**update bought two seats and ***!!!! Help me with a carseat issue!!

[adisneymama]

I know you want to keep them in 5 point harnesses, but if she is 45 pounds and over 40", then she is big enough to just use a regular booster. The seatbelt will keep her safe - they wouldn't make the reccommendations on the height/weight if they weren't. You might want to consider it - it would be a cheaper option, and she would still be safe. I did quite a bit of research before switching my kids on American Association of Pediatric's website.

Not necessarily true. It depends on how well she sits in the booster. If she is able to sit up in the seat at all times, doesn't lean over out of the seat when sleeping etc and doesn't try leaning forward to pick up something she dropped then she is ready for the booster. Not until. She may meet height/weight restrictions but that doesn't mean she is safe. Only proper use makes them safe.

That said, I do have a nautilus for my 4 yr old in my dh's car and we like it. I can't really recommend a seat because they don't always work in every car. It will be trial and error. G/L!

 

[ceecee]

Wow-your daughter is tall! she is the same height and weight as my 7th grader LOL.

That is tall for that age!!! She may meet the height requirement for a booster, right? Our local fire dept does car seat checks yearly to see if the child is okay with the seat they are in.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

Not necessarily true. It depends on how well she sits in the booster. If she is able to sit up in the seat at all times, doesn't lean over out of the seat when sleeping etc and doesn't try leaning forward to pick up something she dropped then she is ready for the booster. Not until. She may meet height/weight restrictions but that doesn't mean she is safe. Only proper use makes them safe.

That said, I do have a nautilus for my 4 yr old in my dh's car and we like it. I can't really recommend a seat because they don't always work in every car. It will be trial and error. G/L!

how does it not work in every car? my husband has a honda civic and the nautilus would be for his car

 

[bumbershoot]

In NY your kids have to be in carseats until they are 8 years old, there is no way they could be in a harness until they are out of carseats.

The Britax Frontier could take them pretty close, depending on how tall they get. But it's BIG, so she couldn't put all 3 of them across.

He can fall asleep just as well as he could with the 5-point.

Having just gone to the highback booster mode with the Nautilus (and I went kicking and screaming like the OP, because I only thought of weight and not height when I bought the Nautilus and am so annoyed that we didn't buy the Frontier), I can tell you that a kid gets used to the harness holding them in/back. A kid can fall asleep leaning just a tad forward, and the harness will keep them back, but the seatbelt has such give (until you slam on the brakes) that it will let you get WAY out of position.

I'm having to keep an eagle-eye on my son now just like I did when he was an infant in his seat... He's also getting used to the relative freedom of the seatbelt and figuring out what he can do vs can't, and what he SHOULD do vs shouldn't.

But the point is...a seatbelt doesn't keep a kid in any sort of position as they fall asleep, if they are used to having the harness hold them up a bit.

how does it not work in every car? my husband has a honda civic and the nautilus would be for his car

Not every seat works in every car. You can't get that same fit in every car.

So when you go carseat shopping, make sure you can bring the seat(s) out to your car to test them out.



Remember that the Nautilus doesn't go as "high" as one expects with the 65 pound harness weight. That's where I got lost. Shouldn't have...DS was out of his Snugride BEFORE 4 months old because of his height, so I really should have expected this (he's only 51 pounds but the top slot doesn't lie!).

So you will want to see how many inches she'll have (the oldest) in the Nautilus, before switching to the seatbelt.

And I will say...even though I hated switching him to the seatbelt, and even though he's been experimenting a bit and I have to keep an eye on him, it's been just fine.

Though now I have to re-read the manual about the top of the seat, because he's getting close to that, too, and we might have to go to no-back booster mode way sooner than I expected!

Ach, tall kids! Kid's a new 7 and is nearly up to my shoulder already. Glad for him, but wow it's weird for me!

 

[QVCshopper]

"i would not feel comfortable moving my kids to booster seats at 4, they still fall asleep in the car alot, and the rule of thumb is 5 point harness until they can maintain the proper position and my kids are such monkeys i know they wouldn't "

Well, at 4, my kids were bigger than your 6 year old, and they haven't napped in over three years. They have more energy than I do! But, maybe I will look into one of these extended car seats if I have another who grows slower. All of my previous car seats have expired, so I gave them to Babies R Us to crush down. Tall kids, and thus heavy, kids do throw a wrench in the car seat issue.

 

[Nanu57v]

I have giant children and they were moved to boosters at 4; they just didn't fit in the five point harness anymore and were well above the height and weight limit. For example, my DD is also 6, and she is 53" tall and weighs 65 lbs. We have the Graco turboboosters and the kids like them.

BTW, car seats have expiration dates on them. Just look at your seat and I'm sure you can find it.

My seats just have manufactured dates. My youngest's carseat (hand-me-down) says manufactured 11/20/05, so I know it'll expire in a few months since Britax are good for 6 years.


