OT Booster seat

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

My DS is outgrowing his convertable car seat and with a winter coat is is a struggle to get him in it. He is 40" tall and weighs 34 lbs. He will be 4 in March and I am wanting to move him to a high back booster but not sure when. All the kids in his preschool class are in a booster even though they are not bigger than he is. With my dd she outgrew the seat in height when she was almost 5 but she was still only 36 lbs!

When have you moved your child and what are the height guidelines? I know you are supposed to be 40 lbs. but my 6 year old has yet to reach 40 she still hovers around 39lbs. I can't imagine her in a car seat! She is 44 inches tall!

 

[mom2grace]

I had a similar situation.........DD is 6 1/2 and just now weighs 40 lbs, but she's been in a booster since kindergarten.

DS is almost 4 1/2 (average size) but still not 40 lbs. In my car, we have a bigger Britax convertible car seat, and in other cars (Dh, and my parents) he is in a booster with a back.

There is no perfect solution! (And car seat laws vary wildly by state, for us, it's 8 & 80lbs, DD won't be 80lbs. until she's 18!, my neice in Texas hasn't been in a car seat since she was 4)

 

[Minniemouse07]

As a certified child passenger safety technician I have to tell you that we always recommend keeping children in their 5pt harness until they hit the limits of their seats.

Most 5pt harnessed seats have a top weight of 40lbs, but there are more and more on the market now that go to higher weights (50, 55, 65, 70+, etc). Generally, your chid will outgrow their carseat when they hit the upper weight limit of the seat OR their shoulders go above the top harness slot...some seats differ from these rules so check your manufacturer's instructions.

If your son is having difficulty fitting into the harness w/ his winter coat on there are two strategies you can use:

1. Unzip the coat, secure him in the seat and pull the bottom front corners of the coat out from under the harness so that the only part of the coat under the harness is by his shoulders. I'm sure that was clear as mud so if you need more clarification just give a yell.

2. Take the coat OFF, secure him in the seat and then put it back on BACKWARDS! Kids think this is fun and it still keeps him warm in the car!

You can find more information about car seats as well as tips and hints to use them easier at car-safety.org. They have tons of info as well as excellent message boards. I would post there w/ your son's height and weight info as well as the make/model of your car and they will definitely be able to point you in the right direction as far as the best seat(s) for him.

FWIW, my dd is 47" tall and 52lbs and is still sitting in a 5pt harnessed seat in our car. She is 6.5yo and is in first grade!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I am getting ready to buy 2 Graco Nautilus seat. They are new out. The 5 pt harness goes to 65 pounds and the booster goes to 100 pounds.

 

[becca011906]

Certified car seat tech here as well ... the absolute minimus for putting your child in a booster is atleast age 4 atleast 40 lbs and they must be responsible enough to sit in a booster and not reach down on for floor to pick up toys, push the sholder belt off thier sholder, ect. My 5 year is 43# but is tall and thin, falls asleep in the seat often so she is still in a 5 pt. harness 85% of the time using a booster for only while riding with others or or short trips.
As for the winter coat they should not be worn in the car seats AT ALL!!!! the way to test that is put the child in the seat w/o a coat on adjust the harness to the right size tight snug ect. take child out put the coat on then rebuckle you shouldn't have to adjust the straps if you do every 1/2 inch or 2 inches you have to adjust it that is the slack the belts will have in the event of a crash then making the straps to loss and possibility of your child being ejected from the seat b/c the coat will compress in the event of a crash.

how do you mean the child is out gowing the seat they are in now... is the child's sholders above the top slot? if so then yest the seat has been out gorwn if not and the weight limit hasn't been reached the seat will still work. If you dont' want to spend much $$$ then check out coscos apex they have a harness weight limit of 65 then turn into a desent hi back booster seat. they run about $80-$100 i think... BUT to use the seat your car must have head rests behind the car seat not a low back on the actual seat of the car!

I will second that a great place to look at a lot more info get suggestions and tips from techs check out car-seat. org (take the space out). HTH feel free to PM me if you want some more info.

 

[lclark0621]

Please please please consider moving your child into a 5 pt harness car seat that goes to higher height & weight.

We moved my DS into a Britax Regent (from a Marathon) last year & I love love LOVE it. My DS is extremely comfortable & loves his seat. And I feel much safer knowing he is still in a 5pt harness instead of a booster.

My DS doesn't know any other way to ride in a car, expcept being harnessed. It doesn't bother him & he has never asked otherwise. He is 4.5 now & I play on keeping him harnessed as long as possible.

