Car Seat or Booster

M. I would probably go w/ an older child car seat or a high back booster. I live in Maryland and I know the law now is if there 60lbs &over they weren't required to have a booster, but anything less would require one. Happy Shopping

I put both of my daughters in booster seats as soon as they were allowed to by law. I think that because they are in a seatbelt, it's safe.

I felt the very same way at that stage. I kept him in the Britax (up to 65 lbs) until my baby needed it. I was nervous about the booster, but it is working fine. Would I have kept him in the Britax in the absence of the baby? Probably so.
But would have kept a booster on hand for school trips or carpools.

a child should be in a 5 point harness til age 5 regardless of their height or weight.

I am keeping our 2 boys(almost 4 and almost 2 in Jan)in 5 point harness till they can drive:). I know booster seats are a lot cheaper than a car seat, but I can not measure my kids safety in $$$$$. Keep her in 5 point as long as you can.And if somebody says you're over protactive, so what .....you're the mom:)

I went with the Graco Nautilus also b/c of the 5 point harness. Keep him secure in a 5 point harness as long as possible. Use "booster seat" as a search term on you tube. Trust me, you will NOT consider a booster w/o a 5 pt harness after watching those videos.

We just bought the Graco Nautilus for my almost 4-yr-old, and he loves it. It allows you to keep them in a 5 pt harness until 65 lbs, and then you can change it to a booster or backless-booster. He thinks it's cool looking--feels more grown up and has a built-in cup holder. We've been happy with the purchase that gives options!!

I thought VA requirements were 40 lbs AND 4 years old. We moved my son a few months early because lil brother needed the seat! He was 3 and 8 months and 37 lbs. My husband is a police officer!

Hi M.,

I have two sons I moved both of them in booster seats when they were four. One is now 7 1/2 and the other is 5 and the five year old is still in a booster. The 7 1/2 year old is actually out because of his weight. The booster is safe it lets the kids sit higher up and the seatbelt sits higher on them instead of lower. If you don't think she is safe by all means put her in a five point harness or a high back booster.
Good Luck,
K.

I am glad that most people have encouraged you to keep her in a harness, it means the message is getting out about extended harnessing. 4 years AND 40 pounds is the absolute bare minimum to move to a booster. It is preferable and safer to keep them harnessed until at least 5 or 6, though. I hang around with a bunch of Child Passenger Safety Technicians and their motto is "Every step up in carseats is a step down in safety". This means that rearfacing is safest and then forward facing in a harness and then a booster and then a seatbelt. The Graco Nautilus would be a great seat for your daughter. It will harness her until she is closer to 5 or 6 and is truly ready for a booster, which the Nautilus converts to.

You are not overprotective, btw. You cannot put a price on your child's safety. My 2 1/2 year old (38 inches and almost 32 pounds) is still rearfacing in her Britax Marathon. Do I care that I get all kinds of snide comments and weird looks? No. I know she is safer the way she rides.

Also, I encourage you to look at the link that one of the poster's posted to the kyle david miller site.

I would keep her in a five point harness as long as possible, especially as high weight harnessing seats are more readily available. It's not being over-protective - it is being protective. Each step down in car seats offers less protection. For example, your child is the safest when rear facing. The next safest is forward facing in a five point harness, after that it's in a high back booster, then in a booster seat. Here's a link to a site that explains the benefits of continuing to use a five point harness. http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/pages/4211/Car_Seat_Safety... Many experts agree that children aren't mature enough to be sitting in a booster seat until they are 5-6 years old. For what it's worth, I practice what I preach - my 5 year old daughter is in a Safeguard Go, which harnesses to 65 lbs and then becomes a booster seat, in my car and in a Britax Marathon, which harnesses to 65 pounds. My 32 pound 2 year old son is rear facing in Scenera in my car and forward facing in a Triumph (as he outgrew the rear-facing limits) in my husband's car. Good luck making your decision!

M.,

at 4 (or nearly) if she's tall enough for the booster, then move her over.

We bought one of the ones that breaks down from a seat with a back and belt alignment hook doo-hicky (i think that is the technical term) to the base bottom - only booster. It alligns the seat belt properly for their height. Then, as she grows, the back can come off and you still have the booster for support.

If you trust your seat belts, then go for it!

**I just re-checked the VA State police website as well as the DMV. There is NO such law as 4 years and 40 pounds. They use the "about 4 years of age" as a guideline and the minimum weight requirement is 30 pounds not 40. They do suggest letting your child gets as close to 40 pounds as possible before moving them to a booster.** I am not re-posting to imply that you should put your child in a booster I just wanted to re-check the research I did and make sure there had been no changes since we moved our daughter to one and thought I would share that info.

My daughter is 3 1/2 and is in a booster b/c she fits much better than she did in her toddler seat. As for the "law" I read the VA DMV website (not sure what state you are in) as well spoke to the officials who install car sets, and read the label that came with the booster. All of which stated the child must be at least 38 inches tall and a min of 30 lbs all of which my daughter is over the requirements for. I can def tell you that the booster and seat belt combination will hold her well b/c there was an occassion when I had to slam on my breaks and the seat belt triggered to tighten. The look on her face was priceless when she was suddenly stuck to the seat :) So I feel she is very safe.

I ditto the Graco Nautilus cause you can use the 5 point harness till 65 lbs. then use the booster component. Should fit till you no longer need/want to use a carseat/booster. Love it!

The new recommendations state that children should have a harness seat beat until they are 80lbs. My car seat goes up to 65lbs. and then I plan to move my son to a car seat/booster. It will have the harness and would be able to go up to between 80 and 100lbs with the harness. The harness is also removeable and can then be used as a booster. I havne't researched them yet, because we are not where near close to switching my son yet.