My DD 6 is 46 inches and 43 pounds. We bought her a Graco Nautilus when she grew out of her Britax Roundabout. Since birth, we've only had one carseat for 2 vehicles, and just took the "carseat" vehicle when the kids were coming. However, just recently we bought a Turbobooster (with the back) for the 2nd vehicle. When she was in preschool most of the kids were in backless boosters, and she had her carseat yet...I always volunteered to drive. Now she just completed K and in still in it! DH says I'm overprotective...

 

[Swimalie]

My seats just have manufactured dates. My youngest's carseat (hand-me-down) says manufactured 11/20/05, so I know it'll expire in a few months since Britax are good for 6 years.

.

Double check but I'm pretty sure Britax expire at 7 years. Although I might be remembering that wrong. So far our son has outgrown his (Boulevard) before the expiration date so we haven't dealt with it yet.

 

[Nanu57v]

Double check but I'm pretty sure Britax expire at 7 years. Although I might be remembering that wrong. So far our son has outgrown his (Boulevard) before the expiration date so we haven't dealt with it yet.

That'd be fine with me! We use it as an extra seat. We bought my youngest DD a new Marathon so that she would have her own seat until hopefully she's in a booster.

 

[monkey30]

Well, I will be no help for what type of seat to get!

My 8 almost 9yr old is still in a booster, hates it, but still in it!
6yr old just went to a booster he was to tall for the car seat (short legs long torso and 49")so we decided it was probaly better to do the booster, since the straps were so far down his back at the highest point, and his head was over the top of the seat.

littlest one, just got turned around at 18mths because he was having a hard time rear facing, our seat is rated to 65lbs forward and 40 rear, its a Graco. However this one is thin enough in the base, and fits great in my truck.

I agree try to get the seat in and leave it!

 

[An_Island_Girl]

Our DD7 is in a Graco Nautilus in all of our cars and one in the grandparents also. She's still in the 5 point harness, and I think we can get a few mores years out of it still. At 49" and around 55 pounds, we haven't encountered any issues with it.

There is no price tag on safety!

 

[Minniemouse07]

My dd (now almost 10yo) is long torsoed so she outgrew everything by height before weight.

I was in a car crash (everyone fine except the car and ergo the car seats...totaled) two weeks before the Nautilus hit the shelves.

Dd was 6.5yo at the time and rode in a Britax Husky (precursor to the Regent which was the precursor to the Frontier), and ds (just barely 2yo, by weeks) was riding rear facing in a Britax Boulevard. Additionally, ds was riding in dd's old convertible in our second vehicle...a Britax Advantage (precursor to the Boulevard) that was about to expire in two months!

At the time... the Nautilus looked to be our best option. I had a difficult time rationalizing dropping big bucks to replace dd's Husky since she was 6.5yo (it didn't convert to a booster), and I REALLY didn't want to buy THREE of them!

Ds was also 33lbs. I couldn't rationalize purchasing a new convertible seat for 2lbs (there weren't any higher weight rear facing seats back then) so I

I ended up scouring every Walmart in a 50 mile radius to find the very first Nautilus seats available. Graco only released them in Walmart for the first few months. I spoke w/ a lot of clueless Walmart employees but tracked two down.

Ds got a Regent as well since both of his seats needed replacing. The Regent and the Nautilus were the primary seats for ds and dd respectively.

Dd was able to be harnessed in the Nautilus until she was 7.5yo when we switched it to booster (high back). She is now almost 10yo and sits in a low back booster in our secondary car (Clek Olli) and a Sunshine Kids Monterey Booster in our primary vehicle. She doesn't pass the 5 step test in either vehicle.

Ds is 5.5yo and is still in his Regent in our primary vehicle and the Nautilus in the secondary vehicle.

Neither of them has complained about the crotch strap bothering them and we have successfully installed the Nautilus in a few different vehicles.

Not sure how much that all helps?

 

[MinnieForMe]

My daughter is also 6 and I've made the decision to keep her in a five point harness. I know the new Britax is out of your budget but I was shocked to see a huge (looked as big as my new Britax) with a 5 point harness at Walmart. This was about 6 months ago and it was cheap (under $70). Take a look just in case it will meet your needs. I'm sorry I don't know the name.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

I am as big of a carseat nut as they come. Here is my input.

If you have any questions, the best place to ask is www.car-seat.org. Secondly, my daughter is 41.50 inches and 39lbs at 3.5 years old. I just placed and order today for a Britax Frontier 85 and an Evenflo Maestro. I wouldn't recommend the Maestro because it only harnesses to 50lbs, however I would recommend the Graco Nautilus for your daughter. While she is 6 years old, she is very small for her age and I prefer to keep kiddos harnessed longer for the added safety. Yes there are height and weight recommendations for boosters, but as we know with the most recent change in recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, you should keep your child rear facing and harnessed as long as possible.

Currently you can get the Nautilus for $137.98 on Amazon with free shipping. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Nautilus-Car-Seat-Matrix/dp/B0011URFRE

Now you had mentioned that your other seats were manufactored in 2006. Most car seats have 5 to 6 years expiration dates, so that would me that they either expire this year or next. If you look on the side of the seats the expiration date should be printed on the stickers but if you can't find it you can always check out the manufactorer websites for information regarding the expirations.

