I keep reading everyones requests about car seats but still can't find an answer to what I need, so here it is...
My daughter recently turned 3. She is big for her age. The car seat I have now only hold up to 40 pounds. shes 39 pounds, 40 1/2 inches tall. I really have no clue what to buy as the next car seat. I just started looking on line and haven't made it out to
look. What suggestions can you give me? On line a lot on the seats that turn to boosters don't show straps so it gets confusing. I also travel quite a bit so safety is a must. Thanks!
The britax frontier. It has the ability to hold a child in the 5 point harness until 80 pounds, then converts to a seat belt booster until 110 pounds with back support. It is regulated for airplanes, as we travel throughout the year. It is larger and heavier, although a plus in my mind. My daughter is 5 and in the 95percentile in weight and off the chart in height, yer she is comfortable and not squished into this seat. Hope this helps.
I think she could use a high backed booster at 40 lbs. They have ones with straps and ones that use the seat belt from your car. I believe the 5 pt. harness is better for safety.
For more info, start at www.seatchceck.org.
If the back seat of your car does NOT have headrests--make sure to keep the high back part of the booster on it. They need the protection from behind in a crash.
They are making more of them now, but it used to be that seats could only be used with harnesses up to 40 pounds. Keeping them in a harness as long as possible is the safest but many seats move to boosters after 40 pounds. Britax makes several seats that work for bigger kids in a harness. I think they have at least 2 seats that go to 60 pounds maybe. We ended up getting our kids that were reaching the height (but not weight) limits of their seats Radian 80 car seats. I have 3 car seats across a wagon and using fitting the car buckle between them really wouldn't work well. Plus we liked the safety factor of keeping them in a harness as long as possible. The Radian 80 will hold them to 80 pounds and until 4'9" or something like that - until their ears reach the top of the really high back. The backs really are high as we had to remove the headrests or it made seeing out the back difficult.
I have a Graco Nautilus for my son who is 4. He is 42 lbs and 41 inches and he fits in it perfectly. Like the Britax, it has the 5 pt harness that you can use up to 65 lbs so it is safer, but it is cheaper. We had gotten a booster seat when he hit 40 lbs, but when he fell asleep he nearly fell out of the seat, so the harness works much better. Good luck!
Hey D.,
I would look up what the state's laws are. I am still in Florida and will be moving back up in 3 weeks. Here they are allowed to go into a boaster seat at 30 pounds despite their age. All my friends/co-workers/family here have their 3 year olds (or close to it) in boaster seats. If you can't find anything about that I would consider asking your pediatrician. That is who told me about Floridian kids must be 30 pounds here (though he recommended a 5 point harness as long as possible).
Hope that helps!
Beth
Your daughter can not go into a booster seat until the age of 4 despite her weight. Britax Marathons are a great solution. They are a 5 point harness and they go up to 65 lbs and 49".
When I bought ours, I found Babyland in East Liberty to have the best prices. Plus, they often put coupons in the "Clipper Magazines" to save you more. Before you buy, call them because they just might be cheaper than the big box retailers.
On a side note, it is best to keep your child in a 5 point harness as long as possible. In an accident it is not uncommon for a seat belt to fail and booster seats are not attached to the seat other than by the belt. To keep your child safe, keep them in a five point harness as long as possible since they are attached with the latch anchors and tethers.
