Convertible Car Seat for Tall Baby

OrangeBird · January 2013

I have a tall baby and am trying to figure out what would be the best option for a convertible car seat. I'm getting conflicting information on both Britax and Diono. Up until recently I had been reading that Britax was a good option for taller children. But I came across a comment this week that the new models have a shorter shell. Had also read some comments on TB that the Diono was a good option for tall babies. However, Amazon reviewers indicated it wasn't working out well for their tall babies. Help! I'd like to be able to maximize the amount of time my daughter can spend rear-facing.

penguingrrl · January 2013

Definitely avoid Britax. They have one of the shortest shells on the market. The tallest shelled seats currently on the market are:

Clek Foonf
Diono Radian
Graco Size4me70
First Years True Fit
Graco MyRide 65

All seats pass the same pass/fail test to make it to the market, so any of these are great options. The True Fit only rear faces to 35 lbs, the others go to 40 lbs or over RF. My tall, long-torsoed kids were/are in radians because when I was buying convertible seats they were the only tall harness options that fit in my beetle (our only car at the time) because they're narrow and very low profile.

PhillyGal34 · January 2013

any input on the recaro prosport?

penguingrrl · January 2013

From what I've read the prosport has very little leg room for a RF child, so parents often end up having to turn their child FF before they outgrow the seat height wise.

PhillyGal34 · January 2013

man this is hard!!!

SuperCuteBenz · January 2013

PhillyGal34:
any input on the recaro prosport?

The ProSport is not a convertible. The ProRide is.

PhillyGal34 · January 2013

SuperCuteBenz:
PhillyGal34:
any input on the recaro prosport?

The ProSport is not a convertible. The ProRide is.

I just noticed this.... when I searched for convertible it came up and I didn't even think about it. I haven't had enough coffee this morning. Thanks! :-)

PBear93 · January 2013

PhillyGal34:
any input on the recaro prosport?

My DD is really tall too and we were looking at the Recaro and the Size4Me. We opted to buy the size4me after seeing they both looked about the same in our car, and the price was better on the Graco one. We are going to get it installed in our car this week by a tech, and then make sure we can get a good and easy fit on LO with it installed (I've read it can be hard to tighten/loosen the straps with it rear facing). If we have problems, we are going to get the Recaro--I think LO will have enough leg room.

eyenigh · January 2013

I have a very tall baby and we had to ditch the Britax marathon as the fit was awful. We now have the Clek Foonf and love it. Great fit in the car, very safe, well constructed, looks great and, best of all, my son fits great in it. Even rear facing, his feet barely touch the back of the seat.

Angela814 · January 2013

I just bought the Graco MySize 70, which is the same seat as the Graco Size4Me.

It seems like the ideal seat for tall kids. DD1 is 99th percentile for height. She's around 51" at 6.5 years, and she just fits in this seat at the tallest setting. She outgrew every other convertible seat on the market, including the Radian, by 4 to 5 years.

DD2 will be rfing in it at approx 37" and 32 lbs. She's on the 3rd or 4th height setting. She's 90 to 95th percentile for height and 90th for weight. I estimate the 40 lb rfing weight limit should take her to almost 4 years.

I traded in an expired seat at BRU so I got it for 135. The Foonf is the only other seat that would rf my kids that long, but I'm not sure it's worth the 450 price tag when the MySize will do the same. We don't need the 50 lb rfing weight limit since my kids outgrow the seats by height first anyway.

There have been some issues with the harness not tightening on some of the MySize/Size4Me seats. I think that's the only negative. We haven't installed ours yet, so I have no actual experience with that.

JeniLovesNeil · January 2013

I have a very tall baby (96th - 99th percentile since he was born) and I use the Diono Radian. It accommodates his long legs because of the low profile. He's almost 1 and still has plenty of room to grow as the Diono has a very long shell. He will also be able to rear-face for a long time.

