Need Booster Seat Advice

My twins have been in the Britax Wizards for 3 years. (the Wizard is now sold as the Boulevard)

A year ago I thought about "upgrading" to a standard 5 point booster. But Britax only had the Regent to choose from. Though I like the Regent, I would be losing the side impact protection the Boulevard already has. But now I see the Frontier is exactly what I was looking for! A Britax 5 point harness booster with the SIP. It must be new because it wasn't available last year. I say go for it.

IMO Britax is the ONLY way to go. I wish I had personal experience on the Frontier for you, but from one twin mom to another, it seems to be the obvious choice. Good Luck!

I bought the regent a year ago for my son (now 4.5). I like the safety aspect of the 5 point harness. On prior kids, they could get out of their boosters on there own (this is both a good and bad thing), its nice to know my son will stay in his carseat until I get him out.

M.
mom to 4 boys (18,16,4,1)

Hi M.-
You might also want to check out the new Graco Nautilus. Like the Frontier, it can be used in harness mode for up to about 19" torso height (weight limit for the harness is 65 lbs instead of 80 lbs but the 65 lb limit should still be plenty high enough for the majority of kids) and then can be used as a high back or a low back booster. Many folks on the babycenter.com car safety bulletin board (including a number of certified child-passenger safety techs) have purchased them and have favorable opinions of the seat's quality and ease of use, while the earliest reports I've heard on the Frontier is that it can often be tricky to get a good install in some vehicles. BabiesRus carries the Nautilus for about $150. I played around with one at BRU recently and it seems pretty well put together, I wish it had been around when my twins outgrew their Roundabouts two years ago.

You should call your local CHP & see what they recommend. When my son was just over 2 yrs I was really tired of the Britax Roundabout.....just too heavy & cumbersome to move between our 2 cars so I bought a seat that you could take out the 5 pt. harness & make it a booster seat & use my car's seatbelt. BIG mistake! It was made by Evenflo & cost about $60 +/-. When it came time to take out the harness, the seatbelt slots at the shoulders of the carseat hit him wrong. So, we bought a Graco booster seat. Here's my 2 cents.....unless necessary, keep them in that Britax until it's time for a true booster seat when they hit 40 lbs. Are their ears above the top of the seat? This is why I say call your local CHP....they install & do carseat checks for free. So, make an appt. & have them look at the kids in their current carseats & ask their advice. When I did this, they highly recommended all carseats by Graco. They make a seat for about $70 or so that has the 5 pt harness. You can later remove the harness & use your car's seatbelt. Those Britax seats you mentioned are very expensive (over-priced, too, if you ask me), they're big & bulky & don't fit in all makes of cars. They're also not easy to travel with. Since we had our first son 7.5 yrs ago, baby/kids gear has gotten more & more expesive & so much of it really is not a dire necessity but marketing/commercials makes us feel it is so we fork out the money that could have been better spent elsewhere. And in your case, you're buying 2 of them. Do some serious investigating, ask your friends & the CHP before you spend all that money on 2 more carseats. Good luck!

We also have a Britax but when our daughter needed the next step I researched and bought a Recaro and LOVE it. It's so comfortable and she loves it too. They design race car seats too and are equally as good as the Britax. I liked the design better.
Good luck!

We also have the Safeguard Go seat and it is fantastic. Much more compact than the Britax Regent or any of the others I researched, which is great if you have more than one car seat in the back seat. The five-point-harness works with kids up to 60 pounds, so it provides the extra level of safety without taking up all that extra room! You need to make sure that you have an anchor (or latch) to tether the top part though.

It's safest to keep kids in a car seat 5 point harness for as long as possible. We have the Britax Regent for our almost 4 year old and we love it. There is plenty of space for him and plenty of room for him to grow and have it still last. I plan on keeping him in it for as long as he'll fit in it. :-)

I do not know much about the Frontier other than it is new from Britax. Can't go wrong with Brtiax. Yes I would advise to keep your child in a 5 point harness, stay away from boosters. It is also what the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin (NHTSA) advises. My son is 5.5 years old and he is in a Britax Regent. We love it! But be aware it is a big seat and make sure it fits well in your car. He does not mind being in it, even if lots of his friends are not. I am all about safety!!

