Booster Seat for 4 Yr Old.

The safest place for a 4 year old is in a 5 pt harness. She is too young for a booster. Go to the carseat safety bulletin board on babycenter and you can get some great advice on good seats.

I love the Britax boosters. I think it is called the Parkway. Both of my kids have one. My daughter is 71/2 and my son is 6. They like the head rest for napping on long trips. I'm a big believer in Britax!

S.

You might want to check out the Graco Nautilus it has a 5 point harness up to 65 lbs. I'm thinking about purchasing it. Does anyone have any feed back on this one.

We use the Britax Husky (I think it is called something else now)...but it is the one that goes up to 100 lbs. I have one that I'd like to get rid of (my oldest is into a different seat now) so let me know if you'd be interested. It is older, but hasn't been in any accidents. Both of my kids liked it and my youngest is still sitting in one. My oldest (age 10) still would sit in it, but I do alot of carpooling and having 2 of those seats permanently in my car is too difficult to configure!

Good luck. I always felt safest with a Britax.

Your instincts in wanting to get the full booster are right on!!! I had the backless seat with one of my kids and didn't keep it very long. The kids' mobility is much greater in the backless boosters which leads to more distraction for you while driving with your precious cargo. I did not keep that one very long before I went to the full booster. Not only are the babies more comfortable, but you have the piece of mind knowing that they can't move around and possibly get out of it. As far as the cost goes, look at it this way: you could spend way less money on other boosters and HOPE that they work properly should, heaven forbid, you get in an accident with your daughter in the car with you OR you could go ahead and bite the bullet so to speak and spend the money on the full booster that costs more and FEEL CONFIDENT that it will work properly should, heaven forbid, you get in an accident with your daughter in the car with you. Your precious baby is worth much more than the cost of the full booster!!

Check out the Safeguard Go...I purchased it for my 4yo son and he still uses it (he's almost 7!). The research is overwhelming in support of continuing to use a 5-point harness and it converts to a booster later. The back isn't hard...it conforms to your car seat. It is best used with tethers...or maybe only used with tethers?

Just a note: The backs on the booster seats are really only for head restraint - not seatbelt positioning. If you have a mini van or some low height seat that would not support her head regarding whiplash, then you would need the back. If the seat of the car is behind most of her head, or your seats in the car have those head bumpers, then you don't "need" the backs to the booster seat. The good booster seats have a seatbelt positioner on it whether they are backless or not.
Another note: better safe than sorry; but also consider that 100 lbs? By the time your child gets close to that weight, they won't want any kind of seat. So look at something that goes to 60 or 80 lbs might be more cost effective.

I recently bought plain old convertable graco car seats from walmart. They cost about $45 and go to 100lbs as well. The back comes off and then they are just a booster later. I am very satisfied with them!!!

Have a great day!

D. Mattern-Muck
http://www.formyrugrats.com

Just a point of view... there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to protecting your child's life. All of us would give our own life to keep our child safe... so Im saying, if you feel this is the best... do it! I would rather be safe than sorry a million times over than one regret.

I would first recommend leaving your child in a 5 pt harness for as long as possible. Every step up is a step down in safety. Although I do not have any specific brands to offer you deffinately get a high back booster seat. They are safer than the bottom only booster.
You can go to http://www.aap.org/family/Carseatguide.htm
To read up more on car seat safety guidelines.

I am with Deborah, I ahve a graco that the back can come off. works really well and the kids can be independant with the seat belt. I don't know much about Britax. Of course my three year old is almost big enough to go into a booster and it terrifies me to give up the 5-point harness!! Driving in Houston is nuts. If your kids are in your car all the time, do what makes you feel the best.

Hi! I used the Britax car seats for my babies. Now I use the Graco Turbo booster. I have 5 of them and they work great. I think they are well made and are not extremely expensive! I actually have one Britax and I don't feel like its nearly as sturdy as my Graco! I hope this helps!

We have two of our kids in Compass boosters with backs and love them. They were recommended by a fireman who did a safety presentation.

Hi! I have an almost 4 year old and was just on this search for a car/booster seat. We also have had Britax seats since his birth. We had been using the Graco booster with the back, but I just did not feel he was secure enough, even though it was very convenient (due to the weight and able to just use the seatbelt). I had convince my husband about the Britax-I wanted the Frontier-because he thought it might be a little much also...and with some of the installation reviews I was a little worried. I went ahead and purchased 2 of them and could not be happier. I really love them and my son is very excited about his big boy seat! I would highly recommend it to anyone! Hope this was helpful! Good Luck!

I agree with one of the post here. If she is 38 inches tall and less than 40lbs why not keep her in her current carseat until she is bigger? My son is almost 4 years old, 42.5 inches tall and 38lbs and I plan to keep him in his Britax carseat until he turns 5. Now looking at the law it says:

Because of the changes in the wording of the law (HB183), the following legal interpretation should be applied:

-Once the child reaches five years old, they are not legally required to be in a child safety seat system.
-If they are 36 inches or taller, again, they are not legally required to be in a child safety seat system.
-However, if the child is both less than five years old and less than 36 inches in height, they are legally required to be in a car seat or booster seat.

That means she could even go without any carseat or booster and you wouldn't be breaking any laws but experts recommend that your child is in a booster until she is 4' 9" tall. I don't know how heavy kids are when they are 4' 9" tall so 100lb weight limit might be good for a long term use.

Let us know what you end up buying since I'll be shopping for one in the next year as well. :-)

My daughter is about the same weight and height as your daughter and we have a Recaro booster in one car and a Jané Indy Plus in the other. I love both of them. They are more expensive than most but they are so well made. The Jané has the latch system on it and I haven't been able to find another seat that does. We were in a pretty crazy accident in March so I'm uber paranoid about safety. She will be in these seats for a long time so I feel like we will definitely get use out of them and our money's worth. This is a great site for seats and comparisons. http://www.elitecarseats.com/