 

[brightvalleyjrts]

My son is getting ready to turn 5. He is 35 lbs and about 40 inches tall. He is still in a 5 pt. harness and I plan on keeping him in one for as long as possible. When he outgrows his current booster (which has a mx. 40lbs weight), then I will be getting him a regent. I just think it's better to be safe than sorry. I feel a lot more comfortable with him in a 5 pt. harness.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Thank you for all your replies. I guess where my confusion came from is that on the booster seats they say for children 30-100 lbs. My son's head is creeping above the top of his seat and the straps cannot be let out any more without the seams sliding down and catching in the slider harness which they are not supposed to do. I have always been very safety oriented and I took a car seat safety class before my dd was born. I even stop people in the parking lot and tell them that the handle on their infant carrier should be in the down position when driving. (that always drives me crazy when I see it up!)

Our carseat is an evenflo titan and we drive a honda oddesy minivan if that helps with getting the whole picture.

Thanks again

 

[Minniemouse07]

I have always been very safety oriented and I took a car seat safety class before my dd was born. I even stop people in the parking lot and tell them that the handle on their infant carrier should be in the down position when driving. (that always drives me crazy when I see it up!)

This actually isn't a hard and fast rule anymore. There are some infant seats on the market the mandate the handle being in the "up" position while in the car, others say don't and still others say it doesn't matter. Best to always read the manufacturer's instructions from cover to cover!

As for your son, I think your best bet is to go over and check out car-seat dot org. If you put that much research into it the first time you will appreciate the information and the insight from all the techs over on their message boards. You can get a complete look at all of the options for your son and pick the one that works best for both of you!

 

[tanyaandallie]

Yes, carseat manufacturers put 30 lbs and 3 years on their boosters. However, it is defnitely not best practice and not what is safests. For the most part the lower weight limits are for kiddos who are super duper light weights and are not going to hit 40 lbs until they are much older and the lower age limit for kids who hit 40 lbs when they are young.

It used to be that the higher weight limit seats were few and expensive. That is simply not the case any more. There are some seats with higher weight limits and that are taller that are more reasonably priced. Even the Britax Regent, which is the tallest, has sales that bring it pretty close to $200.
Here is a list of seats that was compiled an another board. Can you get his torso height? At only 34 lbs, he might actually be able to use a 40 lbs combo seat like the EVenflo Generation. If you want him harnessed longer, look at a a seat that harnesses past 40 lbs.

OH, the list does not include the Nautilus. New seat from Graco. 65 lbs weight limit on the harness with 18 inch top harness slots. Then converts to a hbb then a lbb. Hard to find right now but should be in all Walmarts soon. Might be a good one for you to look at.



Convertible Seats

Britax Marathon, Decathalon, or Boulevard (MA/DC/BV). 17 in top slots, RF 5-33lbs, FF up to 65lbs in 5 point harness. Awesome seats, allow for rf tethering, has lockoffs to replace locking clips, very easy installs, many bells and whistles that make them easier to use correctly every time, lasts most kids to age 5-6y/o. 220+ Check the FAQ sticky thread for a description of the three. - I'd skip these. For the price, you could get a REgent.



Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe (FPSVD).17 inch top slots, RF 5-33lbs, FF up to 55lbs in a 5 point harness. Made by Britax, sold under the FP name- basically a stripped down Britax Marathon. Great seat, awesome price $129 (regular 199$), and will last most kids to age 5-6 y/o.
DISCONTINUED DUE TO POOR SALES—Be sure to check date of manufacture before purchase as many people have been getting seats with older dom.



New Evenflo Triumph Advanced RF to 35lbs; FF to 50 lbs. Max harness height of 17". The new Triumph has the infinite harness adjuster too.. no rethreading the harness! Much nicer than the old Triumph! Much taller shell than the old Triumph too! Priced at 150$



Sunshine Kids Radian. 18 in top slots, RF 5-33lbs, FF up to 65lbs in 5 point harness. Great seat, only second to Britax because it has some compatibility issues in some vehicles when installed with seatbelt. Really good seat otherwise, allows for RF tethering, lasts most kids to 6-7y/o. 8yr lifespan (most have a 6yr) $175+ www.skjp.com has the manual available for viewing. The Raidan 80 is basically the same seat with an 80 lbs weight limit, same top harness slots and comes with a bunch of padding, nice for an infant. The extra 15 lbs is really not necessary unless you have a heavy child.



