Having a Tall Baby: The Prams and Car Seats We Outgrew Much Earlier Than Expected
Having a tall baby caught us completely off guard. From outgrowing the pram carrycot much earlier than expected to going through three car seats by the age of two, here's what we learned, what worked for us and why I wish I'd worried a little less about the ages written on baby equipment.
Sophie
8/17/20265 min read
When we were pregnant, choosing a car seat felt like one of those purchases you absolutely had to get right.
We did what I suspect a lot of first-time parents do: went into shops, looked at what felt like hundreds of options, asked lots of questions and tried to work out what would actually suit us.
After looking and testing at places like Mamas & Papas and John Lewis, we ended up choosing Cybex.
What we didn't expect was quite how quickly we'd end up working our way through the range.
Our daughter is very tall for her age, sitting around the 99th percentile for height, so we've discovered fairly quickly that the suggested age on baby and toddler products is only part of the story.
In just over two years, we've gone from the Cybex Cloud T i-Size, to the Sirona T i-Size and then onto the Pallas G3.
That sounds slightly ridiculous when you write it down, but I would genuinely choose all three again.
Starting with the Cybex Cloud T i-Size
The Cloud T was our first infant car seat and the one we brought our daughter home from hospital in.
One of the biggest reasons we liked it was how well it fitted into our everyday setup.
We used it with the Cybex Base T in the car, but it could also clip onto our Bugaboo Fox pushchair using adapters.
When you've got a sleeping newborn, being able to take the whole car seat out of the car and attach it to the pushchair without waking them can be incredibly useful.
The rotating Base T was another feature we appreciated far more once we were actually using it every day.
Rather than leaning awkwardly into the car to strap a baby in, you can rotate the seat towards you, get them settled and then turn it back into position.
It's one of those features that sounds like a nice extra when you're shopping and then very quickly becomes something you don't want to give up.
Browse the Cybex car seats we've used
Outgrowing the infant seat earlier than expected
This was probably our first lesson in not becoming too attached to the age ranges written on baby products.
Our daughter is tall.
Really tall.
So although the Cloud T had been brilliant for us, we reached the point where we needed to move on sooner than we had originally imagined.
If you have a particularly tall or big baby, this is something worth remembering when you're buying equipment.
The age ranges you see advertised are useful guides, but your child's actual height and weight limits, the manufacturer's instructions and how they fit the seat are what matter.
Moving onto the Cybex Sirona T i-Size
Our next seat was the Cybex Sirona T i-Size.
This felt like a really natural next step because we were already using the Base T.
Again, the rotating function was one of my favourite features.
By this point we weren't lifting a tiny newborn into the car. We were lifting a considerably bigger and increasingly wriggly toddler.
Being able to turn the seat towards the car door made getting her in, fastening everything properly and getting her back out much easier.
It also allowed us to keep her rear facing while she was still within the appropriate limits for the seat.
The Sirona is probably the seat that made me realise how much I valued having a rotating car seat.
Once you've become used to putting a child into a seat that's facing you, going back to leaning sideways into the car feels surprisingly awkward.
Then our tall toddler did it again
Eventually we found ourselves looking at the next stage sooner than we expected again.
This has probably been the recurring theme of having a child around the 99th percentile for height.
Clothes get outgrown quickly. Pushchair setups change earlier. And car seats need to be chosen based on the actual child sitting in them rather than simply the age printed on the product page.
It doesn't necessarily mean anything has gone wrong or that you've bought the wrong product.
Sometimes your child is simply ready for the next suitable stage sooner than the average age might suggest.
Our latest seat: the Cybex Pallas G3
Our latest move has been onto the Cybex Pallas G3.
This one feels quite different from the previous seats because it uses an impact shield rather than the traditional harness setup we'd become used to.
It was something we wanted to look at properly before buying because it looks and feels different if you've only ever used a conventional harness.
As with our original car-seat shopping, being able to look at seats in person and understand how they work was really useful.
Our daughter has taken to it really well.
And, perhaps most importantly after working our way through three seats, it gives us a solution designed to last considerably longer into childhood.
What I'd tell another parent with a tall baby
The biggest thing I'd say is not to panic if your child seems to be outgrowing baby equipment much earlier than the age written on the box.
Those ages are guides.
Children aren't all the same size at one year, two years or three years old, and a child at the top end of the height chart is naturally going to have a different experience from a much smaller child of exactly the same age.
Pay attention to the actual height and weight requirements for your particular seat, read the manufacturer's guidance and check your child's fit regularly.
And if you're unsure, getting someone knowledgeable to physically look at your child in the seat can be much more reassuring than endlessly trying to work it out from product pages online.
A quick Bugaboo side note
We've had a similar experience with pushchairs.
Our Bugaboo Fox 5 worked brilliantly as our main pushchair and paired with the Cloud car seat when our daughter was tiny.
As she got bigger, our needs changed and we've also used the Bugaboo Butterfly 2 as a more compact option.
Again, having a tall child has made me much more interested in actual seat dimensions and how much growing room there is rather than simply looking at a suggested age range.
Browse the Bugaboo Fox 5 and Butterfly 2
Would I choose Cybex again?
Yes.
Three car seats in a little over two years sounds like the beginning of a fairly terrible review, but it genuinely isn't.
Each seat has worked well for the stage we needed it for.
Our unusually quick progression through them has been much more about our daughter's growth than us being unhappy with the products.
The Cloud worked brilliantly for the baby stage and pushchair travel system. The Sirona gave us the rotating toddler seat we wanted while allowing us to continue rear-facing. And the Pallas is now taking us into the next stage.
If I were starting again, I'd still happily choose the same journey.
Our biggest takeaway
Buy the car seat for the child in front of you, not simply the age written on the website.
Test seats if you can. Think about how you'll actually use them every day. Consider how easy they are to get your child in and out of. And keep checking the fit as your baby turns into a toddler at what feels like completely unreasonable speed.
Having a particularly tall child has meant we've moved through some stages earlier than we expected, but it has also taught us not to treat age recommendations as deadlines or promises.
They are guides. Your actual child is the important bit.
A quick note about the links on this page
Some links in this article are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Walden Weekly earns from qualifying purchases. It doesn't cost you anything extra to shop through our links. Everything mentioned in this article is something we've genuinely bought and used ourselves.
Car seat safety
This article is our personal experience rather than individual car-seat safety advice. Always follow the instructions and height and weight limits supplied by your car-seat manufacturer, make sure the seat is suitable for your child and vehicle, and seek qualified fitting advice if you're unsure.
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