when to move child from convertable carseat to booster...how tall/weight?

[mtemm]

I have a 4 year old who is currently in a britax marathon and is quite comfortable in it. he is just about 40" (about a mm off) and was 35lbs back at his february check up, so probably a bit heavier now. I'm wondering when should we think about moving him to a booster.

The reason I'm starting to wonder is because my 2 year old twins are both in britax roundabouts and I'm guessing by the winter, at the latest, one of them will have outgrown the roundabout and I'd rather not buy another marathon if I can just shift the 4 year old to the booster. (the other twin is teeny and has trended that way, I don't expect her to outgrow the roundabout for a long time to come).

Any ideas from btdt moms?

 

[Minnie824]

In IL at least, you have to be 4 yrs AND 40 lbs. My DD is 4.5 yrs, and still at 35 lbs. I'm patiently waiting to move her to the booster seat.

 

[ohiominnie]

You may want to check out my dh's column on car seat safety:

http://www.pediascribe.com/20060517/put-that-kid-in-a-car-seat/

 

[cepmom]

how about a 5 pt harness booster that can convert later to a regular booster? You could still keep him in the 5 pt harness until 40 lbs, then once he is big enough, take out the harness and use the car's seat belt.

something like this model:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...443.2255983.2256187.2256193&parentPage=family

 

[skuttle]

What about getting a convertible seat that converts to a booster. That's what we bought for my DS. He has a marathon in my car, but when we realized that my DH would be able to pick up DS more often from daycare, we went on a search for a new seat (DH didn't want to pay for another britax)and found the convertible seats.

 

[mrsv98]

DD was 6yo in April and FINALLY hit 40lbs so we were able to move her to a booster seat. We went for a Graco full booster as opposed to a seat only booster. We needed something with a deepseat because DD has proplortionally long legs and all the other seats we tried, oncluding the Britax hot her too far behind the knee.

If it were me, I would wait until he is 40lbs for safety (we also live in IL so it is the law) and then go and try a bunch of different ones until you find the best fit. It took us a good month to find the right one but it was worth it.

 

[mtemm]

thanks all! I definitely will be waiting till he hits 40lbs, I just figured he may hit it this winter and we could switch him. I'm starting to lean more towards keeping him in the marathon and just buying a second marathon after all.

 

[believe]

DD is 8 and is just now 40lbs. I don't see her gaining for a bit. DD 6 is 46 lbs. Very hard to deal with and not hear DD8 self-esteem. Our state laws are lower than others, 4 years and 40lbs for a car seat. I do not believe they have a booster seat law. Although we have kept ours in a booster seat for quite some time.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

OUr youngest (6yo) is in a booster. Just reading some of the responses have made me think how our car seat laws are. Who could keep track of them all?