Recaro Como & Signo. Recaro makes seats for NASCAR and has made car seats for the European market and a few for the US market for years. RF to 35lbs, forward face to 70lbs, and has 19" top slots. Bottom slots of 9" so not ideal for newborns.
The outside width of the seat at its widest point is approx. 19 ½” to 20”.
The Como & the Signo are basically the same shell the biggest difference is that the Signo has an infinitely adjustable harness (where the Como has to be re-threaded) and the Signo's latch straps are on a bar - similar to Britax (on all their models) - so you don't have to re-thread the latch belt if you're going from rear facing to forward facing.

Early reports on the Como – The top of the seat is super narrow. Older kids seem to be very cramped in the shoulder area.

Como is $249; Signo is $289



True Fit Convertible Car seat Available 1st Quarter 2008
rf 5-35 lbs, ff to 65lbs, 10in bottom slots, 18in top slots. 3 crotch positions, Designed to fit smaller cars- headrest is removable for easier rear facing installs in smaller cars. Cover removable without unhooking the harness, lockoffs for rf & ff, harness adjusted with a knob, everything adjusts by sliding something. Covered in EPP Foam.
Available for pre order 179$.
http://gooresblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/new-convertible-car-seat-from-compass.html
http://www.amazon.com/Compass-True-Convertible-Seat-Sporty/dp/B000YBK0H8
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/murphydog77/truefit.jpg
*does not rear face tether. Compass is adamantly against rf tethers.
*Can only be used rf w/o the headrest to 22lbs. After that the headrest must be used but the seat can be installed more upright to allow more room. Older rf kids prefer to be more upright anyways.

Forward facing only seats (child must be over age 1, and 22#’s)


Safegaurd GO. Harnesses to 60#’s, becomes a no back booster after. Top slots are 17 to 17.5 inches, needs adjustable headrest behind it for support. Requires top tether anchor. Child must be 30#’s to use. Retails for $179

Britax Regent (used to be Husky). KING of car seats is right! Harnesses to 80#’s. Top slots are 20 inches. Requires a top tether after child is 50#’s. Retails for $220-$260. Not good for children under 2yo. Requires college degree to read the manual.


Ride Safer Vest. A vest that comes in two sizes, Small 35-60#’s, Large 50-80#’s. The vest can be used with lap only belt. Requires top tether anchor & headrest. Retails for $89-$99. Great for 3 across situations in small vehicles! Tether strap HAS to be used if child is under 6 yrs old. http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/



FF/Harness Combo Harness/Booster Seats

Cosco/Safety 1st Apex. Only higher weight Combo (FF harness/Booster) seat that harnesses to 65#’s. Top slots are 17 inches high. Requires adjustable headrest or a very tall vehicle seatback behind it for support. Then becomes a very nice BUT VERY WIDE booster that doesn’t fit small children well.. This seat is outgrown totally when the tips of the child’s ears reach the top of the vehicle seatback. (Fully extended it has a back height of 32.5in tall) The new blue/black and all the brown ones have EPP Foam in the headrest. Retails for $99-150.

Evenflo Generations/Bolero: 80-110$ depending on model. FF ONLY to 40lbs with harness. Great harnessed seat/ great booster mode. Open belt guides. TALL 16.5in top slots. Adjusts tall in booster mode too! Flip up armrests make kids happy & make it easier to use in booster mode too!
(The Bolero is the dressed down version of the Generations. It lacks the piddle pad).

Evenflo Chase & Graco Cargo. Harness to ONLY 40lbs ff, 17in top slots. Makes ok, at best, booster. Smaller closed belt guides.. but this can be ok if your seat belts lock & you lock them every time. The Chase is about 60$. The Cargo with front adjuster is about 90$.
The Chase is good for kids/parents that keep forgetting that chest clips go on the chest!

Avoid most other combo seats... VERY low top slots or seatback heights all with 40lb limits.. Just not worth the cost. This includes all the Eddie Bauer, Cosco, Dorel, and 3 in 1's. While safe & decent seats the harness mode doesn’t offer much grow room.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Forgot to add this. Measure your son's torso. Sit him against a wall, mark the top of his shoulders and then measure from the mark to the floor. Then compare those to the top harness heights of the seats to see how much room he has height wise in any of the seats. He is likely to outgrow all seats by height well b4 height.

Also, fwiw, my dd is 4.5 and still harnessed. I'd really push to get him to at least 4 AND 40 lbs before you put him in a booster.

Check out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04

 

[SplashMountainMama]

I tried switching my DS to a high-back booster because he had outgrown his carseat in weight. I quickly figured out that he was not mature enough to be in a booster. The 2x I drove with him in the booster he was moving around so much behind the seatbelt I could barely drive because I kept looking back to tell him to sit properly. I went out and got a Radian for him and I love it. It's comfortable for him and the base is really narrow so I can actually fit 3 carseats across our middle row; one infant seat, the Radian and a highback booster for my 6 yr old.

