Help me brainstorm, please.

[AFWife]

Okay, I have an Alpha Omega Elite (trust me, I already know it's a crappy seat) and recently bought a Graco Myride65 for the new baby.

DS is 33in and somewhere between 28-30lbs (we don't own a scale so I don't know his exact weight) He recently grew 3/4 of an inch in the past month (he was 32 and 1/4 at TGiving) He's 20 months old. I'm due with baby number two sometime in January (official date is the 21st)

I looked at DS in his seat recently and realized that he wasn't fitting so well. (Like, everything was tight and the harness slots were WAY below his shoulders) I have it sitting in the house right now. Here are my conclusions:

- I know the very top slot can only be used in booster mode.

- If I sit the seat up all the way (no leaning back AT ALL) I can go down two slots below the booster and barely fit him RFing. Like, there isn't a full inch above his head, but it's really really close. The straps sit below his shoulders.

- In the above position the click below the very top one is too tall and would only work in FF mode.

- If I tilt it back to the first "tilt" it affects the way he sits in it...a lot.

- In a tilt the first slot below the very top becomes the one that BARELY fits RFing standards. About 3/4in of shell above his head and all that...straps below the shoulders.

So....my options become:

1) Sit him totally upright RFing and hopefully it will hold out another few months (if he doesn't grow that much again) I'm not even sure if this is safe...upright like that?

2) Tilt it back one and turn him FFing when he grows again (AT ALL...it's THAT close) I don't want to do this. I really wanted to keep him RFing until closer to 2 1/2...

3) Buy a new seat. DH doesn't want to do this because we're already in the red financially and will just barely be able to get out after our tax return. I'm inclined to feel the same way.

We were PLANNING on playing musical carseats as the baby gets big enough to use the AOE. DS had to go and ruin it with a ridiculous growth spurt!

Help me?

[DahliaRW]

He cannot be rfing without a full inch of shell above his head adn the seat can be no more upright than 30 degrees.

I think your only option is to turn him or look at a new seat. 

[AFWife]

Well, that totally sucks. *sigh* We're probably going to try FFing...I know it's not the popular thing to do, but we just cannot afford a new seat right now.

Of course, the last time we tried FFing (a few months back) he FREAKED OUT and screamed 20mins into the ride. (I think he was carsick. He had his hands up by his head and just didn't look well) So I ended up turning it back on the side of the highway...

[an_aurora]

Make sure you are measuring shell height like this--unless he has a VERY long torso, it's pretty unlikely that he really only has an inch of shell above his head at 33" tall.  The shell of the AOE is about 26" tall, and unless he has 6" long legs he's probably got more room than you realize!  

[Wild Lupine]

This sounds a little odd to me. My son is in an AOE and is just about the same measurements as yours, 33 inches, 28 lbs, and he has tons of room left. My daughter used the seat harnessed until she was much taller than your son and didn't outgrow the shell or the harness.

Can you post a picture? I'm sure we can problem solve this with you.

[chickabiddy]

Rear-face him in the MyRide for now.  Baby won't mind.  And yes, post a picture.  The AOE has a pretty tall shell.

[AFWife]

Maybe I'm going by the wrong "shell"....in the AOE is in the outer shell or the inner one that his back presses against? I can't imagine it being very comfy if we're talking the outer shell...I'll get a photo tomorrow.

chickabiddy: I would but the AOE isn't okay for newborns...

[an_aurora]

I believe it's the shell and not the headrest, but I'm not 100% sure.  

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by an_aurora 

I believe it's the shell and not the headrest, but I'm not 100% sure.  

I assumed it was the headrest because it's so specific on which setting can be used...

[bobandjess99]

I cant believe the seat is outgrown..here is my son in his AOE at 34 inches, and he has tons of shell above his head....

