Carseat Shoulder Harness Height

kristisnod · September 2012

We just flipped our son forward (flame me if you want), and his shoulders have are just about too tall for the harness. I have adjusted it to the highest possible location and had several people look at the seat and the directions with me to make sure I am not missing anything. We have the Britax Boulevard 70, which I thought would last us a long time, but ds is 34 inches and off the growth charts. I still didn't think that he would outgrow this seat so fast! The shoulder harness height is 16.75 inches according to the britax website, does anyone know of a convertible seat with a taller harness? If not, do I need to move him to the next stage of carseat, whatever that is? Thanks!

LittleApple · September 2012

That seems odd that at 34 inches, he doesn't fit in the seat. The Boulevard is supposed to hold a child up to 49 inches.

The Diono Radian RXT will be your best bet. It's a convertible seat that turns into a harness booster seat and then a belt positioning booster seat. It holds a child in harness until he/she is 57 in. tall.

Here are the specs:

https://dionocarseats.com/p-145771-diono-radian-rxt-convertible-car-seat.aspx#!vID168187

CougFan · September 2012

Do you have a photo? How much space is left? Are his ears almost to the top of the seat?

My son was "only" 32 inches at that age and his Britax Marathon fit him until he was almost 5 (and he was 46" with a long torso).

Since the harness slot is supposed to be below the shoulder for rear facing, you may want to turn him back around until you get this worked out and/or he is two years old.

gimmietimmies · September 2012

CougFan:
Do you have a photo? How much space is left? Are his ears almost to the top of the seat?
My son was "only" 32 inches at that age and his Britax Marathon fit him until he was almost 5 (and he was 46" with a long torso).
Since the harness slot is supposed to be below the shoulder for rear facing, you may want to turn him back around until you get this worked out and/or he is two years old.

I agree, turn him back to rf until you have it figured out. Britax seats are known for their short shells. By his height measurement, I don't think he's too tall, can you post a pic?

I do second the rec for the Radian. I don't find 34" to be overly tall, but the Radian will work, with the added advantage that on the top harness slot ff the harness is allowed to be below the shoulders.

We won't flame you for legally ff your child, but there are extremely valid reasons for rf passed two. If there was anything that was a barrier to this, there are solutions for them. let us know and maybe we can help.

kristisnod · September 2012

Thank you guys! I don't have a pic right now to post, but the straps are just slightly above his shoulders and the headrest/back of seat is all the way up. It seems like I must be missing something since his height is still so short compared to the limit. I am going to take it to the monthly car seat install assist that we have in town and see if they can shed some light on the situation for me.

gimmietimmies · September 2012

kristisnod:
Thank you guys! I don't have a pic right now to post, but the straps are just slightly above his shoulders and the headrest/back of seat is all the way up. It seems like I must be missing something since his height is still so short compared to the limit. I am going to take it to the monthly car seat install assist that we have in town and see if they can shed some light on the situation for me.

Thumbs up to this. I think you're right, something's hinky. Did you say that you brought the harness all the way up too. On mine I know it adjust seperately from the headrest. Dd is tall too, but she just fits in her backup up seat that is the same size as yours.

NeverLostHope · September 2012

As long as his shoulders are below the harness slot you are fine for a little while longer. It sounds like he has a crazy long torso. Of he is, in fact, about to outgrow the seat I would look into a combination seat instead of another convertible since you don't want to continue rear facing. If you want Britax again the Frontier 85 would be a good option, but there are other less expensive seats out there.

janecanadian · September 2012

My DD(19 months) is 1/2 inch shorter than your DS and I just noticed the other day that she has almost outgrown her Boulevard too. We have the back of the seat up as high as it goes and her shoulders are almost at the same level as the harness straps! We are either going to replace it with a Radian or a Frontier depending on how long it takes for her to officialy outgrow it because the Frontier can only be used for children 2+. Especially frustrating considering my 4 year old nephew still rides safely in a Marathon.

penguingrrl · September 2012

1. Definitely turn him back around while you figure this out!

2. I would see if something's up with the seat. I have very tall, long-torsoed children and they weren't that torso tall so young.

3. The overall height limit Britax gives is entirely irrelevant. My oldest outgrew the harness on her radian right around her 4th birthday and my 3 year old has less than a year left until hitting the top. Diono does allow the harness to be used when shoulders are above the top slots, but that's not something I'm comfortable with personally. The radian top harness slot is around 17".

4. Sit him down and get his torso height. To do this he needs to sit criss cross against a wall then you mark where his shoulders are and measure. That will give you an idea of how much time you have left.

Hopefully you can get him to age 2, when you can move him to a frontier (there's a minimum age of 2 to use that seat). At that point I would highly recommend that seat if in fact his torso is that long because it has the tallest top harness slots of any seat on the market.

Carseat Shoulder Harness Height

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