Freaking Out

If you are concerned about price, the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe runs about $100 and harnesses to 55lbs, the Cosco Apex runs about $150, and harnesses to 65lbs.

HOWEVER since yo usaid your son is tall, try this. Have him sit on the floor with his butt against the wall, then measure the distance from his seated rear end to the tops of his shoulders. THAT is the strap height/harness height. My guess is the carseat he outgrew only had a 14 or 15 inch top slot, and alot of other seats have a 17 or even 19 inch top slot. Thats a big difference.

The Safe Voyage Delux has a 16 1/2 inch top slot, the Cosco Apex has a 17 1/2 inch top slot, and plus they harness to a heigher weight so he'll be able to use it well into Kindergarten. THe Britax seats range from 17 to 19 inch top slots, and again the heigher harness weight allows for longer use.

I guess itsn ot a question of money for me, I want what is the safest and what can be used the longest. If you pay $250 for a seat and it lasts for 3-4 years, and you can get another 2-3 years out if it with another child, then in my opinion its worth it. Remember seats expire after 6 years.

www.albeebaby.com or www.specialtybaby.com has the best prices on carseats nad Britax, and offer free shipping.

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I believe if he is 3, in Wisconsin and HAS to be in a carseat - not a booster. It's part of the law that became effective last summer. He can't be in a booster until he is 4.

That being said, we have a Britax Marathon - well, 2 actually, one for each vehicle since we share pickup and drop off at daycare. We bought ours online at www.travelingtikes.com. We weren't picky about the fabric so we ended up with 2 that cost $219.99 each with free shipping. I notice now they are up to $229.99 each. We did go to the Lullabye Shop in Appleton (the only place in the area that carries ALL the Britax seats) to get more info etc. The cost of the seats there was about $269 each. Of course, they tried to steer us away from purchasing online, insisting that we would be buying out of date seats and that we would never be able to install them ourselves. The Lullabye shop installs them in your car "for free" with purchase. Well, when we received out seats in May 2005, one had been built in April 2005 and the other in May 2005 so they certainly were not 'out of date" and we just went to one of the free seat clinics in the area to make sure we had installed them correctly (we had).

Sorry to ramble on, but if money is an issue, definitely do some searching online. We have been extremely happy with ours. I was most impressed with the safety testing Britax does (side, front and rear impacts as higher speeds than the US requires) and the fact the seat we purchased goes up to 65 lbs. I figure our daughter can sit in this seat for a long time.

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Hello I just came upon this carseat in the Child magazine, it is a booster like seat with a five point harness. Go to www.safegaurdgo.com it is called the Safe Gaurd Go carseat. I looked at it, its a little more expensive however worth it when it comes to safety for your child.

You will have to get one of the larger ones to be safe and law abiding both. I saw the Fisher Price one at Burlington Baby Depot and they also have a Britax one at Target. Babies R Us have some too but I'm not sure which ones. There are a lot of different kinds and the price usually depends on the weight rating. Just be sure to check what the maximum 5-point harness weight is. Some go really high on total weight but only a portion of that is for the 5-point harness. I have a handicapped daughter and she has a Britax car seat that goes up to 105 lbs but only 85 for the 5 point harness.
I would check around though and also check with the county or your insurance because, who knows, maybe they can help since he's so big and it's required.
Good luck,
J.

yes,it's very necessary. Their little bodies are still not big enough for just a shoulder and lap belt on a booster seat. I have a 6yo who is still in a 5 point harness and even though it's a cost to keep buying the appropriate seat, her safety and well being is well worth the expense.

the local news here recently did a story on this (sorry I couldnt find the article) but their expert showed a bunch of carseats, and had tips on installing them the expert also said that the most important factor in choosing a car seat is the height/length requrements. age was the least importatn factor

I would ask your pediatrician to reccomend a car seat that would be best for your child. My dd is tall for her age(95th percentile) and I was worried about the possibilitiy of damaging her legs because of the car seat I had but as it turned out the one I had was okay. The pediatrician that she had at the time always stayed current on all the tyoes of carseats there are.

it depends on where the seat belt lays on him (hips and across the chest not neck or under his arm) and how much he weighs they make all kinds of boosters you might have to look around till you find the right fit also bring him with to sit in the seat and make sure it is comfortable. I had the same proble when my son was younger he was always very tall and skinny wrong combination for seats but we found a really good one at kmart (the last place we went to) that he fit into it was one of those convertible ones that can be used with the harness or seatbelt and had different heights for the seat belt we looked all over (target, walmart, toys r us , baby depot @ burlington). he is now almost 5 and fits into the plain no back booster seat. We only used the seat about a year or so but it was well worth the money to keep hime safe and secure.

of course it's necessary!!! You are talking about the safety of your child here. I never skimped on her car seats, you can pay one bill late if it's a financial burden, but you can never replace your child. I recommend getting the harness he will be able to grow into and use for a while, no price is too high when it comes to safety.

I am a car seat tech. The first thing you need to do is get to a car seat fitting appointment. There the tech will go through all the different options and look at how your son is sitting in the child safety seat. If you are having trouble finding a place that will check your child you can go to www.safekids.org. There you can go to the MN site and find a place close to your home that can offer help. Most of the time these appointments are free. Your local police department may also be able to help find you an appointment. I hope this helps. Good luck with everything. My son is 6 and weighs 52 lbs. He has been in a high back booster for awhile now. I also work in a local level 1 trauma center.

I have the same problem with my son, he is 3 years and 3'2". When his carseat started to get really tight I thought we could just switch him over to a booster seat. Before doing that I asked his Pediatrician. She very quickly said "NO!". Children should be in a 5point harness until they are 40 lbs, the height is really less of an indicator. Until then the belt straps in the car will not reliably hold him in place if you were in an accident.

Our son has always been tall. We too saw the utube car seat movie. We bought the britax five point harness that will last until he is 100 pounds. Didn't even have to think about it after seeing the movie. Safety first. I would much rather have him in a five point until he is 100 pounds then going to his funeral because I seconded guessed myself.