Seeking Suggestions on Toddler Car Seats....

I too had the same problem with my children in the upright toddler seats. I bought "C" shaped, bean-bag type neck pillows to put under their chins if they fell asleep. As they got older, they would often use them if they thought they might fall asleep. The pillows didn't always work perfectly, but they helped.

Personally I dont think a two year old should be in that type pf booster anyhow.....
I have my 5 year old, 40 pound son in a summit seat by safety first i believe,( http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8342860 ) it goes up to one hundred pounds, with a five point harness.......then the use of a seatbelt at later ages, i still use the five point with him......
My daughter is 3, and 30 pounds, she is in the alpha omega ( http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2738083 ) it goes up to 80 pounds.......
I a, about to put my 10 month old son into the alpha and my daughter into the summit and my son into a seat like what you have soon though......as soon as my 10 month old is 1......

Good Luck!
C.

I have done a lot of research on car seats and children should be in a 5 point harness until they are 6, if you are pulled and they are in a booster and are too young you can get a ticket. The best car seats are the Britex....they are not cheap but to me worth every penny. The Britex Marathon goes up to 65lbs and the Britex Regent goes up to 80 lbs. I have the Regent for my boys. The Marathon you can buy at Target but the Regent is at Babies R Us. The cost is 269.99 that is usually everywhere so look for a sale or coupon....I LOVE my seat and it bring me great comfort to know that my boys are safe.

I read through all of the responses that you have gotten so far and I agree with them all. I realize your daughter is pushing the 40lb limit of most 5 pt harness, but with her age, she is to young to just be restrained with the car's seat belt. I've done a lot of looking and have a couple of suggestions. FIRST, (and the best suggestions that I have),you should take her with you and go to Babies R US. The one in Brandon is where I go a lot, and they actually allow you to put her in the seats and see how she fits in them before you buy one. Also, they have knowledge and experiece with children her age and weight. Second, check out the Graco Nautilus http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8112222 It holds children to 65lbs with the 5pt harness and doesn't break the bank like the Britax seats do. One thing to remember is that all car seats have to meet the same Highway Safety Standards, so just because it cost more doesn't make it safer. Also, check out the Alpha Omega, Summit and the Eddie Bauer (same style). They are all made by Dorrell Juvenile...they own Safety 1st and Eddie Bauer. These seats have higher wieght limits and a slight recline option for your sleepy daughter. I hope this helps you some. Good Luck...it can be a real pain and overwhelming feeling. Let someone with everyday experience in this field help you...Babies R Us and last resort...go to or call a police station and have them check it out. GOOD LUCK! I'd be interested to know what you decide. :)

My daughter is just 3 years old now, and I, too, have switched her to the Booster car seat.
I have the same problems you do; both of my children will fall asleep with their heads bobbing around...and I laugh! It is so sweet to watch a child sleep. If my daughter falls asleep, my son will take her head and hold it 'in place' while we drive to our destination. He is 5 years old.
While I have no idea how to help you, all I can say is that leaving your daughter to 'bob' back and forth should not hurt her. If you are that concerned, you should call her Pediatrician for some advice. I asked mine, and he laughed and said that my children would be just fine. Keep an eye on them from time to time while driving. If your husband is driving, or visa versa, have one of you sit next to her, depending on the amount of time she will be in the car seat.
Those are my only suggestions!
I do hope that you find some peace of mind knowing that she should be alright.
Take Care!
~ A. T. ~
Cape Coral, FL

I got my daughter a car seat from Kmart that is made by Evenflo. It goes up to 50 lbs. It has alot of padding and my daughter loves it. It has 3 positions also so you can recline it if they go to sleep. You can see it on Kmarts website it is the Evenflo Triumph. It runs $139. at Kmart and the Kmart in Ellenton still has Layaway so you can utilize that if money is an issue. I love it. Hope this helps.

I was going to suggest a booster seat but noticed the e-mail below and thought I would take a look and see what the law for Florida is. You can go to the website below to see the specific Florida law. It looks like your daughter may not weigh enough for a booster seat. I run a daycare and I don't use a booster seat until they are four as well. Here is a general rule from the website...Hope this helps

Currently, there is a major push to enact laws that require children to be in a booster seat until the age of 8 or 80 lbs. As a general rule: Rear facing car seat / infant car seat until 1 year old and 20 lbs. Car seat until 4 years old and 40 lbs. Booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs.

Once they reach age 4 they don't fall asleep much in the car and at that point you can get a backless booster seat so they can recline a little if they fall asleep.

http://www.elitecarseats.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageNa...

She is much, much too young to be in a booster only seat even though she's the "correct" weight. She does not have the maturity or the bone strength to sit properly in that seat. I believe it's illegal in FL to have her in a booster as well.

There are several high weight convertible seats available. A few I'd recommend would be the Sunshine Kids Radian, Britax Marathon or Blvd or best bet- the Regent, or the Graco Nautilus. All of these go to 65lbs and the Regent goes to 80.

Please move her back into a 5pt harness. It's so much safer. My son will be 6 in Sept and he still rides in a 5pt and will continue to do so until he outgrows his current seat or the seat expires. There are many videos on youTube about young kids put into boosters too soon. I know the pp posted about Kyle Miller. You can also look up this one- she was a beautiful little girl who died too soon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04

We have the Evenflo triumph, purchased at Babies R Us for about $160, and it goes forward facing for kids up to 50 lbs. It's a great seat with three recline positions. I also just bought an item called the cradler which is a pillow that keeps their head from bobbing when they sleep. My daughter is only 9 months old, but we just used it on a 10 hour car trip this weekend and it was great! They also have neck wings that do the same type of thing but are not so huge. I bought them both from Babies R Us for about $10 each. Good luck finding what works best for you, but definitely get a regular carseat!