 

[lclark0621]

Britax Regent (used to be Husky). KING of car seats is right! Harnesses to 80#’s. Top slots are 20 inches. Requires a top tether after child is 50#’s. Retails for $220-$260. Not good for children under 2yo. Requires college degree to read the manual.

You got that right! It took forever to figure that sucker out. And now that it is in, DH says we can't get a new car until DS out grows it, because he doesn't want to move the seat.

 

[5 for WDW]

We have the Britax Regent for our 4 year old DD too. It is a great seat. She is so comfortable in it.

Yes, it was definately a pain to install in our Suburban so, it has stayed put since we bought it!!

I can't imagine having to move it from car to car with the weight of it...never mind the technical installation.

It was the perfect choice for us.

 

[Colinsmom]

When have you moved your child and what are the height guidelines? I know you are supposed to be 40 lbs. but my 6 year old has yet to reach 40 she still hovers around 39lbs. I can't imagine her in a car seat! She is 44 inches tall!

My DS is 50lbs and 48+" tall and I couldn't imagine him in a booster full time! He rides in a Regent in my car (with a ton of room to grow), a Radian in DH's car (but with not much room to grow height-wise) and a Parkway booster in my mom's car - and I just don't feel as safe having him in a booster, even though it is only for short occasional trips.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Well I think you all have scared me into buying a bigger carseat! I was really leaning towards the booster but changed my mind and bought the Safety 1st Apex 65 Booster Car Seat. I am now debating on whether or not to move my dd who is 6 back into a carseat also. She is 44-45 inches tall and weighs 39-40 lbs. Everyone I know has their kids in boosters or (gasp) nothing at all! I moved my dd to a booster when she out grew her seat in height and she was in kindergarten and drop off/pick up was easier if she was in a seat belt seat. We live a mile from school, grocery etc so I might do a booster for school but install a bigger car seat for long trips.

 

[northriver]

Wow, lots of great info poster here already!

My youngest has 4 carseats. I have a limited budget but when shopping for a carseat, I always ask myself, "If I was in a fatal accident, what seat would I want my child secrued in?". Right now we use a Britax Boulevard daily, and and have a Britax Marathon in dad's car, a Britax Decathalon in Grandmas car and a Britax Roundabout in Grandpas car. I use the Roundabout for airline travel and she'll outgrow that soon and I'll replace it with the Radian. When she outgrows the larger Britax seats I'll at least replace the every day one with a Regent.

 

[becca011906]

Well I think you all have scared me into buying a bigger carseat! I was really leaning towards the booster but changed my mind and bought the Safety 1st Apex 65 Booster Car Seat. I am now debating on whether or not to move my dd who is 6 back into a carseat also. She is 44-45 inches tall and weighs 39-40 lbs. Everyone I know has their kids in boosters or (gasp) nothing at all! I moved my dd to a booster when she out grew her seat in height and she was in kindergarten and drop off/pick up was easier if she was in a seat belt seat. We live a mile from school, grocery etc so I might do a booster for school but install a bigger car seat for long trips.

Great Choice!!! Just be sure it has a head rest behind the car seat for suport the seat it's self will not suport the head in a carsh! As for you 6 year old at 6 they are safe in a booster as long as they can sit properly in one. Although i'd want it to be a high back booster b/c thoes have many many safety benifits over the no back ones. Unless of course all the cars she rides in has side air bags in the back rows. Great hi back boosters are britax parkway (can be found all over for about $60 or so), turbos are a good second choice for a little less but they have the arm rests which i find a pain to buckle around.

 

[HeatherSue]

My DD is 4.5 and is the exact same size as your 6 year old (39lbs, 44in). She just outgrew her Britax Wizard, so I bought the Britax Regent for her. She'll be sitting in a 5 pt harness as long as possible. It's just safer and that's worth the inconvenience. My 10 year old niece (who is short for her age) is still sitting in her Britax Regent! My 13 year old niece, who is also very small, is still in a high back booster. There's nothing wrong with keeping your kids as safe as possible in the car. So, don't let people embarass you into a booster, or just buckling them in the car.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

Thanks again everyone. DD has an Evenflo or Graco turbo high back booster with arm rest and she really likes it. At six years old I would think that she is perfectly safe in it but after that youtube video I started thinking maybe not! I don't let her ride home from school with anyone that doesn't have an extra booster seat in their car for her. It's not convenient I know but I cannot imagine sending my "baby" unprotected!