My son will turn 4 in April and he's about to grow out of his convertible car seat. I need to buy him a booster. I'd like to stay with the five-point harness, if possible. Has anyone done this and regretted it (perhaps because of the hassle or the child's unwillingness to use it) or was glad that they did? Does anyone have any suggestions on which product to purchase? I saw that the Britax Regent was on sale and it goes up to 80 pounds, but I'm wondering if there is something less expensive but just as good.
Thank you everyone for your responses. I bought the Britax Frontier, which was on sale at www.elitecarseats.com. It is a booster seat with a 5-point harness up to 80 pounds and then converts to a booster. I like the versatility of it, making my decision about the 5-point harness less difficult. I decided to keep my children in a 5-point harness as long as possible; if something happened and I knew that it was safer, I couldn't live with myself. Graco has a similar product but I went with Britax because we have two other Britax carseats that we've been very pleased with and the Graco seemed to have less side-impact padding. Be careful, though, if you purchase the Frontier. There is currently a recall on some Frontiers. Elite Carseats has a statement on their website that none of their products were affected by the recall.
I highly recommend the Britax. I got them for both of my daughters. They are light and easy to use. I believe they are the highest rated for safety when the belt is adjusted correctly. My daughters loves them and were happy to be in their seats.
Good luck,
L.
IF your kid is big enough for a booster seat, why in heck would you want to bother with a 5 point harness? That isn't a booster, that is a car seat. YOu should just go strait to a booster. IF he's big enough, then he's big enough, there shouldn't be any kind a question about it.
britax has another seat that is a five point harness and then converts to a booster at a later weight. I think It's called frontier. It's on their website. 5 point harness is definitely recommended for as long as you can use it.
I like the high backed five-point harness. They are safer than a simple booster. I used the simple no-backed booster when my kids were seven and up. They make them easy to install and some even convert to just a regular seat belt seat. It puts the child higher and the seat belt fits snugly over the shoulder.
I think kids staying in 5 points differ from one kid to the next. Our oldest never would have gone for it, but our next one does. I was recently researching the safety of different seats and was amazed at how many boosters, particularly high-backed ones, are not safe because of the way they fit the kid. When you do switch, you might check for that. Some cannot be adjusted to fit the average kid safely. I'm all for the 5 point for as long as the kid will tolerate it. We travel a lot, otherwise I think our older child would have done it, too.
My first suggestion is to project your son's height and weight using a growth chart. There's one online here that is exactly the same as the one the doctors use:
http://pediatrics.about.com/library/growth_charts/nboystw...
Just follow the weight and height limits of the car seats you're looking at until they hit the line of your son's usual percentile.
My son is in the 75 percentile for height and weight (that's above average), and probably won't be 80 pounds until he's almost NINE. High weight limits on car seats are usually garbage, in my opinion, because there's no way they're going to use it that long! My younger son is off the charts for height and weight, and he still won't hit 80 lbs until he's about 7 1/2. Do you really think your son will want to be in a five-point harness when he's 7? I'm assuming that's what Britax is bragging about when it says it goes all the way up to 80 lbs, because my Evenflo goes to 100 lbs as a belt-positioning booster. The harness accommodates up to 40 lbs. My son outgrew the height of the harness first.
My son has been in an Evenflo Chase (~$60) since he was 2. He grew out of the 5-point harness right before he turned 4. Let me tell you, it's a pain to do the seat belt instead of the harness--at least for us--because he used to buckle his harness all by himself. He can't reach the seat belt buckle by himself.
Here's something else to consider. We hand car seats down to our younger son. They are 2 years apart. He used the infant car seat, and is now in the convertible seat for a little bit longer (one more growth spurt, and he'll outgrow it). So we'll put the harness back in the booster seat and give it to him, and our now 5 year old will get a more grown up booster, like the Graco Turbo, or even a backless booster (depending on if our new car has high-backed seats). Since your kids are about 2 years apart, also, your older one probably won't be using the next seat you buy until he is done with car seats altogether. You'll pass it down to your younger one. That's the less expensive way to do it, because the grown-up boosters and backless boosters are much less expensive (~$20-30) than buying another big Britax!
