height limit on rear facing car seat

Hi everyone.
I have Spock in a Safe n Sound Meridian AHR. She is rear facing and I was hoping to have her rear facing forever (or very close to it ;) ). But I have a problem!! THere is a height marker, and when bubs shoulders are above the line they have to be turned around. Spocks shoulders are at the line!!! (or atleast half a cm from the line). she is only 5 mths, and 8 kg! no way she would be getting too tall yet?? right???
please reassure me, as she grows will her torso not grow as much and just her head and limbs grow so she might stay at that level for ages yet??
there is a padded "infant insert" can I take this out? cause that will give her an extra inch before she reaches the limit. the book is useless and i'm not sure if this insert has to be in for rear facing or you can get rid of it?
Im really at a loss cause seriously a 5mth old bub shouldnt be too tall! I know people whos 19mth olds are still rear facing!

please help!

I am absolutely no help because I have the same issue.. I have a hi pod milan. I discovered yesterday that DS has reached the height markers.. He's not quite 8kgs yet. I don't want to turn him yet.. So subbing for answers too..

I have The sane seat. I think the book gives clear guidelines as to when to turn them. I think they can't be turned before 6 months but I'm not sure about if they have reached the market yet.
I wouldn't remove in infant insert though.
Perhaps call Britax??

The seat you have has that marker set at 36cm from memory. Which isn't very big - it is just the average shoulder height of a 6 month old, 8-9kg baby. Which is exactly what the age/weight limits on the seats were. The conclusion I came to after a back and forth with Britax (SnS) was that the change to height markers was really not much more than a PR stunt, it doesn't mean the average child can be turned later.

We removed the inserts frpom the car seats when they started hindering the position of bubs in the seat.

thing is I don't want to turn her. esp. before 6mths, it was going on about how you can use it to rearface until 4 years! so thats why I"m really stumped as to how a 5mth old is too big. makes me think Im doing something wrong, which then makes me worry because that might mean she is unsafe.

That sounds rediculous. Chantelle still easily fits in her capsule at 14mths. THere is a facebook group I can add you too that may have more info for you, and you could take pics and ask for opinions.

that would be great please Misty, cause it really seems wrong to me....


I did just find this on the rta website about the new laws:

A child aged between six months and four years of age will need to move to the next level of restraint when:

Their shoulders no longer fit comfortably within the restraint; or
Their eye-level is higher than the back of the restraint; or
The top insertion slots for the shoulder straps are below the level of the child’s shoulders.

no mention of the height marker, and I can still raise the straps more levels, so they arent below her shoulders. so by reading the laws I can ignore the height marker. but that doesnt seem right to me...im so confused!!!

I thought the infant insert was just that? Something to make them fit better while they are teeny tiny? I would think if you removed the insert and she doesn't seem way too small for it, it would be ok? I don't have a bub but a friend with the same seat as you removed the insert because she has a chubby bubba who is also very tall. She reached the markers at 4ish months. She is still RF at nearly 8 months now but will probaby only have another month or two before she hits the markers again

I've added you to the group - its just pending admin aproval. I agree about the infant insert - at least that has been the case with all the car seats I have owned.

Yep you can take the infant insert out. I have same kind of seat but it was before they had the height markers and had DD in it until 20mths. I think the weight limit is more important and more so what a PP said about eye level. I think the height markers were introduced so people wouldn't turn baby before it reached the markers well thats what I heard. There is a safe n sound fb page maybe ask there also.

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thing is I don't want to turn her. esp. before 6mths, it was going on about how you can use it to rearface until 4 years! so thats why I"m really stumped as to how a 5mth old is too big. makes me think Im doing something wrong, which then makes me worry because that might mean she is unsafe.

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You can use the seat until they are 4, not with it rear-facing though.
There aren't any seats approved for use in Australia that go beyond the 9kg/6months/height restrictions, this is the problem. The height and weight are the key factors though with regards to the seat and turning them, the age is really irrelevant, as the seat is tested for weight and height.

Call Britax and ask them directly to clarify for you exactly what the marker is telling you.

im having trouble with car seats too, so im interested to see the responses. my son is over the height marker too and i wanted to keep him rear facing well past 12 months. Is the facebook group open to anyone? can i join?

Other convertible seats approved for use in Aus do go till 12kg. This sounds like a 9kg one?
Mine lasted height-wise till around 15-17 months.

this is so frustrating...
everything I can find about this seat says RF for 12 months or the height limit. nowhere does it say anything about weight. I only got it in April... The reason I picked this particular one cause it can RF for the longest. grrr

am I even sitting her in it right?? when she wakes up I'll go take a photo and maybe I'm just doing the whole thing wrong...

I have the same problem, I have decided DS doesn't have the body/head/neck strength to be forward facing so I will keep him rear facing until the 6 mth mark when he will be pretty much on the weight limit.

Mycar seat the same before markers were introduced rear faces until 12kg if that helps.

