Car Seat Help

Graco recently came out with a car seat that harnesses to 65lb. The harness straps are 17 or 18 inches. It is around $150. Sunshink Kids Radain, and the Apex 65 both harness to around 65 pounds and have higher top harness slots. The Britax Marathon or Regent is antoher option, but is more expensive. Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe and the Evenflo Triumps Advance harness to 55 lbs.

I bought the Britax Regent. It will hold them until they are 80#. It was recommended to me by the Texas Transportation Institute when we lived in College Station. I'm so happy with it!

I have a marathon for my baby and a regent for my 4 year old. I love both of them. The Regent is very big though. Two of them will most likely take up your whole backseat. Sunshine Radian makes 5 pts that go up to 65 and 80 lbs also. Next month I am buying 2 radians for my husbands truck. Most 5 pt boosters than convert to seatbelt positioners only have a 40 lbs weight limit for the harness. The safest thing for your twins is to have them harnessed. Have you checked out the Babycenter carseat safety board. There is a lot of information about extended harnessing and which seats are the best over there.

My absolut favorite car seat is the Britax both the Marathon (up to 65 pounds) and the Regent (up to 80 pounds using 5 point harness)

I have 2 marathons and a regent in the back seat of my suv and they work great. If I had it to do all over again I would go from the infant seat to the regent because it goes up to 80 pounts with the 5 point harness. instead of buying the marathon then having to buy the regent. Britax also makes a special needs car seat with a 5 point harness that goes up to 110 pounds. I would not feel safe with my child in another type of car seat.

A. J

Safety 1st All-in-One Convertible Car Seat, Walmart.
We have this one. It is great. It turns into a booster after the 5 pt harness is out grown.
THe real question is " how tall are your kids?" because the child's ears should not come to the top of the back of the car seat. whatever car seat.
Congrats on the lovely children.

Hey K.,

The ONLY carseat with a five point harness for children over 40 pounds is the Britax Regent. It goes up to 80 pounds and is the only carseat that does. Booster seats are okay for older kids that are also BIG ENOUGH for them. There are too many stats about three year olds flying out of booster seats in accidents that this mama is sticking her kids in the Regent until they are 6 or 7. You can go to www.britaxusa.com I believe and get the list of stores that carry them. They are expensive (almost $300) but they last for years as your kids grow into them. And besides what is a couple hundred dollars in the long run when your kids are in the safest seat for them?

Most traditional (if not all) booster seats do not have a 5-point harness. We upgraded to a Britax Regent, & we're so glad we did it. We wish we had originally bought a Britax.

you need to go find the ones that are carseat/booster. they are 5 point harnesses that convert to seatbelt. You can get them at target, i believe they are graco not sure. I had to get it when my kids started facing forward they go from like 20-80 pounds and only around 50 bucks or so.

Eddie Bauer is really good. My daughter used hers as a booster until she was 5.

Hi K.,

I recently got a Britax (Regent or Monarch, can't remember which), because it is supposed to last until my boy is 80 pounds (he is currently about 30). It's around 400 dollars, but I have heard from several sources that Britax are the safest (safety standards are Swedish and exceed American safety standards). Also it will last for a long time so it's an investment (as long as no one steals my car with it inside!!!).
One warning though, is that all the extra belts and things it has don't do any good in some older car models (unless you install the hooks yourself), and in that case I think you might as well buy a 'less safe' seat, probably cheaper too.

G.

I would check Consumer Reports. They actually tested a lot of car seats last year and put out a report. I looked at their reviews before purchasing our last one. The Eddie Bauer high back booster was rated very well (this was 2 years ago though). It has worked well for us.

I highly recommend getting the 5 pt harness that is good for an extend range. I wish that I had known when I bought car seats, as we have harnesses to 40 lbs and both my daughters are now 40 lbs so they have the seatbelt with the booster belt positioning. Here's a website with different seats that all harness for an extended weight. Some of these are also sold by Target. http://www.hipmonkey.com/store/

Also, the Safety First Apex 65 is on the Target website and cheaper. My husband and I are looking to purchase these for our 4 and 5 year olds.

Do you have to transition them into new seats? My car seat for my youngest is good until 80 lbs. I had the original baby seat and then the next one I bought is good to 80lbs. I didn't know you needed a third seat. I think if your kiddos are getting too big for the 5 point harness you just take it out and use the same seat with the car safety belt.

I wouldn't buy a booster seat.

Oops I just went onto Toys R US and they call the seats I am talking about booster seats. The one I would suggest is called Evenflo Walnut Hill Chase Booster car seat.

I would look for one that is a seat with a full back attached (not just the ones that are just the seat part) and has the 5 point harness included into the design. The 5 point harness can be removed when they get too big but the seat is rated to 80lbs.

