Each child is different and therefore grows at a different pace. When choosing the right car seat for your toddler, we should therefore be guided by his weight and height, not age.
In order for the car seat to provide the child with maximum safety while driving, it must first of all be of good quality and have appropriate certificates proving its durability. Equally important is the optimal adjustment of the car seat to the height and posture of our child. Each child is different and therefore grows at a different pace. When choosing the right car seat for your toddler, we should therefore be guided by his weight and height, not age. Many parents decide to change the car seat too quickly for a larger one, and there are also those who miss the fact that their child's head protrudes beyond the upper edge of the backrest of the car seat, so they carry them in a too small model. In order to make it easier for you to catch the right moment to change the car seat, in this post, we present some basic symptoms that show that the child has already outgrown it.
How do I know if my child has outgrown the car seat?
1. Too much weight.
The basic criterion for changing the car seat to a larger one is that the child exceeds the weight limit of a given seat model precisely defined by the manufacturer. In order not to miss this moment, you should weigh your child regularly.
2. Head protruding beyond the backrest.
It is worth checking regularly that our child's head does not protrude beyond the upper edge of the car seat backrest. If this is the case, it means that the toddler has already outgrown it and you should change to a larger model.
3. Eye line protruding beyond the top of the backrest.
For older children, the head may protrude slightly beyond the top of the seatback, but the eye line may not protrude behind it. In many cases, it is enough to adjust the headrest properly, but if it is fully extended and the line of the child's eyes is still higher than the edge of the backrest, the car seat will need to be replaced.
4. Belts too short.
If the harness do not fasten correctly, it means that our child has grown up and it will be necessary to change the seat to a larger one. Remember, however, that in winter we dress children in warm and thick outer clothes. Before each journey, remove the coverall or jacket from the child. Before we decide to change the car seat, we should also make sure that we have used all the adjustment possibilities of the harness. In the case of group 0 and 0+ car seats, let's check if we have removed all the additional inserts from them.
Before we change our child's car seat to a larger model, we should make sure that it is really necessary. Carrying a toddler in an oversized car seat is dangerous. Each car seat should be used for as long as possible. Premature changes to larger car seats are not recommended, as well as carrying a child in a too small model. In both situations, the child's safety while driving is not properly guaranteed.