Cabriofix straps slipping off shoulders

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I was hoping to get a lot more use out of our cabriofix as 10mo DD is 50th percentile weight and 25th ish height so has plenty of room in it, according to where her head is. However the straps are on the highest setting but are now behind not above her shoulders. So they have to go up then over he shoulders, so when tightened up, they sit right on the tip of her shoulders and tend to slip down slightly off her shoulders.
In the cabriofix manual I'm sure I read that the shoulder straps should not come out of the seat below the shoulder height. But this seems crazy if babies are supposed to be able to use this seat till their head passes the top!
Do we need a new seat already? We are going ERF so can change her whenever, I was just hoping to have a few pay checks back under my belt before buying it!

They should come out the back of the seat at or a little below the shoulders. Definitely not above! Are you holding the straps together as you tighten the harness/adjusting so they don't sit on the edge of her shoulder or are they slipping there and then off?

Have you taken the newborn wedge out?

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the newborn wedge has been out for a long time.

I will try holding the straps together as I tighten. I do feel that a solution would be a chest clip that holds the straps closer together in front, but I don't want to use anything that isn't recommended by the manufacturer. One thing I've thought is maybe I am tightening the straps too much- and pushing her down. She then pushes up to get more comfy and the straps slip down either side as there's nowhere else for them to go. She is a real wriggler TBH I'm sure in the next size up she's going to be trying to get her arms out...

They shouldn't sit across the tip of her shoulders. I don't quite understand that bit. Our straps would do that if I didn't position them correctly but otherwise would be fine.

Don't get a chest strap - they can cause significant damage in a crash and it takes longer to get the child out in an emergency. You could get something like this if she's escaping when she's older. I doubt you're tightening them too much - most people don't do them up tight enough. What is she wearing?

I agree. It is very unlikely that you are tightening them too much. And if you had, if they were correctly positioned they wouldn't fall off. The more I think the more I suspect you aren't bringing the strap close to the neck as you bring it over the shoulder.

She's usually just wearing one or two thin layers at the mo. Like, a vest and a top. We know about not using thick layers when in the seat.
Peeking in the back of the seat earlier I saw that the slits for the straps to come through is wider than the strap and our straps seem to be naturally sitting more to the outside of the slit which means they are wider apart than they could be. Looks like I will need to tug the straps towards each other to slightly reposition them when I put her in.

I am doing them up very tight though as she is so wriggly... I mean I pull the end bit as much as I physically can (with her in there) and then if I really can't get a finger in I press the button just for the shortest possible time just to get a smidge more slack.
As an aside I don't really understand the "should be able to fit a finger between the strap and the body" - where on the body? As surely depending on the child's build there will be small gaps in different places?

But if they are sitting on the outside of her shoulders no amount of tightening will stop slipping. You need to pull them sort of into the neck as you bring them over. Do you do that already?

Yes I see that I need to pull them together now, as I said in my posts above. No I wasn't particularly doing that. I mean I place them over her shoulders in the right place as I strap her in- I kind of assumed the straps would come out into the seat in the correct position. But I guess they are coming a little apart so now I know I do need to pay closer attention. It is only in the past month or so I've noticed it happening.

To be clear - I tug the straps as I'm doing her up, so that they look in the right position once she's buckled in and the straps tightened. Often when we arrive and I get her out, the straps are further apart than they were when we set off. It's only been happening the past month. It makes sense to me that if they were too tight they might slip down- to find the shortest possible distance iyswim- or because I've tightened it too much and she's uncomfortable so strains against it and somehow the straps move. but it's hard to explain in writing!
Thanks for all the help. From now on I'll make sure that the straps are as close as they can be in their slits and also over her body.

They are supposed to come from below the shoulders.

I think the issue is that this whole category of seats was designed at a time when they were intended to be used to 9 months and then stopped - so they just aren't really designed for the more purposeful and wriggly babies approaching a year old. If you look at straps in seats for older children, they tend to be a five point harness rather than a three point one. The three point is sufficient for passive babies travelling backwards but they aren't as secure once they get wriggly and determined!

I would not get a chest clip, as they aren't designed for these seats and they can be dangerous. In the US seats they are tested with them in place and they are designed to be there, which is different.