When my son changed over, I moved him to a high back booster with a harness option. He was on that until he outgrew it at 50lbs. I believe it was a Graco brand. It also had a slot for helping keep the shoulder belt in place when the time came. Not only do they give more support, they have a place for your child to rest against when they fall asleep.
Good luck,
M.

we will be buying the britax frontier. this booster has a 5 point harness up to 80 lbs!

http://www.britaxusa.com/products/product_detail.aspx?ID=15

we went into a store to 'try it on' and we will be purchasing it very soon.

A 5 point harness is safest, not that a booster isn't safe but a 5 point offers more protection obviously. I am totally overprotective when it comes to carseats...lol. My son just turned 7 and he was in a car seat up until the end of August. We figured he would be a bigger kid, tall anyway so when we bought his carseats initially we made sure they had a higher height and weight limit. He just barely is 50 lbs if I stuff him before he goes to the dr to get weighed so weight limit he is fine he just started getting too tall. I personally would keep them in a 5 point harness until they outgrew it. I think the minimum age and weight limits are just that, the minimum safety requirements. If he still fits in a car seat why change, though I would totally have a booster seat over nothing at all at that age. Good luck with your decision.

If your uncomfortable with booster seats, I'd encourage you to talk to a volunteer fire department or local police office. They are the ones who respond to accidents and can give you first-hand knowledge of what will be safest for your child.

We just bought our 4 3/4 yr old the Britax Regent. We now have the 2 3/4 yr and the 9 month old in Britax Marathons. All are 5 pt harnesses and teather/latch to the seat. The Regent holds to 80lbs and the Marathon(convertible) to 60lbs. We bought the Graco Booster last year and she loved it but I didn't feel it gave her the restraint she needed for a crash and definately not for a rollover. These seats are not cheap but niether is a ER visit. My oldest daughter loves her new seat and the middle one wants to sit in it when her sister is in Preschool. The Regent is HUGE! but it fits fine in our Odyssey. We even can fit the booster seat next to it on either side for her school friends when they come home with us. Just remember you need to buy what YOU feel is best for her. She will get use to whatever it is.
Another thing is that both these seats can be reclined. The Regent attachs to the seat so if the seat reclines so does it too. The Marathon has a setting to recline. We are big travelers and sleeping in the car without the head bobble is very important to us.

We recently bought the Graco Nautilus as well after much research because we wanted our almost 4 year old in a 5 point harness for as long as possible. Like the other posters child, our son loves it too. It has a great cup holder and "secret" compartments. Highly recommend it, and like the fact that once he outgrows the harness, he can use it as both a high back and backless booster.

Jen

A 5 point harness would certainly give her more support in a crash. It depends on how much she weighs and her maturity level. Would she sit still and not wiggle around so much that the seat belt would inevietably be in the wrong place (not across her pelvis and shoulder) at all times? Also, if she is a small kid, and dosen't weigh all that much I would denfinitely keep her in a 5 point harness. There are booster seats out there that have a higher harness weight, but then can also be used as a belt positioning booster later on. It really depends on the child, but I would say just based on her age a 5 point would probably be your best bet for now.

Yes, Rear facing is the safest, 5-point is safer than booster, but only as long as your child is within the weight requirements for those specific seats/positions. I have a convertible car seat that is rear facing from 5-30 lbs and forward facing 5-point until 40 lbs, then it is the booster until 80 lbs. One seat for the entire time. My kids love it and never question how they sit. Both my girls both have late birthdays and were 5 & still in 5-point harness seats when they started Pre-K, so since they were big enough & old enough, I tied moving to the booster to starting school - since they had never been to any type of daycare or preschool, this was like a graduation to being a "big girl" for them.
I have 3 little ones - 7, 5 and 14 months. My 7 & 5 year olds are in boosters and my 14 month old is still rear facing. I have several friends who question why he is still rear facing when he is 14 months & 25 lbs. They don't realize that the 1 year & 20 lb benchmark is the MINIMUM age/weigh for turning around and that as long as the child fits within the weight & high limits of the seat, rear facing is the safest way to go!
Do your research and go with your gut - Mommy Gut is usually right on!

Check her height and weight - all booster seats are not the same. Make sure she is in a booster with a back and shoulder belt guide.

After learning about this little boy's death, I have become a firm believer in 5 pt car seats as long as possible. I don't mean to be gruesome but can't imagine losing my 3 yr old or 3 month old. http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/

I know I am over protective when it comes to car seat safety. My oldest was rear facing until he was almost two and we turned him around because he was too tall. Rear facing is the best so that if you are in an accident, the the brain isn't bearing the brunt of impact, instead the seat does. I work with adults with newly acquired brain injury so between learning about little Kyle and my professional experience, I feel it is better to be safe, especially when they are still little.

M.,

I bought a carseat to booster type. My daughter has always been tall so she would outgrow her seat easily. The carseat I bought for her uses a 5 point harness up until she is about 4 or 5 years old depending on the height and then when she was ready we took the harness out of the seat and now use it like a booster. She loves it. It's a high back booster so when she falls asleep in the car she won't fall over. Here's a link to the one I have:
http://www.target.com/Cosco-Gotham-High-Back-Booster/dp/B...

The law says 4yrs AND 40lbs. She has to be both to go in a booster. I bought an awsome carseat that transforms to a booster. It was pretty big and worked GREAT! I can't remember the brand, sorry, my baby is now 6 1/2..... Good Luck!!!!

We use a harness for our 4 year old.
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/fivepointshield.aspx

It's very safe.

I will be interested in reading your replies. I think if they child has outgrown their seat and is ready for a booster weight and height wise, then its ok. A booster is way cheaper than another seat. But its all your preference really.
I do beleive the LAW states a child must be 40lbs AND 4years old. You might want to check into that. Because if you are pulled over or in an accident you could get fined.