I 'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the group lik here or not?? If not I apologise. But here it is:

[sorry]

That's a great group Misty! :D

Tt40 - my DS is 10mnths aand 75cm and nearly 10kgs so a big boy and I have him rear facing still. I took a small insert piece put from between his legs first and then took out the newborn insert after that probably a few months ago now so maybe 8mnths but it gives them ALOT more room to grow in height markers. Take it out and see how she fits in it. My DS didn't notice a difference I don't think and still sits rear facing no problems.

I got a photo, but its too big to put here... so here is a link to it on fb, it is public so you should be able to see.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=3&theater

she is in right isn't she?

those big wing things near her bum are part of the infant insert. so if i take it out she will get more height, but im not convinced she will be supports around the bum itms

Cute! Yep she's fine I'd say!

I think the confusion is because they've changed from basing the guidelines on weight to height and the line are an indicator of the MINIMUM a child need to be. It could just be that the interpretation of that in the instruction manual is flawed. FWIW, my girls both had SNS Meridiens and I didn't turn them until past 12 months. Miss A is in a new SNS Meridien and again I won't be turning her until she reaches the weight limit, not the height.

Taking the insert out might help and I'm sure I would have taken it out with my first two by the time they were 8kgs - maybe just see how she goes in terms of moving around if she doesn't have her little bott area padded. Miss A's still got a long way to go to get there yet so you must be giving Miss R the serious top shelf stuff ;-)

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I just found this Meridian brochure from Britax it states on page 11 that the infant insert can be removed to give more growing room when rear-facing and recommend having them rear-facing until at least 12 months

Thanks Mad you beat me ;) Sorry link isn't allowed, but TT40 I have Pm'd you.

Thankyou Willow! that is exactly what I have been trying to find but didn't have any luck. thankyou!

The first batches of the new meridian were issued with very low height markers...they have since raised them. I think you must have one of the original ones. You can ring Britax and ask for a replacement seat cover with the newer markers. And yes you can take the infant insert out now.

The infant insert is only there for comfort and to make sure that the buckle sits low enough on their pelvis when they are little. You don't want the buckle to sit too high because it can cause damage to their organs in a crash. You want it To be sitting across their pelvis region so in an accident that area absorbs the impact. If the buckle is sitting in the right spot with the infant insert removed then it is fine to take it out.

The manual doesn't really clarify things does it?

'To be used only in a rearward-facing position until the child's shoulders reach the lower shoulder height marker (approximately 12 months of age). '
'Continue to use this restraint in this rear facing mode until the child's shoulders reach the limit of the lower shoulder height marker before turning the seat to face forward.'

I think the only way to really clarify thus is to contact Britax.

Thankyou everyone for all your help!!
Melbel ~ Willow informed me of the exact same thing, next time I'm out there I'm going to get the manafacture date and see if that is the case.

thanks =)

TT, you have the same seat as us. We have two - one from when they just used weight, and one with height markers. The first seat, it says it can be rear-facing until 12kgs, and remove the infant insert at 10kgs. With the second seat, we took it to mean that if her shoulders were below those first height markers then she *had* to be rear-facing, not that we needed to turn her when she was above them. This was confirmed by the consultant at Baby Bunting and the seat fitter.

So we left both seats rear-facing until just recently - DD is almost 17 months and is hovering between 11.5 & 12kgs so we turned her last weekend.

TT I have no idea but wanted to say WOW what a little cutie Spock is!!

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TT, you have the same seat as us. We have two - one from when they just used weight, and one with height markers. The first seat, it says it can be rear-facing until 12kgs, and remove the infant insert at 10kgs. With the second seat, we took it to mean that if her shoulders were below those first height markers then she *had* to be rear-facing, not that we needed to turn her when she was above them. This was confirmed by the consultant at Baby Bunting and the seat fitter.

So we left both seats rear-facing until just recently - DD is almost 17 months and is hovering between 11.5 & 12kgs so we turned her last weekend.

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Kaytee, the height marked seat should be different to the weighted seat. I would guess is made to the 2004 standard so the tested weight is only 12kgs. The new height marked Meridians should have been made to the new 2010 standard and they have been tested to 15kgs rear-facing. (even though all references to weight have been removed) Sometimes the baby store sales staff aren't trained up as much as they should be and quite often give wrong advice, which the manufacturers like to hear about so they can recommend re-training. The same goes for fitters. They are usually good with fitting but when it comes to individual seat recommendations they aren't always up with it, sadly :(
You can check the date of manufacture on your height marked seat to see what standard it was produced under and check with Britax as well. But the new Meridians should be tested to 15kgs so if your DD is still under the line for RF she can stay that way even if she's over 12kgs - if it's the height marked seat. Does that make sense?
So the old one is definitely turn forward-facing at 12kgs(weighted seat)
But the new height marked one should be tested to 15kgs and yes while under the line they should stay rear-facing.
So you can rear-face longer in the new Meridians.

lol I think I just confused myself, my head is full of hay fever today.

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lol I think I just confused myself, my head is full of hay fever today.

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Lol no, it all made sense to me! Good to know I can put at least one back the other way, thanks :)