Booster Car Seats - Cedarburg,WI

Just bought my second britax frontier booster! Harnesses to 85 lbs, which is safest, then uses the belt up to 120 lbs. I trust their safety from research and personal experience.

I assume you're talking about a high back booster...? If yes, lots of people at my girls' school speak highly about the Graco Highback Turbo Booster seat. It's not too expensive, comfortable, and has several patterns.

And if you mean a regular booster... none! After watching two classes of four and five year olds go on field trips all this year, I can state with absolute certainty that a four year old isn't ready for one, even if she meets the weight limit. Kids that age simply move around too much for the seat belt to be safe even with the height boost from the booster. They really need the seat belt to be in the strap guides with the high back booster.

Personally, we're keeping our almost five year olds in their Graco Nautilus five point harnesses for another year. When they're six we'll switch to the high back booster part of the Nautilus, but until then they're safer with the five point harness. Is there any possibility you can keep your daughter in a five point harness? If she's outgrown her current seat, take a look at the Nautilus. It has really high limits and you can use it with the five point harness, then as a high back booster, then as a regular booster - so it's three in one!

Are you positive your 4 year old has outgrown the limits of her car seat and it is following the law that your 4 year old can be in a traditional seat belt? Please make sure of all of the aforementioned but also make certain that she can sit properly 100% of the time. The best booster seat at this point is definitely a high back booster seat, this will help place the belt appropriately and keep her safe. However, I would think twice before switching a 4 year old to a booster seat.

I also still have my daughter (4.5 yrs.) in her 5 pt. harness. I feel it's safer, and seems much better to me. We do have a booster, a Graco, and when she is in it, and we go around a curve, the seat can move and she leans over a lot...after all these years of making sure her seat is so secure, a booster just doesn't seem secure. Also, she prefers the car seat, as it is much more comfortable for her. On a trip longer than 30 min, she complains that her booster is uncomfortable. She can't sleep well in it, because there is nothing to lean against. Also, i think the booster is more difficult to buckle, because i have to lean all the way over her to find the buckle each time, where with the 5 pt. harness, it is right there. just a few things to keep in mind...

research the 5 point harness up to 65 or 80 lbs seats w/ a teather (sp?). Those are the best/safest seats. My 5.5 YO is on one now... and they don't think anything of it re: the harness and not just the seatbelt.

also - go on YouTube and search for video's re: people who have lost children when not in these seats. Heart breaking, but something EVERY parent needs to see.

One family had two children next to each other in the exact same seats and one child flew out the window and was killed (after a minor accident) and the other didn't even have a scrape. Apparently the section of the seat belt that is in the seat and that the belt clicks into failed and upon impact the seat belt came out of it and there was nothing holding the seat down.

The better boosters aren't cheap.... but they are so worth it. Sunshine and Britax are 2 to look at.

there really isn't one 'best' seat. you need a seat that fits your daughter and your car. the higher the weight limit the better. you can get a backless one IF the seat of the vehicle is high enough to be at least up to the middle of her ears - either the vehicle seat itself or a head rest. If there isn't that support on the vehicle, then you need a high back booster seat.
most have some way to help adjust the seat belt if necessary so that it fits on your daughter properly.
good luck

We kept our kids in a regular 5 point car seat until they hit about 6-ish...our 6 year old is still in one. He never complains...it just is the way it is. We have a Graco something or other...and a Cosco something or other. They were both gifts, so I didn't look up much on them...but we like them :) Regular booster seats just don't seem like them do much in the way of safety for little kids.

We have a Graco Nautilus and my daughter likes it. It goes up to 65 lbs with 5 pt harness, up to 100 pouns as high back booster, and then you can take that off for a regular booster seat. I am glad I don;t have to buy another as she grows. The only problem we have had with it is when she twists the straps up (she gets and and out herself). I have to untwist them or they don't fit right-seem too short; when she has a bulky coat on, the harness straps do not seem to fit-too small; and sometimes the buckle does not want to let go. I just buckle it in again and push the release and it lets go..

We bought the Graco Nautiulus 3 in 1 car seat. This car seat converts from a 5 point harness to high back booster to just the booster seat. We have one for our 4 year old and our almost 2 year old. They are wonderful you won't ever have to buy another carseat as they grow. We used the 5 point harness for our 4 year old till approx Jan of 2012. It got to be very hard to buckle it with her winter jacket on by herself. So we took out the straps for the 5 point harness and she now uses the seatbelt which is great cause she cn buckle herself in now and we don't have to help her anymore.

Here is a link to it. This carseat is sold at Target, Wal-Mart, Babies R Us and Toys R US.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3980774

sunshine kids monterey booster

Compass Booster Seats

Britax Parkway

You can see it and read the reviews of both of these on Amazon.
These are the one's we have.

And check the NHTSA site for reviews also.

We have a Recaro Vivo Booster that we LOVE. My suggestion would be to go to a store like BRU and "test sit" a few seat. We did and some of the seats I was considering turned out to be really flimsy or just not a good fit for DD or our car (the Britax Frontier for example is a monster of a seat and would have been a very tight fit in our compact cars).
Our Vivo on the other hand is rather slim - I don't think a chubby kid would be happy in it - but my child is long and lean and feels very comfortable in it.
Last but not least if your child is still within your seat's height and weight limit there is no reason to move to a booster. We only replaced one car seat when she reached the 40 lbs weight limit - in my car she is still in her convertible seat that has a higher weight limit (though she will outgrow the height soon).
Good luck.