Booster Seat for a Short Preschooler

H.,

I would contact the carseat nanny. http://www.carseatnanny.blogspot.com/ I talked with her and she helped us pick the safest carseat for my son, when he didn't have a ton of money to spend, then when he had the money to get a better carseat, she helped me pick another one.

good luck!

5 pt harnesses are the safest choice as long as possible. My soon to be 8 year old still uses the 5 pt harness in the Graco Nautilus which cost $150. She weighs 63 pounds so I will be converting it to the high back booster soon. After doing research on carseats and viewing videos of test crashes with dummy children in carseats and booster seats I knew without a doubt my kids would stay in the 5 pt harness until they are as old as possible. Their safety doesn't only relate to the size of the child but also to the maturity of the child's body and organs...so the older the better. Also, there have been studies done that show that children in booster seats tend to suffer more spinal injuries in car accidents as opposed to children in 5 pt harnesses. If you watch the videos you will see why. Even though a car seat costs a little more than a booster seat it is definitely worth your child's life.

12 sec clip showing the difference between 5pt harness and booster seat in a crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKbrM&feature=re...

Here is a link to one family's short video about their three year old who died in a car accident due to being in a booster seat instead of a car seat:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04&feature=re...

And one last clip about rear facing vs forward facing car seats with a child close in size to yours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8gU9zzCGA8

It is not safe for him to be in a booster seat yet! He should be 40" tall AND at least 40 lbs. He is much too light to be safe in a booster seat. Maybe you could buy a car seat that will transition into a booster seat when he is of the appropriate height AND weight?

I actually just spent several hours researching this for my own son who is 40" tall and slightly heavier at 37 lbs, but only 3 years old. I didn't feel like my son would be ready for a belt-positioning booster in the next few months as he approaches the 40 lb weight limit for 5-point harnessing that is inherent in the cheaper priced seats (whether backless or high backed).

I read a very compelling piece of advice from a professional car seat installer who said if your child ever falls asleep in the car, he can fall sideways and the adult seat belt (used once the belt-positioning stage kicks in after 40 lbs in most seats) can just slide off. He also said that kids who wiggle around and reach for things (other kids, toys, you in the front, etc.) can often just get out of the adult seat belt, or the shoulder portion, anyway. So he didn't recommend a seat that stops 5-point harnessing until the child is at least 5 years old or clearly mature enough to just sit still in the seat with the seat belt on. He said 3-4 (and some 5) year olds tend not to be mature enough for this step.

So my advice (and what I'm doing) is getting a seat that does 5-point harness up to 65 lbs, to buy me a couple more years before I have to use the belt-positioning part of the seat. Two of my friends are happy with the Graco Nautilus, and it is one of the cheapest that offers the 65 lb 5-point harness at $144 on Amazon right now. (Or about the same price at Babies R Us if you use one of their 15-20% off coupons.) It still turns into a belt positioning booster once you're ready for it. Other good ones are Britax Regent and Britax Frontier, but they're a lot more expensive. One of my friends was not happy with her Evenflo, but I'm sorry I cannot remember the model she had. We currently have two Britax seats (not the Marathon, but similar, a Decathlon and a Diplomat) in my car right now, which harness to 65 lbs and 40 lbs respectively (the baby is in the 40 lb one), and we're looking to equip another car.

You might have already thought of this, but you could also get an infant seat for the new arrival and keep your 4 year old in his Marathon. That is what we did originally: even though we had started out our 1st child with a convertible, we bought an infant seat for the 2nd child so we'd have a seat with a handle! If your next child is also a lightweight, you could be like us and get a full year of use (or more) out of the infant seat before you have to switch the new baby to a convertible. We only switched our 2nd child out based on height, not weight. By weight she'd still fit in the infant seat, but she was getting way too tall for it. Just an idea. It wound up being really handy to carry the infant seat and let the bigger child walk holding my hand if it was a quick trip (into a store that has carts, for example) that didn't require a stroller. GOOD LUCK!!! :)

Sorry mom, he's not big enough for a booster seat with the adult belt. Regardless of what 'the box says', he's not big enough for an adult belted booster seat.

The Graco Nautilus is $150, will harness to 65lbs, then becomes a high back booster to 100lbs, and eventually a no back booster. It will be the last seat he needs ,and will last him with the harness until he's at least 7yrs old, and then becomes a good booster seat.

If thats too much, the Evenflo Maestro will harness to 50lbs, then becomes a decent booster seat. It fits most kidsi n the harness to age 6, and it boosters to 100lbs. Its $70.

The Evenflo Generations 65 will harness to 65lbs and fits most kids to age 6/7 in the harness, and then boosters, and its a good booster seat. This is $99, and its a GREAT choice.

Please don't put your little guy in a booster seat. These seats listed above will last him until he no longer needs a car seat or booster seat, and they are all well worth the price to keep him harnessed for a few more years, quite a few more pounds, and alot more inches, all of which he needs to safely ride in a booster seat.

For what its worth, my 4.5yr old is 43" tall and 45lbs, and he's still harnessede in a Britax Regent. You can find these on clearance right now for $150 or so, they have discontinued that style of seat in favor of the Britax Frontier. My oldest used the Regent until he was 7.5yrs old and still had room to grow at 52" tall and 60lbs. Its a great seat too, and I would never put a child under age 6 in a booster full time. A child needs physical and mental maturity to ride properly and safely in a booster seat, so please purchase one of the seats I listed. Try them out, see which you like best, and keep your little guy in a harness!

at 4 i would buy him a graco nautilus my daughter turned 6 in december and is 50 inches 50 pounds and can still 5pt harness in this seat and it turns into a booster love it

Britax reagant.. have two of them goes to 80lbs 5 point harness booster seat.. we bought ours at babyage.com free shipping and on sale.
L.

My brother, a fire fighter, researched all the car seats out there for his own children. He recommends the Graco TurboBooster with back rest. I bought two for my daughter (one for my van and one for my husband's car) and like it.

I'd keep him in the Marathon and buy a new seat for the baby until your son is big enough for one of the high-back 5-point harnesses, like the Britax Frontier. My child just moved from the Marathon to the Frontier, and she's 6 years old! Whatever seat you get for him, make sure it has a 5-point harness, especially if he's on the shorter side. Good luck!

I see that some people said not to put him in a booster, but some of the high back boosters are appropriate for his height/weight. We just bought a simple Evenflo at Walmart for $30, and are very happy with it as far as ease of getting it in/out and getting him belted in. My son is tall, but not quite 40 lbs on weight. He just turned 5. The one we bought says to use the highback section for 30 to 40 pounds and once he reaches 40, you can take off the back section. Hope this helps.

I would think that you have enough time. Generally people use an infant seat for the first 6 mths or so and then move onto the Convertibles so the baby doesn't have to sit up so much. So you may have 6-9 months before your preschooler needs to move on.

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I would think that you have enough time. Generally people use an infant seat for the first 6 mths or so and then move onto the Convertibles so the baby doesn't have to sit up so much. So you may have 6-9 months before your preschooler needs to move on.

keep him harnessed in the Marathon and buy a new one for the infant. The per use cost is so low it is worth every penny in the long run.