New booster car seat-which is best?

[txgirl]

Okay experts! I have read reviews, but I feel like I know you guys.

We have the Evenflo Triumph and my little guy is 3 so we are looking to move on to the booster. I want to find one that still has a recline feature for our many road trips!

Does anyone have the Eddie Bauer Summit?
the Graco CarGo?
or the Evenflo Greystone Generations?

I may not have the names just right, but these seem to have a recline option and we definitely need that. I know Britax are awesome but I don't see any that recline.

Your opinions will greatly help me to make a decision! Thanks in advance.

 

[txgirl]

bump for help

 

[all4fun]

You want to keep him harnessed until at least 4yrs 40lbs. Because of this I would stay away from the Cosco/EB/Safety 1st seats because the top slots are so low (15" actually). As you pbly know, the child outgrows the harness in a f/fing seat when their shoulders go above the top harness slots. A lot of kids outgrow these seats by the time they're 2-3 yrs old. It will last some kids longer if they have a shorter torso. Just something to consider.

The Evenflo Generations/Bolero (the Bolero is sold at K-mart & Walmart and is a little less expensive) is a good seat that harnesses to 40lbs and has nice high top slots (16.5"). It has nice open loops for the seatbelt when it converts to a B-P booster. One thing I just learned about this seat though - once you remove the harness this seat is outgrown by height once the child's ears reach the top of the vehicle seat back. So if you plan on converting it to a booster at some point and your car's seatbacks are not very tall this might not be a good choice. Otherwise it's a good seat.

****ETA: Just found out the info about this being outgrown as a BPB when the child's ears reach the top of the vehicle seatback is incorrect! The seat is outgrown when the child's ears are at the top of the booster seat, so if you have low seatbacks in your vehicle this is still a safe seat to use when it's in bpb mode. Sorry for any confusion!! Hopefully Evenflo will correct their FAQ since that is where I got the irroneous information. *****

The Graco Cargo is another good choice. 16" top slots for harnessing. Unlike the Evenflo Generations, this seat can be used in a vehicle seat that is shorter than the car seat when it's in BPB mode. The seatbelt loops are the closed kind though so IMO doesn't make a great bpb but it seems like you always sacrifice something with 2-in-1 & 3-in-1 seats. You could always get a dedicated booster like a Turbo booster or Britax Parkway when the time comes though.

Here's some sites I've used to do my research you might also find helpful:

Car seat measurements Click on "database" at the top and you can see what car seats have worked for others in your type of car.

This site has a list of recommended car seats

hth!
Cheryl

 

[GatorGal]

I agree, you should keep him harnessed until he's a little older. The current NHTSA and AAP recommendation is keeping children the in seat until the reach the height and weight limits of the seat. As far as the recline issue, you should check the manual for your current seat to make sure he isn't over the weight limit for the recline position. My Britax Wizard manual states that over 34 pounds the seat should be in the upright position, not recline. Reclining in a booster isn't recommended due to "submarining", the same reason it's not recommended with seatbelts alone. Check your car manual for instructions on the maximum recline level of the passenger seats.

 

[liznboys]

Instead of getting booster seats for our older two sons after they outgrew their convertable carseats, we opted to keep them in 5 point harnesses which we feel is much safer. We bought them each a Britax Husky, and love them! Just another idea for you. Good luck.

 

[txgirl]

I guess I wasn't clear in my first post. I definitely want to keep him in a 5-point harness for a good while to come.

The boosters I listed all have the 5-point harnesses. He is beyond the convertible Evenflo Triumph (too tall) that we had had since he was a little baby.

 

[txgirl]

make sure he isn't over the weight limit for the recline position.

I have never heard of this. I just assumed if the seat was for a child to be minimally 20+ then the recline feature was was safe. I never even thought to consider they would outweigh that feature. I'm not sure what's worse though because when he sleeps in the car (which he does often) if he is sitting straight up his next will be flopped forward, which would seem far more dangerous in a crash than if he is slightly tilted back?

I am going to Babies R Us to try some out with my son so that should help. I would love to know which convertible seats you guys have. (ones that will eventually convert to a seat belt booster)

Thanks for your replies. They are really informative!

