My daughter will be 4 in december. she is much taller than kids her age and weights about 45ish pounds. I am not sure what kind of car seat she should be in. for her height and weight a booster seat would seem the best option. but i feel because of her age she should still be in a car seat. which is it? should a seat belt across her chest in a booster seat already be enough safety for her? i just dont feel she is safe...
Legally, I think she can transition to a booster at 4years old AND 40lbs. However, I would keep her in a 5-point harness as long as possible. My oldest is 5 1/2 (he's on the smaller side for his age) and he's still in a 5pt harness. We bought the Britax Frontier. It's good for up to 80 or 85lbs.
I would look into keeping her in a 5 point harness car seat as long as you can. There are some that are rated up to 80 lbs, Sunshine Radian.
I second Kristen M's answer! Get a 5 point harness boster seat. They are soo much safer. I'm not sure why us adults don't get them. I wish we did.
Check out the Britax Frontier 85, a highback booster seat w/ a 5 pt harness. Goes up to 85 lbs. (or 100, I can't remember). We have two, one for each car for our 5-year-old daughter and she -- and we -- love them!
All my friends and myself put nearly everyone of our kids into boosters by age 3.
It sounds like a high back booster would be your best bet right now. You could probably go to a place like Babies R Us and someone could help you go through them and let your daughter sit in them to see if they're comfy. When I bought my son's convertible seat they also let me try it in my suv to be sure that it fit reasonably well and I could get it in there. It was just the store's shelf model we were doing that with though.
My daughter is almost 5, is tall, but only about 40 pounds. She fits great in our Britax Boulavard and shows no signs of growing out of it. I will keep her in that as long as I can. I agree, a regular seatbelt and booster just isn't as safe as a 5 point harness.
This is not something to guess at.
Check YOUR state laws for child restraints and take her, her seat and your car to a free car seat inspection check.
www.seatcheck.org
They will answer all of your questions.
The new law in Texas is 80lbs or age 8 for taking out of a carseat, so she definitely should be in some sort of seat, not just a seatbelt.
We have an Eddie Bauer chair style carseat, it's good for children 30-100lbs. My son went in it at age 1 when he got too long and heavy for his rear facer and will remain in it, the top comes off so you can use it just as a booster once they are bigger.
Costco also offers a great similar product for a pretty reasonable price. I would recommend checking consumer reports for ratings before you purchase something.
Our 3 and 5 1/2 year old both have Britax Frontier 85's. THEY ARE GREAT! No thread harness. 5 point harness til 85#. Side impact protection. We love them and so do the kids! Stick with a 5 point harness! Diapers.com and Albeebaby.com both sell these and USUALLY run an extra 20% off.
We have a nautilus and love it. you can use the 5 point harness up to 65 lbs and/or 52 inches, then it goes to a belt positioning booster and backless booster up to 100 lbs.
We have the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 and we all LOVE it!! We had a high back booster, but we were going to be making a 10 hour car trip over night and didn't like the way our little one's (she's 3) head flopped over when she was sleeping, so we bought her the Nautilus so she could still use the 5 point harness. She likes it way more than then booster and says it "super duper comferble". The part I like best is it is the last carseat we will ever have to buy her...the straps come off for use as a hight back booster and then the back comes off for use as a standard booster! Love it!
Hi P.,
Read your car seat instructions. 5-point harness car seats are the safest - think about the harnesses that race car drivers use. Your little one will be less likely to climb out of a 5-point harness than a seatbelt around a booster seat. There are taller car seats.
Good luck,
: ) M.D.
go with a car seat until she is about five,maybe six. its alot cheaper, and less truama then paying for a childs funeral.
K. h.
Most "car seats" max out around your daughters height/weight but she is not yet ready for seat belt only (should be at least 65 lbs/8 years old). I don't care for the more traditional boosters seats (the ones that are just a short seat) and have a high-back, belt-positioning booster seat. There are some that may have the 5-point harness that later converts to a high-back booster. Keep in mind that even w/ the high-back booster the seat belt should go around her waist and across her chest/shoulder (not behind her back like some people like to do).
keep her in a five point harness as long as possible, IMO. We just bought this one for my daughter (she is 4.5 years old, 41inches, 40lbs):
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=404372...
It is the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 and it has a 5-point harness that goes until 50inches tall and 65lbs. Then it is highback with the seatbelt until 100lbs. Finally the highback comes off and it can just be the booster. We got ours on sale at Target last week for $129.99, usually they are about $179.99. We also considered the Britax---these are the only two seats I know of that have a 5-point harness past 40-50lbs. I strongly urge you to stay with a 5-point harness as long as possible! When I see kids in those boosters and a lap belt I just cringe. If they get into an accident, there is no way the child can't come right out and be ejected from the vehicle. By the way, my daughter loves this seat--especially that she has her own cup holder =)