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/IMG_2574.jpg

for reference sake, here is ALSO a picture of my daughter, who was 4.5, and over 40 inches tall, with a long torso, and the seat has the headrest in the highest USABLE position (not the booster mode one)..and she still fits by height..she has just barely exactly 1 inch over her head. 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/IMG_2573.jpg

So..there is just no way I can see a 35 inch 2 yo kid, even if he is ALL torso, outgrowing the seat.  I just can't.  The ONE thing it has going for it is that it is a GOOD rearfacing seat because of the tall shell. 

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99 

I cant believe the seat is outgrown..here is my son in his AOE at 34 inches, and he has tons of shell above his head....

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/IMG_2574.jpg

for reference sake, here is ALSO a picture of my daughter, who was 4.5, and over 40 inches tall, with a long torso, and the seat has the headrest in the highest USABLE position (not the booster mode one)..and she still fits by height..she has just barely exactly 1 inch over her head. 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/IMG_2573.jpg

So..there is just no way I can see a 35 inch 2 yo kid, even if he is ALL torso, outgrowing the seat.  I just can't.  The ONE thing it has going for it is that it is a GOOD rearfacing seat because of the tall shell. 

Maybe I'm not pulling hard enough, but I can't get mine to click up higher than the outer shell...that's the highest I've made it go thus far.

[bobandjess99]

Just LOOK at the back of your seat...you will see the notches in the shell that the big metal bar falls into at each "click"...the top one being labeled for booster use only, so the second-to-top notch is the highest one for harness use.  IT should position the headrest about level with, with just a tad higher than the actual hard shell of the seat.  The highest notch/setting (the booster one) should position the headrest several inches higher than the shell of the seat, as shown in this picture here.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t308/bobandjess99/carseat002.jpg

A couple things to keep in mind..yes, it can be VERY hard to get that headrest up into the highest positions.  Make sure you have *completely* loosened the harness, because you will need all that slack in order to allow the headrest to move up.  Be sure you are pushing both red handles in, and i mean..just watch the metal bar in the back slide up and slip into the next highest notch.  Sometimes, you even have to help with your hands, as in, have one person pulling on the red handles, and another using a hand to help yank the metal bar up, or do it all yourself if you are a ninja :) (sorry, the 12 yo is into ninjas..everything in our house is "like a ninja!" right now :) )

But anyway...check on the back...look at the notches, and see if you are truly getting it up into the second-highest one.  If you are, the headrest should be pretty high.  :)

[chickabiddy]

Originally Posted by AFWife 
chickabiddy: I would but the AOE isn't okay for newborns...

I know.  I meant to do it while we figure out what's going on.  I really don't think he's outgrown the seat.

He needs 1" of SHELL above his head.

[an_aurora]

Originally Posted by bobandjess99 

sorry, the 12 yo is into ninjas..everything in our house is "like a ninja!" right now 

Completely, utterly OT, but has he seen this?

[AFWife]

Okay, I got the best shot I could with him just waking up (he doesn't like to sit in the carseat ANYWAY) So, he's not strapped in fully but the strap is pulled out so you can see that it's the slot that puts it below his shoulders (the next click up puts it ever so slightly above)

http://www.mothering.com/community/image/id/497658

I did check the back of the seat and was pleasantly surprised to find that I am NOT a ninja! The one I thought was the top is the next to the top, so that was a nice surprise this morning. The way he's tilted is as far back as he can tilt (I'll try for a better picture later, I'm lucky I got the one) because he'll be riding behind DH and, to drive safely, DH can't go up too much more. How do you tell 30 degrees???

[chickabiddy]

I see at least three inches of shell above his head and the harness looks fine.  My crystal ball says he can RF in that seat for two more years by height -- he'll probably outgrow by weight before height.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by chickabiddy 

I see at least three inches of shell above his head and the harness looks fine.  My crystal ball says he can RF in that seat for two more years by height -- he'll probably outgrow by weight before height.

I've been using the freaking headrest and freaking myself out. ARGH lol

I need to find that pillow thing that came with it so he can be comfy....

Thank you all so much!

[bobandjess99]

yay!! Yep, you have YEARS!  You'll be fine, and as Chickabiddy said, probably outgrow it by weight rather than height.