If the seats expire next year then maybe you could use one of your old ones for the child you watch and be able to purchase to Nautilus' for your daughter. The other thing that is an option is that if your daughter is slow growing you could check her torso height and compare it to the Maestro slot heights and maybe consider getting one of those for your second vehicle until you can save up for another harnessed seat or your daughter is ready for booster training. I purchased one on Amazon for $73.XX.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

yes we need carseats for both cars, i have 3 carseats across the back of my car and once they are in they don't come out because it usually takes some work to get it back in



i would not feel comfortable moving my kids to booster seats at 4, they still fall asleep in the car alot, and the rule of thumb is 5 point harness until they can maintain the proper position and my kids are such monkeys i know they wouldn't


Sorry i thought i put ages, Emma is 6 and Natalie will be 4 next month. so she has well outgrown the alpha omega elite, which btw most kids outgrow in height before they get close to the weight max



i need to replace the two evenflo's in the very near furture, i could wait on the radian for my car a little bit, but my daycare baby is outgrowing her comfortsport (man that was a porrly thought out construction!) so my plan was to get something new for Emma and move Grace into Emma's radian



actually it is reccomended that if your children still frequently fall asleep on trips in the car they are safer in a 5 point harness. and seatbelts often can fail in a crash, especally if the child is able to keep themselves in the proper position, or if the seatbelt dosnt fit in the proper position in their carseat



the kids actually ride in both cars equally, and now that it's summer i would actually say that when we don't have all 3 of them we take my husband's car more. the radians have to stay in my car so i can have 3 carseats across the backseat (i go places with my daycare baby often)



thanks! im just sooo torn, im going back and forth on this decision. i was actually gonna go look at carseats today but i woke up with the worse stiff neck and upper back so taking 3 kids out and about is not something i want to do!



it is possible to 5 point harness them until they are 8, if you buy the right seats, but i need to be able to have 3 carseats across the back of my car (because even when i dont have grace i often take my mom and grandma places)

The bottom of the carseat is the one place i didn't check, and now its at work in my husband's car so ill have to get him to do it

If you need three across then definitely post on www.car-seat.org. You can post your vehicle information and they can tell you what works in your vehicle.

 

[*Seanaci*]

My parents bought a carseat (tall-back booster...believe it's an Eddie Bauer) when my nephew turned 18 months. That was back in 2007. Our son is using it in my DH's car...just installed it tonight as a matter of fact (needed to put the little boy I babysit in a bigger carseat, so he'll be in the other Evenflo Generations that was in DH's car). Anywho. While I was installing the carseat in DH's car tonight...I looked for the exp date...it was printed/raised on the back of the seat (Dec 2013).

Anywho! No ideas on what to move your daughter to. When DS is old/big enough, we have a Clek (won it at a Baby expo when he was 6 months old) for him to use. Until then, he'll be in his Evenflo Generations.

Good luck!!

ETA: For your situation...not moving the carseats is smart. It's tough enough to get 2 in correctly, let alone all 3. Not to mention...when you move carseats from car to car, you may not always get it in there the safest way (I was told this by a car seat inspector a few years ago). So it's always safest to have a carseat in each car the child rides in.

 

[danceintherain]

I know you said you use both your cars pretty equally, so this suggestion might have already been made, however... Could you get a booster for one car and spend money on a more expensive car seat for the other? Obviously, this is a bit risky, since you have no idea which car will have an accident, but you would have a 50/50 chance.
You could at least go with the car with the better car seat when you'll be out for long periods time when you children would be more likely to fall asleep.

 

[adisneymama]

how does it not work in every car? my husband has a honda civic and the nautilus would be for his car

Every car and seat belt type are different. Some seats fit no problem others will not get a proper install. Check out carseat.org they have tons of info. I'm not saying it wouldn't fit in that specific car. But it isn't a one shop fits all with any seat. Like I said we have a Nautilus and we like it. It is in my dh's truck.

 

[MSSANDRA]

FYI- The Nautilus fits in our Honda Civic fine. We use the latch system with it.

 

[Belle5]

I am leaning toward a Graco Turbo Booster Anders for my 7 year old (almost 8). He's 48 inches tall and weighs 51 pounds. Opinions?

 

[Disney_Tall_Mommy]

My daughter is 6, but this past fall (age 5.5) we realized she was too tall for her Alpha Omega carseat, but she only weighed 36 pounds so there was no way I was putting her in a booster. I know plenty of people do it especially at 5, but I did some research and didn't feel comfortable with it. We bought the Nautilus that harnesses up to 65 pounds. She loves the carseat. I think since she only weighs 38 pounds at age 6 she'll probably go from being in a 5 point harness to a regular seat-belt. I don't know of anyone her age that is still in a 5-point harness, but I don't care. I feel she is safer and technically right now she should still be harnessed. I bought mine on sale at Target. It's a light purple and grey and I think it's a lot cooler (temp wise) than the all black one she had.