My daughter is 3.5 and in a Marathon. My son used to be but at 4ish he was too tall. If you kids are small in size a Marathon might work for you. It is bigger than the Roundabout.

NOt sure where you live but Lullaby Lane in San Bruno is a great resource for info and installation.

I have a Ricaro, which my son and I love. It's pricey, but has a five-point harness that you can use until you are comfortable w/ the seatbelt. My son just turned five but only weighs 36 pounds (on a good day). Seatbelts barely touch his skinny torso, and I am much happier w/ the five-point harness for now. You can use the Ricaro as a regular booster and then remove the back when your kids are even bigger. Best of all, they sell it at Lullaby Lane right in your home town, so you can go take a look!
K.

We love our SafeGuard Go... www.safeguardgo.com for details. We had our son in the Britax Marathon and transitioned him to the SafeGuard booster when his little brother was ready to graduate from his infant carrier. This booster has a 5pt harnes, LATCH(even in just the simple booster mode), and the same belt and latch hardware you find on the Britax. All that and it's lightweight and folds up into its own carrying bag for travel.

We got the Regent and love it. We had the Britax Marathon and just started using that for our younger daughter and the "big sister" got the Regent. She loves it. It is easy to install in most cars. Not sure about the Frontier but saw one other place (I think on this site) where a mother was asking how to install the Frontier as she couldn't figure it out...even after reading the directions. The Regent is large though so not sure what kind of vehicle you have to be able to have them both in...

Micele,
My twins just turned 9 and have just recently come out of the 5pt car seats. I had them in the Evenflo Chase high back booster seat with 5 pt harness. Loved it. I also felt they were still too little even up till recently moving them into a booster seat with seat belt. They are 9 and very athletic but only weigh 48 pounds. They are competitive gymnasts and are very tiny so this seat has worked for us. Check out www.babiesrus.com and see what they have.
trish

Hi M. -

I moved to the Britax Husky, which goes to 100 lbs. It was wonderful as it was the last carseat that I needed before going to a regular booster seat. This one actually did convert to a booster, but my Son wanted one that looked more like a "big boy" seat so we went to the backless booster. The Husky is VERY confortable (per what my DS said) and was able to fall asleep safely and was also confortable. I had actually ended up getting a couple of these for both our vechicles and then Grandma's as well (loved them that much)

Selling mine soon as they really hold up beautifully and still look like new.... TOTALLY RECOMMEND THESE CARSEATS

My daughter is 5 and I still have her in a 5 point harness. She just barely got to 40 pounds but she has a small frame and I just can't see a booster seat with seat belt being very safe for her tiny body. I would go for a 5 point harness for sure!

M.,
Your children are definitely too young to just use a seatbelt. California law states that children must be at least 6 yrs old and/or 60 lbs. before they don't need to use a booster seat. Check with the local police or highway patrol, they will help you decide what works in your car and has good accident protection. They will also clarify the law for you, as I'm not sure if the rule is age or weight.
My nine year old still sits in a booster seat - he says it makes it easier to see out the window, my six year old mentions it every time she has to ride in someone's car w/o a booster. Neither uses a harness seat anymore, but they like the height and that the shoulder belt doesn't cut into their necks.

I reccommend checking out Amazon.com first because you can read reviews as well as the manufacturer's information. I love our convertible car seats - just be sure it will fit in your back seat - maybe measure your seat before you shop.
The most popular brands sell out at Babies R Us so plan on ordering & waiting a week or 2. Consumer Reports.org is a good resource too - except they don't show prices or where to buy.
I have an analytical personality & hubby is a computer engineer so we love to research before we buy anything not edible.
You are wise to be planning ahead!
Happy Shopping!
A.

We have the regent for our son, who is almost 4 and tall. I want to be able to keeop him in the 5 pt as long as possible and this seat will do that. We like it very much, but it is big and heavy. If you just keep it in one car most of the time this is not a problem. If you have to move it around alot I would look into others like Recarro, Radian and Safegaurd.

My daughter is 19 months old and she is in the Britax Marathon that goes up to 65 pounds...My best friend has a 4 year old and has the Monarch for her. It is enormous but the weight limit on that one is, I think, 85 pounds. I would recommend either one of those. My friend's backseat is not that big (she drives a Honda CR-V) and it fits back there just fine. I hope this helps.