Hi, my 3 1/2 year old daughter has just about outgrown her convertible car seat. I feel that she is still too young to go straight to a booster seat and I would like to get her a seat with a 5 point harness that will then convert to a booster seat when she gets bigger. Can anyone recommend a car seat? I saw one at Target by The First Years but I don't know how reliable it is. Thanks!
Check out the Graco Nautilus.It is a 3 point harness up to 65 pounds and converts to a booster up to 100 pounds. It has great features.
S.
We have the Safety 1st Apex 65 and have been very happy with it.
Hi C.,
Yes, your little one is definitely much too young for a booster, car seat experts recommend keeping a child in a 5pt harness until about age 5 (even though many boosters allow for 3 and 30 pound children to use them it's 70% safer to use a 5pt harness)...the reason being their hip/pelvic bones and skeletal bones are still immature and the 5pt harness does a much better job of protecting vital organs in a crash and in a properly fitting seat kids are more comfortable)
I have a number of seats, one of which is the Apex 65...it's not that great as it requires tall headrests behind the seat, and I find it pretty flimsy...the Graco Nautilus has gotten wonderful reviews since it was introduced and it's about 150.00...it harnesses until 65 pounds and then turns into a very good HIGH back booster seat....another seat that is also new and very highly recommended is the Britax Frontier..it harnesses to 80 pounds and turns into a great High Back booster that can be latched into place...with either the Graco or Britax you will not need another seat...the Britax comes in more colors (a very cute pink) and has a longer lifespan (9 years for the booster)....Britax is having a big sale in Sept 1-15, check online retailers for deals during that time...could be as low as 230.00... I have the Britax Regent which also harnesses to 80 pounds, we love it (it was a gift from a friend who had it but then wanted the Frontier as the Frontier is FAA approved for air travel and the Regent is not-the Regent is HUGE, kinda of like a lazyboy for the car...)
If you have questions about which will fit in your current vehicles the folks over at car-seat.org have great information and you can post right away...they have such great techs who are very knowledgeable!
I learned so much from them...about rearfacing my children well past age 1 (my DD till age 3 1/2 and DS is still rearfacing at 29 months and happy and safe!)
Good luck...online retailers usually have the best prices...and look at this as a purchase that should last until she no longer needs a carseat!
B.
graco nautalus is the best choice
5 pt harnes 65 pounds
then seat belt booster
then backless seat belt booster
sturdy
reclines
cupholder is in the arm rest and not hooked to the side
my daughter is 46 pounds and 46 inches and 4.5 yrs old and fits great in it
J.
i do not have one (yet -- one is on the way right now actually), but the cosco apex 65 seat has gotten good reviews and is a good price for the safety features i believe. it uses the 5-point harness up to 65 lbs. http://www.epinions.com/Cosco_Apex_65_22531/display_~reviews