I agree that 2 is too young to go to booster. There are several convertible carseats that have a high weight limit now.
If you have her front facing, the carseat should not recline.

Hi. I agree with the others that she should still be in a 5 point harness car seat. In fact, I believe it is actually the law that says children under the age of 4 should remain in a 5 point harness. My daughter just turned 4 and is about 38 pounds so I am keeping her in the car seat a little longer. My son, who is 5, is now in a booster and there are times when I wish he was still in a car seat. The Britax Marathon is great and, in my opinion, worth the expense. Although there are lots of other car seats that work well and are less expensive, if that is a concern.

Also, even though she is already 36 pounds, at 2 years old, her weight gain will likely slow down and it may be a while before she reaches 40 pounds. The Britax Marathon is good until they reach 65 pounds, so if you decide to go with that one, it should last quite a while.

Good luck!!

I also agree that 2 is way too young for a booster seat, those are very good links that someone had posted. We also have a Britax Marathon and we love it!

I also agree that 2 is WAY too young to be in a booster. My son is about to turn 3 and when he outgrew his infant car seat, we did alot of research and it kept coming back as the Britax line being the safest out there. My husband and I were a little sticker-shocked (about $270); however, we both agreed that it was money WELL spent !! We have the Britax Marathon and he went from his infant carrier to the Britax, rear facing until he was 1 and then turned him around forward facing. Then my husband needed a car seat in his car and discussed possibly a less expensive seat. But concluded that why should he be any less safe in his car vs. mine? So back to the Britax website we went and purchased our 2nd. Now we have been blessed with a 2nd child which JUST outgrew her infant seat and she is in my husband's car seat which we moved into my car. Needless to say, we are just now in the process of ordering 2 MORE seats for his car !! YIKES, but priceless !! The ONLY negative thing I would say about these seats in their size..Definitely not a seat that you want to be moving around from vehicle to vehicle. I have a Toyota Camry and with two of these monsters in my back seat, I really have NO more room for anything else !! But I have all I need, happy, comfortable and SAFE CHILDREN !! Good luck !!

We put our son into a Graco TurboBooster seat when he was about 2 1/2. We did find one thing that helped - we bought one of those travel size pillows and just keep it in the car, so that way when he wants to go to sleep, he just grabs the pillow next to him, and lays his head on it. I guess he likes it, because he doesn't seem uncomfortable with it. (If he doesn't like something, he lets us know!) We moved him to the booster seat, because we need his convertible car seat for the next baby, and want him to get used to the booster before the next baby comes.

We have a Britax Regent, it uses the five point harness system, with max height at 53 inches and weight at 80 lbs. It is pricey, but well worth the money, considering the the amount of years it can be used. I highly recommend this seat.
There are other seats on the market now that are made for toddler to school age kids since the laws are more strict in other states regarding booster/car seats until 6 to 8 years old. Unfortunetly, I've never seen any of them in stores, so folks don't know that it is even an option. Check out www.elitecarseats.com, you can compare several of this style.

Look at the Britax Regent car seat. It's AWESOME. It will keep her in the car seat using the 5 point harness up to 80lbs which is around 8yrs!! My son is 4 1/2 and has plenty of room to grow. You have to remember they slow down in the growth department around 2.

Here is what made me decide to go with the regent and I am REALLY happy that I did. It's a huge seat though! We call it the barca lounger :) There is the Sunshine Radian which is a slimmer model and we tried it, but when we tried the Regent there was no comparison.

Video on UTube - talking about the dangers of booster seats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

A good video showing why you should not turn your child to face
forward. The difference of impact on the dummies facing forward vs
facing back is incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&mode=relat...=

Good website to mark to check on car seat safety info.

http://www.car-safety.org/basics.html

I think two is WAY too young to go to booster. They are not nearly as safe as the 5 point harness. My son is just over 3 years old and he is still in his Britax marathon seat. It is rated to 60lbs and I plan on keeping him in it until then. I'm not familar with reclining models and don't think any of the britax do either. The sides are high enough that I haven't had any problems with him sleeping in it, his head rests on them just fine. If space is an issue, it could work for you if the big Reagent version is too big.

I recommend the Britax models that go to 60+ pounds..there are a few to choose from. You can also often find them at online stores with a discount or coupon, just make sure they are a certified Britax seller so that you know you are getting waranteed and first rate stuff! My 3 yr old is in the Marathon and sleeps everytime she rides in the car with no problem.

She is also REAR facing....at only 26 pounds, it is still the safest. Although the law is 20 pounds and 1 year, it is recommended that they stay rear facing until at least 35 pounds. A professional car seat installer (and firefighter) told me that the inuries to the head, neck and spine that result from a child forward facing are so much more significant and life-threatening as compared to a possible broken leg/ankle etc... Sure, my kids would rather be forward facing, seeing the views etc..but I don't just let them because they would rather do it!....heck, they would rather climb free in the car eating ice-cream and Twinkies too but I don't allow that either :-)

Best of luck finding a great car seat for your little one and hurry and get her out of that booster!

Does anyone know the exact FL law on age/weight for booster use?

Check out the Britax seats... They're more expensive, but the one I have for my 22 month old is for up to 65 pounds and she loves it! They're at Target (where we bought ours) & Babies R Us, and you can check them out on Britax's website. They're consistently one of the highest rated brands! Hope this helps! Good luck!