I wonder if it's worth you looking at an extended rear facing or a convertible seat? You'd get much better scope in terms of straps, she'd be comfy and you could turn her around at your leisure. They aren't that much more expensive than forward facing seats now.

Thanks- that does make sense. She really doesn't like being restrained at the moment and I do want her to be as safe as possible so maybe it would be a good time to move to the next seat.

Yes we will def be going ERF - no need to try and convince me! I'm already there :-D - but I hoped for a pay check or two before buying it - back to work mid October. Will speed up research and get the credit card out.

Can I ask since you clearly know your stuff-- is there a big difference between the £300-400 besafe / axkid type seats and the newer £100-200 ones from Joie, the cheaper Britax ERFs etc? We can technically afford the more expensive ones but it's not like money is no issue to us! (I realise there will be a difference in individual seats and will be getting my Which trial membership but if it's possible to answer in a general way that'd be useful)

If they are too tight and too far out on her shoulders they can slip down. If the straps were tucked right in and then secured it shouldn't be possible. Think about your bra strap as an example - if it falls off your shoulder it was either too loose or not in the right place

DS has just come out of his cabriofix at 16 months. The last few months he did a few times get his arm out but it was always when I had hastily bunged him in and not.lined the straps up correctly.

If you're looking for information about different ERF seats Which? isn't going to be much use to you, they are pretty negative about bigger rear facing seats. My DD2 is 3 and her Britax Multi Tech II (tested by Which? under the name of Volvo Convertible) is a 'Don't Buy' . Apparently is it hard to fit - it's definitely not! Yes there are three steps to it (seatbelt through the seat, tighten and fasten, extend foot prop, tighten tethers) but it's pretty simple to do and it takes me a couple of minutes at the most to re-fit it now if we take it out of the car.

This blog post discusses some of the Which? comments about ERF seats

I also recently bought a Joie Stages for my parents car, and it honestly feels as solid and safe as the Britax ERF seat. I think the 'cheapness' comes from the fact that it has no tether straps or rebound bar, therefore it has the couple of 'drawbacks' of having to be fully reclined when used rear facing, and being fitted with the seatbelt in the same manner as an infant carrier - therefore the seatbelt (depending on the size of your car and the roofline) can be in the way of you getting the child into the seat. But having used the seat for a couple of days in our car I didn't mind the seatbelt position (although my car is big with a high roof) and think I could honestly use the Stages as our everyday seat. It only has an 18kgs weight limit for rear facing though, all the other rear facing seatbelted seats (the ones with foot props and tether straps) go up to 25kgs.

I think there is a difference between both types of seat. We have britax erf for our proper car and joie stages as our back up seats in other cars and in case we are written off by a lorry again and need to get home from the hospital

The joie stages do not seem as substantial and I wouldn't use them on longer journeys if I didn't need to.

All better than ff though imo

It would be with giving the in car safety centre or rear facing toddlers a ring.

Yes we'll be off to whichever one is in Basingstoke as it isn't that far from us. Our car isn't massive (Ford Focus) so we def want to make sure it fits and we can sit comfortably in the front.

I can't help you I'm afraid as the £3-400 seats are hopelessly out of our budget, so I've never looked too closely into them. I know the Two Way Elite is rated pretty well. I would check on rear facing websites or at the ICSS. They do sell seats but I think they are pretty impartial, they aren't out to sell you the most expensive seat just because.

I do agree that if your main concern is safety, then Which? isn't much help to you. It's worth reading the detailed reports. They look at the user experience as a whole, which includes fitting - and they have a low bar because the average car seat user isn't likely to read a manual and study it carefully, they just want something they can throw in the car and it works. They also include washability of covers, ease of getting child into car. Might be useful to know, but you might not weight it as high as safety, whereas they do. Also, where a seat can be used in multiple configurations, they take the safety score with the lowest result for the overall conclusion. As somebody commented on a booster seat - who is going to spend £200 on a booster seat just to remove the back and use it like a £10 booster cushion? If you don't ever intend to use the seat in a less safe position, the safety results for that position aren't relevant to you.

I have and would recommend a besafe izi isize and a britax dual fix. Both leave plenty of room in the front but with the besafe you can adjust it to give the child more legroom. I have an a3 so there were lots of seats I couldn't have as they just didn't leave enough room for the front passenger.