 

[all4fun]

Well if he's still under 40lbs another seat you might consider is the Recaro Young Sport: Recaro Child Seats
This seat harnesses to 40lbs and then converts to a very nice BPB. It's on the spendier side at approx $250 though. This is probably the top combo seat out there - engineered very well. I considered this one but decided to go with a Britax Blvd instead so I can keep my "little" guy rear-facing as long as possible. He's outgrowing his Cosco seat by height at 32mos but he's still under the r/fing weight limit at 27lbs. I just hope everyone's predictions that his growth will slow down are correct because I'd like this seat to last him until he's old & big enough for a bpb!

 

[cwnhokie]

I'm confused, he's rear facing at 32 months? I didn't think that it was still recommended for them to be rear facing at that age and I consider myself to be a bit of a carseat fanatic. My almost 5 year old has just started using the graco booster with the high back and that is only to preschool and back where we don't go over 25 mph and only because I have a 2 year old i am babysitting that uses his seat. When we go on longer trips he still uses the 5 point harness. My DS3 wants a booster so badly, but he just doesn't weigh enough, he's about the same height as his big brother. I guess I am off to do now current carseat research.

 

[all4fun]

I'm confused, he's rear facing at 32 months? I didn't think that it was still recommended for them to be rear facing at that age and I consider myself to be a bit of a carseat fanatic. My almost 5 year old has just started using the graco booster with the high back and that is only to preschool and back where we don't go over 25 mph and only because I have a 2 year old i am babysitting that uses his seat. When we go on longer trips he still uses the 5 point harness. My DS3 wants a booster so badly, but he just doesn't weigh enough, he's about the same height as his big brother. I guess I am off to do now current carseat research.

Yes, he is and it's perfectly safe as long as he's within the weight and height limit of his car seat. Read this article, it explains why:
Child car seat advice questioned: Toddlers should face the rear longer, some experts say

The AAP recommendation :

Once your child is at least 1 year of age and is at least 20 pounds, he can ride forward-facing. However, it is best for him to ride rear-facing until he reaches the highest weight and height limit allowed by the car safety seat.

hth!

ETA: I should add - he really prefers sitting this way because his feet rest on the back seat (sort of sits cross-legged). I had his old seat f/fng for a while until I got his new Britax because he had outgrown the r/fing height limit on it. When I turned him back around to r/fing several days ago, he just seemed so happy, lol. It was funny. I don't think sitting with his feet dangling was all that comfortable for him, but unfortunately they don't make car seats with built-in foot rests.

 

[PoohHappens]

I am aware of the rear facing thing, but out of curiosity what does he do with his legs? Also he is not beyond the rear facing limits at 32months? I know every seat is different. Our Britax states up to 5-30# and 19-30 inches rear facing.

 

[PoohHappens]

just saw your edit, answered some of my questions

 

[all4fun]

I am aware of the rear facing thing, but out of curiosity what does he do with his legs? Also he is not beyond the rear facing limits at 32months? I know every seat is different. Our Britax states up to 5-30# and 19-30 inches rear facing.

This site might also answer some questions: http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

I'm not sure what the exact height limit on my Britax Blvd seat is but the shell is still above his head at this point, which is what is most important. Height limits on car seats have a little "wiggle-room" where-as weight limits are set in stone. He won't outgrow this car seat until he's 33lbs and his head is less than 1" from the top of the seat shell for rear-facing and for front-facing he'll outgrow it when his shoulders are above the highest harness position or his ears are at the top of the shell, or he's reached 65lbs. (I don't have the manual right here but I'm pretty sure all that is correct, lol)

hth.

 

[cwnhokie]

I read some of the previous links that you posted last night, very enlightening. I need to find the manual for my seats and see if my harnesses should be going through the top slots, I knew they should be above their shoulders, but I didn't know that in some seats they should always be in the top slots. A while back someone, and I can't remember who it was now, I think either a pediatrician or Rescue person told me that once they were over a certain age it was safer to be facing forward. But I can't remember who it was or exactly what they said. I also think I remember the rescue person that came and talked to a mom's group I was in said that in Europe they leave them rear facing much longer because it's safer and then my pediatrician said that once they turn one it's safer to turn them around. Gosh, it's hard to be a mom with all the comflicting info from all the "experts", huh? It's interesting to read current research though. I bet the OP didn't realize her simple question would turn into such a safety lesson.