Car Seat Advice - Gilbert,AZ

I have a very tall girl as well and we ended up going with the Graco Natilus. It lets them stay in a 5 point harness up to 65 pounds, then converts to a backed booster, then a backless booster. I forget the height stats off the top of my head, but my girls comes up to over my hip (I'm 5'7) and she's only in the second from the bottom for her straps and has two higher positions we can move the straps up to.

It seems like this will be the last carseat we need to buy. We got ours from Amazon because we could get last years model(exactly the same a this year, just differant fabric) for less than anywhere in town and it qualified for free shipping.

I would go for a booster with a 5 point harness
I think modern thinking they have to be alot taller before its really safe to put them on a booster with cars own seat belt.
You can get new seats with the harness fairly cheap in the shops about $60 we bought our one for.

I just bought an Evenflo Chase booster for my son as his "extra" car seat to use in grandparents, aunts, friends, etc. cars. We used it for the first time yesterday and it was great. It was easy to install and he was very comfortable for the 2 hours that we were in the car. I like that it has the five point harness for now and can be a booster used with the car seat belt when he is bigger. The straps go up pretty high too in the harness mode since this is intended for bigger kids (up to 100 lbs, 43 inches). If you don't use this particular seat, something similar would probably meet your needs. It was $69.50 at WalMart.

Three is WAY too young for a belt-positioning booster, her bones are not strong enough yet to withstand a crash w/ an adult seatbelt.

Get a combination seat - one that harnesses and then turns into the booster. The best for you would probably be a Nautilus, it's about $150-$175 (depeneding where you get it, sales, etc); but you won't need another seat at all. It will harness til 65 lbs, and then turn into a Highback booster, and then a backless booster. Booster mode, it's good to 100 lbs. The Britax Frontier is a similiar seat, it harnesses to 80 lbs and then boosters to 100, it runs closer to $300 though.
There are a few seats out there for less that claim to last to 100 lbs but in most cases they make awful boosters, and are unsafe in booster mode because the seatbelt won't fit properly.
For some great info, check out www.car-seat.org

BTW - if her shoulders are above the top strap slot on the seat, or her ears are above the top of the shell, she is too big for that seat and you need to stop using it ASAP!
In some cases, you can get a new carseat at a fire department if yours is too small.
If you qualify for WIC, in some areas, they also offer assistance with carseats.
Good luck!

C.,
I understand the "budget" thing right now....but, I told the grandparents (when it was time for our booster) that this could be a gift for our boys instead of toys, etc....SAFETY! I have been very happy with our 5 point harness booster and knew that our younger son would be using it also....so, I could justify the price too! We went with the Regent (Britax) and have been EXTREMELY happy with it! It's a pretty wide seat, so, whatever you decide I would make sure you measure. I have a volvo XC90 and both my boys seats fit and the middle still has room for a 3rd person. Good luck!!

The 5 point harness is the safe bet, but past the convertible car seat, the next is the booster. There are a few different types. One type looks similar to a car seat and has a belt positioner at the shoulder and the bottom. The other is just a booster with no back, and they sit on it and then buckle in with the regular belt. I would ask your doctor and see what he or she recommends.

C., We had the same concerns last month just before our daughter turned 4 yrs. She's thin, tall and just about 35 lbs so we were concerned about what car seat to get. We did some research and found the Recaro Vivo Booster Seat(with a comfy padded back)to be a great buy. Recaro is know for it's safety and quality. We paid about $70 on Amazon.com and have been very happy with it. It is a seat belt positioner rather than a 5 pt harness, but it really provides a secure fit and easy installation. We like that it has side impact "wings" on each side of the kids head for extra stability during a crash and the back has three positions for the growing child. The back also has the ability to recline. The wings work great for supporting the head of a sleeping child too. Best wishes! R., SAH nurse-midwife mom of a 4 y.o and almost 1 y.o.