I am a Britax fan also. Love, love, love them. I have the Boulevard right now, but will certainly stay with the brand when I move to a booster. Check out www.albeebaby.com for some great prices.

We have the Safe Guard Go http://www.elitecarseats.com/SafeGuard-Go.pro It is a little pricier than the typical booster, but it is compact, easy to install, has 5 pt harness, is portable.

My 5 year old has been in it for 2 years and loves it!

I just went thru the same thing with my 3 year old. She is only 33# but very tall. I had a car seat/booster combo but was not ready to use the cars seat belt and wanted to keep her in the 5 point harness longer than 40# and didn't want to go broke buying britax.
We got a Apex 65 that harnesses to 65# and then becomes a booster with the cars seat belt.

http://www.albeebaby.com/sa1stap65bos.html

The only problem we have had is the strap between the legs is short but you can call the manufacturer and they send a new one free of charge.

Good luck!

Hi;

I also have a 3 year old. I purchased my booster from Wal-Mart. It is the 5 pt. and also can convert to the seat belt if wanted. It was 49.99 and came with pink covering. She loves it and it is easy for me to use the disconnects with my arthritic hands. Also it comes with a portable cup holder. We had an expensive Eddy Bauer and I could not work the disconnects.

I hope you find it, I think it is a graco but not sure.
S. B.

We are giant Britax fans here. DS is currently in a Marathon, he has been in it since about 6 months, and he is now 4 yo and still has room to grow and is no where near the weight limit, 65#. For 3 yo I would go with the rengent, it will last you longer with the 80# limit.

If you decide to go with a combo seat, harness to booster, please read the info carefully a lot of those seats are harnessed only to 40# and then are just highback boosters. The only one that I have seen mentioned in other responses here- other the Britax- that is good with harnesses past 40# is the Apex.

I have heard the five point is the best too.....we just bought a five point harness that takes them up to 60 pounds I think....it is an awesome seat and had I really done the reasearch I would have bought it for the infant too...as it spans the whole age/weight range.
it is pricey, but I love it.
Sunshine Kids Radian car seat...very low profile so will fit in any car.

L. L

I bought my 25 lb 2 year old an Eddie Bauer seat at Target that has the 5 pt harness but you can also remove it and use it with the seat belt. I think the weight was 20-80 lbs. It also has 3 reclining positions, which I like. It is very comfortable for her and she likes to ride in it (she is very picky!). Here is a link. I have a suburban and it tightens in fine in my seat. I also considered the Britax but I didn't want to spend $300 because we have six month old twins who will soon need convertible seats as well. http://www.target.com/Eddie-Bauer-Deluxe-Booster-Harbor/d...=

Hi K.,
I really LOVE Britax! The Britax Regent is for kiddos up to 85lbs and does have a 5 point harness. This is the seat that I want to purchase for my daughter but she said that she doesn't want to change seats yet. She will be three on the 28th and says that she just wants to stay two--she "likes it!" lol
Anyway, I have really researched boosters and I just keep coming back to Britax! Hope this helps!
Hugs,
C.

I would have gotten the Britax Regent but still need my car seat to be rear facing for a couple more months (so I got the Britax Marathon). When I was researching, the vast majority of responses were for the Britax Regent--assuming it could fit in my car and was within my budget.

I have been repeatedly told that the Britax carseat is the best and one of the only carseats that is five-point harness for bigger kids. I couldn't even afford one for one child much less twins! I went ahead and got a booster. They pull the child up so the seatbelt sits securely over their hip bones and the headrest has a seatbelt guide that puts it right over their shoulder. I really like it, mine is made by Graco and you can get it at Target, Walmart, Toys-r-us. For other seat info, go to epinions.com and look at carseats...the britax are there too.

I too have almost 3 year old boy/girl twins and we use the costco brand that you can buy at Walmart but luckily my twins are very small and still weight less than 30lbs, I was just planing on converting over to the seat belt stapped across the car seat when that time comes - You can get a seat belt adjuster found at Walmart if you can't find a car seat with a 5 point harness, I have used them on my other kids when they got to big for theirs and it worked great.

If your car can fit it, and if you've got money, the Britax Regent car seat ($270) is both safe and comfy for your kids- I think it will work up to 80 lbs.
We got one for our 5 year old daughter and my husband grumbled about installing it in the car (his Mazda Protege) but aside from that, we've been happy with it.
good luck!

hi! i do not know the answer to your question, but i too have 3 year old twins! a girl and a boy. they are so fun! i just wanted to say hi and let you know you're not alone! :)

Britax Regent.... great, but very heavy and never easy to move car to car.... plus it's pricey! $250... but they can ride in up to 100 pounds...