I also have a Recaro ProRide in DH's car. The Recaro is much more padded, but it has a shorter shell and not as low-profile so once his legs get longer he won't be able to re-position his legs as easily. And I find the Diono so much easier to put DS into the car, and he seems happier in it then the Recaro. If we could return it, we would, and buy a second Diono so we have one in each car.

caki1983 · January 2013

I have a tall baby as well and just bought his convertible car seat after a lot of research. We went with the Safety 1st complete air. It has a tall shell, but was less expensive than the radian.

jburdet1 · January 2013

DD is also tall (99th percentile) and rides in the Britax Marathon. The ILs just bought Graco's MyRide 65 and she has much more room rfing then in the Britax. I was so surprised at how roomy it was! Although, besides the room I get a much better harness fit with the Britax due to the location of the belt tightener in the refing position on the Graco. If I could do it all over I would have gone with a Diono, but I would still recommend the Graco MyRide for a cheaper option.

MRSreadcomicbooks · January 2013

First, to ease your mind, I have been selling carseats for almost three years total. I worked at Babies R Us for almost that full three years, and recently switched to another baby store. So I have a ton of knowledge that you won't get from most reviews!

Second, always take review online, especially on baby products, with a grain of salt. A ton of people out there will give something a bad review if they don't know how to use something properly (which was probably the case for the Diono review you read).

Diono is actually one of my best suggestions, for tall kids and short kids alike. It's just an overall great seat. It has the same steel inside that a Britax has (which is what Britax such a hot seller). But it's considerably narrower and much easier to fit in a normal vehicle. As I'm sure you know, Britax carseats are MASSIVE. They're wide and bulky and take up a lot of space. You didn't mention in your OP if your baby still has to be rear-facing - if so, Diono is still the better option. Britax isn't the biggest out there when rear-facing, but it's not that easy to fit either. The way Diono sits is a little different than some other brands, and the end of the seat can be aimed in such a way that it won't hit the backs of the seats in front of it.

The main thing to consider with any size child is how high the back can go up. Some of the smaller carseat brands out there (including Britax) have headrests that move up higher. You want those to meet the top of your child's head no matter what. They should match up until your child is in a booster after 4 years old. A lot of carseat brands go up to 65 lbs, and even though they don't look like they do, they can do so safely. Just make sure you shop around and do a lot of research (not including customer reviews) before you buy.

Oh, one more thing to add: I don't suggest a 3-in-1 carseat under most circumstances. The ones that go from 5 lbs up to a booster. They're pointless. They're big for no reason. Yes they could save you money in the long run, but a booster later on down the line will only be about $20-$70 depending on the brand - not much of an expense.

Hopefully that helps!

jordanhigh · March 2013

it sounds like all of you are much more experienced in the car seat buying category than I am. My husband and I had no idea what to buy or where to buy it and we looked around for a while and got frustrated. We ended up buying one from this site https://www.squidoo.com/best-lightweight-car-seat-for-toddlers last week, and we ended up getting the graco nautilus model and we've loved it for the 2 days that we've had it! it's been great!

kaitlynro · July 2014

hi orangebird -- i hear you on your frustration with tall baby.... maybe the following article will help you out some!

Top 3 Best Car Seats For Tall Children

kmc84 · July 2014

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Mommymorris2014 · July 2014

I am totally lost in this car seat buying world. I am not sure where to start. I do know that I want a convertible carseat. I a small SUV (rav4) so i Dont want anything to massive. i am not sure if i have a tall baby yet but i am tall so I want to air on the side of caution either way i guess. i am registered at babies r us and target. Can anybody give me so direction about best brands and important things to look for when choosing a car seat.
THANKS
signed "very confused new mom"

kmc84 · July 2014

@Mommymorris2014‌ join Carseats for the Littles in Facebook. You will learn a ton! They are great at helping pick appropriate seats for individual situations.

Read this:

https://csftl.org/recommended-seats/

Look at the csftl.org and read through the links-tons of great information!

(As a side note, are you aware that from 2006 on, you can only ever have 2 passengers in the back of a Rav4 due to the seatbelt design? The drivers side and middle seat can never be occupied at the same time. I just wanted to let you know as most people are not aware of this unfortunate design flaw

Mommymorris2014 · July 2014

Thanks so much!
I will join now...

Luckily I have a 2001

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