The only thing that will really tell you the info you need is the instruction manual or info on the box.
Good luck with your decision. It's always such a confusing thing to research!
We had a Fisher Price booster seat that had the 5 point harness (keep him in that as long as possible before going to the lap belt) and then you could remove the back and have the lap belt booster only. I had my kids in booster seats for a long time (longer than most friends kept their kids in). However, a friend of mine was a crash test engineer and he definitely advised taking it seriously and the positioning of the seatbelt makes a huge difference in a crash (both security and internal injuries). I was unwilling to take that risk with my kids. Figure you've got another 3-4 years that he could be in some form of the carseat (based on his weight and height), so I think it is a great investment (plus you've got other ones too). Even so, I always liked to have an extra booster seat or two in the car for when I drove other kids.
Good luck.
S.
Hi Jennifer - that Graco Nautilus seat does look pretty nice! I found it for under $150 at Walmart.com
It looks like it has good padding and good side support. Cup holders are also a must. If it doesnt come with 5-point harness, Graco most likely sells it as an option. That was the case with a booster we bought for my first son.
Reviews were generally favorable except a couple of people expressed concern over the placement of the crotch strap - that it was too far back and didnt accommodate larger children as well.
Here is a link to pictures of it on the walmart website
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8112...
Good news. There is FINALLY a car seat that does more!! Personally, I wouldn't spend the money on a Regent. Check online at Target for the Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat. It's going for 179.99 with FREE shipping. This is the newest car seat realized by Graco. Gotta keep up with competition (Britax) right? Graco is a brand, we, as moms trust. While I personally don't have this car seat, I love idea that it goes from convertible to 5 pt booster and backless booster.
I think it's amazing the car seat manufactures have FINALLY listened to us moms and taken into consideration the longevity and expense of a car seat!
Good luck and happy car seat shopping!!
J.,
Watch the sitting height limits on the seats! (from sit bones to shoulder height (spelling?) My son has outgrown most convertable seats made by Britax, the Frontier is the one I would get but it only has a seating height of 18.25 inches I believe, then you need to use it as a booster. Keep in mind also that after 40 lbs you have to install with at seatbelt no more latch in most cars and with most car seats. I think an important factor to consider is whether he will stay in his booster seat and not mess with the belt. If the answer is no then you need a 5 point booster. The CA regulations which are pretty progressive are 4 years, 40 lbs and 40 inches to convert to a booster.
R.
We just did this! We are keeping our 4 year old in his car seat in the primary car, but needed a booster for our secondary car and for when we travel -- the Cosco carseat is at Target for $50 or so...it is a booster seat with a 5 point harness -- our guy loves it! It stays a 5 point from 22-40lbs and then you can convert it to having a seatbelt after that -- it makes them feel like a big kid without the worry of moving to a seatbelt! Good luck!
Hi J.- My son is about to turn 5 and we have had him in a Graco Turbo Booster for the last year. It has the high back on it and uses the car's seatbelts. I really love that he can buckle himself in and that the back can be removed for when he gets even bigger. We paid about $40 for it. Prior to using this seat he was in a Britax Marathon and we moved him out so that we could use that seat for our daughter. I think the only issue with 5 point vs seatbelt is the maturity of your child and whether or not they will fool around with the seatbelt.
The Graco Nautalis is a really good option. It's a five point harness (forward facing only) up to 65 lbs, and a booster then a backless booster up to 100 lbs. It has higher harness slots than most, which isn't always the case with seats that convert, especially the 3 in 1 seats that are start as a rear facing seat. It makes a great booseter, too, which also isn't always that case with seats that convert to booster. It smart that you are keeping your little guy in a five point harness. The longer he's in one, the better. Each step up in car seats (rear facing to forward facing to booster to backless booster) is a step down in safety.
