Another Carseat Question - Chicago,IL

I moved DD to a highback booster with harness (Frontier) when she outgrew her Marathon. I expect this to be her last car seat. I've been pleased with the Britax brand and I am IN LOVE WITH clicktight. Easiest friggin installation I've ever had. DD can even install her own seat, if we let her. She is 7 and for now the harness works for us. We have a Bubblebum seat she used on vacation (taxis, rental car) when she was 4.5/5 but she doesn't like not having a back.

My youngest is 6.5 and still in a 5 point... I think it's the britax pinnacle? I always kept mine in a 5 point as long as they were able to fit comfortably... My boys stayed in a britax regent until the end of first grade? Then moved to a high back booster prob 2nd grade, then a backless booster during third grade... Reg seat belt after that. Mine never fought me, the boys were in an interstate speed rollover crash, and were in 5 points, they absolutely would have been seriously injured if not killed had they been in seat belt boosters... Hence out belief in the 5 point as long as possible!

My son stayed in a 5 point harness until a few months after he turned 7, at which point he switched to a high back booster. He is now 8 and still sits in the high back booster in the cars he rides in most frequently. We do have a backless booster that he uses when he rides in a friend's car.

We prefer the Britax Frontier for a seat that converts from a harness to a booster. We also have a Graco Nautilus, but don't like it as much (though it is much cheaper).

His backless booster (which has a detachable high back) is the Graco Turbo booster, which we are very happy with.

Make sure your child meets the minimum height and weight requirements for a booster, as they are not nearly as safe as a five point harness. My 4.5 year old still sits harnessed and will for quite awhile, as she is on the small side.

California law requires a booster seat until the child is either 8 years old or 4'9" tall.

The high back part of the booster is to fit the shoulder strap properly. I switched my boys when the shoulder strap was no longer fitting properly, but it did fit properly when the used the backless booster.

Find your state laws.

In Oklahoma we can put our kids in any sort of regular car seat when they go out of a rear facing seat. That's at 12 months. They when they can sit still and not get up and wander around they can go in a booster. So we always put our kids in boosters around age 3.

The day they turn 6 they don't have to be in any sort of car seat at all. In Oklahoma.

I'm sure California has different laws. So you can go to the department of motor vehicles and they should have a section regarding this topic.

If your 5 point harness has a high weight limit, there is no compelling reason to move to a booster - and good reasons not to move because the 5-point is safer. My 5 year old is still in his 5-point in one car because it has a high weight limit and he fits. In the other car, we moved to the high back booster because he outgrew the weight limit of 5-point we had in that car.

As for high back versus backless booster - these are often interchangeable. It's about comfort. One of my kids prefers the high back, one prefers the backless.

ETA: for boosters, we got whatever was inexpensive. I think we have gracos.

take a look at your state's requirements. Different states have different guidelines re: use of car seats and boosters. then purchase a car seat/ high back/ booster which accommodates your child's height and weight.

Best,
F. B.

Many high back boosters have a five point harness. You just have to go on line and search looking specifically at height n weight requirements.

I have small kids so they stayed in 5 pt harness's until they were in about 1st grade. They didn't reach 40 lbs or whatever the height was until then. As far as moving out of the booster and just using a seatbelt, neither of them reached 4 ft 9 inches OR 80 lbs before 7th grade... but I let them not have a booster when they could sit with their back of their butt against the seat back and have their feet flat on the floor. This is a more accurate measurement then the other ways since car seats are different heights and the purpose of a booster is to make the belt hit them in the proper places which has to happen by them sitting appropriately. I think it was mid 6th grade for both girls.

We went to high back boosters when they outgrew the parameters of the 5 point harness. Mine exceeded the harness fit by height before weight.