To turn or not to turn?

[Ktietje85]

My DD is 2 years, 9 months. She is in a RF Britax Marathon ATM. But I think she is *almost* too big. Last time I weighed her she was only about 28 lbs. so I thought "Hey, lots of time!" But today I weighed her, apparently right after a growth spurt, and depending on the scale, she was 31 - 34 lbs.! The higher weight was on a doctor's scale too. :/ She wouldn't stand up straight or still enough for me to measure her height, but she's about 36 - 37".

Better to turn or not? I'd hoped to wait until age 3, but...if she's at/very near the limit on her seat I have to turn her. Would you try to wait it out for a few more months? Or just turn her? Help!

[sapphire_chan]

At 2yrs 9 months, I personally would see if I could give the marathon to a friend who is transitioning from an infant seat, and buy one of the new 40lb seats. (Check in the safety forum, there are a number of really good ones for under $200)

The marathon also has a notoriously low shell height, so just about any new seat you got would give your dd enough room height-wise.

Do note that overall height doesn't actually matter. What matters is having 1" of shell over the head. There's a good tutorial over in Family Safety with pictures.

[sapphire_chan]

Sorry!! 40 not 45.

[LAWoman]

I'd see if you can get an accurate weight for her. My son will be 3 next month and he's currently 32 pounds but he hasn't gained any weight at all in over 6 months. And I think his total weight gain in the last year is about a pound. He's just stretched out. You may have more time than you think, even if she is getting close to 35 pounds. The weight gain slows down a lot at this age so even if she is over 32 pounds, she may still have quite a bit of time left. Kids with an average build will usually outgrow by height before weight. So if she has at least an inch of hard shell above her head when seated, she's probably fine.

[almadianna]

i've moved this over to Family Safety.

[Shanny2032]

I agree with pp about getting an accurate wait since you may actually still have time. The girl I nanny for has been 32.5 for most of the last year and she will be 3 in a few weeks. I plan to get a new seat to keep her rear facing for longer as well.

[sunnymw]

My kiddos have been the same weight for eons so if you're okay by height I'd just make sure to get a good accurate weight and go from there. If you have to turn them, just make sure the straps are above the shoulders, HUGS are on the straps (if you removed them for RFing), harness is properly tightened, and seat is installed correctly with the top tether--and congrats for making it this long!!

Of course if you want to get a new seat just 'cause... we are more than happy to enable

[urchin_grey]

If it were my child, I'd probably get a different seat that RF's to 40lbs. On the other hand, if a new seat was out of the question (or if I were planning on turning her at 3 regardless), I'd pick up a scale and just deal with weighing her regularly. Considering her age and the fact that she just had a growth spurt, she'll probably hover at her current weight for quite a while. My nephew was 32-33lbs on his 2nd birthday so my sister ran out and bought a new seat but then he didn't actually hit 35lbs until right after his 3rd birthday.