with it that long.

I did uninstall. Nothing hindering the straps at all.

[Joolsplus2]

Strange... my Britax adjuster straps usually reach nearly to the floor (I bet your Frontier does, lol, maybe by comparison the Marathon just suddenly seems slack-less?)

[HIU8]

Julie,

It turns out that there is enough slack to buckle DD when she has one layer on. As soon as I put on even just a fleece it's simply to tight. DD is thick in the hips and thighs (and she seems to have gotten somewhat thicker recently). We are going to live with it b/c I can do blankets in the car and not do fleece. We put on the real "coat" DD wears at school when we get to school anyway.

[Joolsplus2]

I've been trying to decide if Leah *needs* a blanket with clips on it to keep attached to her seat...she always jumps in the car, takes her jacket off, then sits down, so maybe having this cozy doohickey attached to her seat already might be handy?... http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4345316 (Not sure if that's the same one they have in the store, there are a lot more in the store, though!)