Carseat for a 3 Yr Old (Advise)

My 3.5 yr old is in a graco nautilus and we love it! His head does not flop over too much when he falls asleep. He says its very comfortable and best of all it looks like his big brother's booster seat (also a graco) Its got two compartments that can hold small toys and has a cup holder. Its easy to install and although you have to rethread the straps its very very easy to do.

I will answer your questions first, then post more below them.

From your experience how long have been able to keep your child in a convertable car seat? (age) My oldest rode in a 5pt harness until he was 7.5yrs old, 52" tall and 65lbs. He was in a Britax Regent, now in a Monterey high back booster. My 5yr old is now in the Regent, he is 47" tall and 50lbs. My 3.5yr old is rear facing in a First years TrueFit.

When did you get a larger car seat? (ie graco nautilus type) (age) My oldest was in a Cosco Alpha Omega, was too tall for it at 3yrs old, we bought a Britax Marathon. He move dto the Regent at age 4.5 when our youngest outgrew the infant seat and moved to the Marathon.

Convertable or booster for a 3 yr old? I would go with a higher harness weight seat like the Britax Frontier or Graco Nautilus. Harness now for a couple more years, then booster.

What kind do you have? We have a Britax REgent which will harness to 80lbs. They have discontinued that seat in favor of the Britax Frontier, whic hwill harness to 85lbs and then booster to 120lbs. We also have a Sunshine Kids Monterey high back booster for our 8yr old, and a First years TrueFit (convertible) for our 3.5yr old.

How easy was installing? As long as you read the manual you will have no problem installing a seat properly. If you ahve problems, get help from a CPST at www.safekids.org.

strap tightening? Again if you read the manual you will be able to do this easily and properly.

Strap raising? Most seats need to be re-threaded to move the harness up or down. Some don't. Overall you need to do this very seldom so I wouldn't worry about if you have to rethread or not.

good head support if they fall asleep? If your seat is properly installed for your childs age you shouldn't have head flop.

Big or bulky size? Unfortunately, car seats are big and bulky. Choose one that fits your car, your childs age/height/weight, and is within your budget.

OK! So now that I've answered your questions, here is my suggestions. I would move your 1yr old to the Boulevard REAR FACING! Please google EXTENDED REAR FACINg for more information. My 3.5yr old is rear facing in a First years TrueFit. She is 36" tall and 30lbs. Perfectly comfortable. The AAP, NHTSA and Safekids, and all car seat manufacturers, recommend children remain rear facing until they outgrow the rear facing wight limits of their car seat, or at least 2yrs and 30lbs. The Boulevard is 35lbs and until there is less than 1" of hard shell above the head.

For your 3yr old, I would purcahse a Graco Nautilus or Britax Frontier. Magicbeans.com and albeebaby.com are having a Britax sale right now. You do NOT want to put your 3yr old in a belted only booster seat. Its not safe, not wise, and yo ucan find seats out on the market now that are a better choice for a small child.

For a rear facing car seat, the harness should be just at or BELOW the shoulders. The harness should be snug as a hug and the chest clip level with the armpits. A rear facing car seat is outgrown when the child is over the rear facing weight limit or there is less than one inch of hard shell seat above the childs head.

For forward facing, the harness should be just at or ABOVE the shoulders. The harness should be snug as a hug and the chest clip should be level with the armpits. A forward facing car seat is outgrown when one of three things happens; the shoulders go over the top harness slot, the tips of the ears are level with the seat back, or the child goes over the weight limit.

Bulky winter clothing should NEVER be worn in the car seat. In a crash it will compress and make the harenss too loose for your child and subject him/her to being ejected. Pleae read the manual and dress your child in layers, fleece, and put a blanket over or the jacket on backwards after the car seat is buckled. Or go to youtube.com and search 'car seat jacket trick' for a video on how to safely wear a jacket in the car seat.

And again, if you need help installing or using a car seat, please find a CPST in your area.

I have a 4 year old and he is still in a convertible car seat and will be until he has completely out grown it as this is the safest place for him. Each car seat is rated differently and they expire 6 years from the mfr date. That being said I would buy your 1 year old a new car seat and leave your oldest in her current seat. Just my opinion.

We had to move our three-year-old daughter to a convertible/booster combo seat when she was three because she hit the weight limit on her Britax Roundabout. I LOATHE the combo seats, although they're often the best solution until a child can go in a real booster (in California, it's 4 yrs and 40 lbs.). The combo seats are massive, a pain to install and not easy to transfer to another car. The biggest disappointment for us was when we were ready to convert the Britax Frontier into a booster, we realized it didn't turn into a real booster. It's still exactly the same seat that has to be attached to the car, only you use a seat belt. Blech. So, it's not something you can transfer to another car like a real booster. When our daughter threw up all over hers on a long road trip, we decided to just buy her a real booster instead.

Our son moved into a booster when he was three but the laws were different back then. I know there are a lot of back-facing, car seat forever people, but we personally LOVE booster seats. Couldn't be easier to install, the kids are so much happier in them and you can pick it up and hand it over to someone who will be transporting your child in another car. The key is making sure you don't go with a booster until it's legally ok, so check state laws. I'm pretty sure age four and at least 40 lbs. is the usual.

We recently moved our baby into my toddler's Britax Marathon and got a new Frontier for our nearly 3 year old. She loves it! Not hard to install, easy to adjust the straps, pretty big and heavy but that's not necessarily a bad thing for car seats. We've had it since August and have been very happy with it.

I bought the Graco Nautilus for my son when he turned three and he loves it! Installation and strap tightening are super easy. Strap raising requires removal from the car and re-threading the straps (as does washing the seat pad). A pain, but really...how often do you have to do this?!?! Head support is okay, not great, but he sleeps fine. The seat itself isn't bulky, but it is heavy. It's not a seat you'd want to swap between vehicles very often. Strap it in and leave it!

I love our graco nautilus ..It easy to install ,they have alot of room to grow,head is fine while sleeping it big but not to bulky.We got into a car accident and had to replace our car seat which was the model before the grace nautilus so we went ahead and bought the nautilus..Graco is great when we got into the accident i was stopped and the car that hit us from behind going 55 my daughter didnt even move I turned around when the car stopped and she was playing with her stickers the ambulance came and couldnt believe what a sturdy seat it was..I plan on her staying in the 5 point harness for as long as she can then i will convert it to the booster..She turned 3 in september and she still has plenty of roo to grow in the seat and she is tall for her age...It is pretty not to bulky and safe plus it has little cubbys for stuff and a drink holder..Goodluck

Our 3 year old has the Eddie Bauer HIgh Back Booster (she is 3.5 now but went into it at just before 3) -- I believe it goes up to 100 lbs (lower like 45 with the 5 pt harness and then 100 lbs with the seat belt). I did the Consumer Report research on High Back boosters before purchasing but that was a year ago. If your child ever sleeps in the car (like you take frequent long trips), please know that high back boosters are NOT as comfy as a quality convertible like the Boulevard (our 2 year old son is in that now) because it doesn't tilt back slightly like the Britax Blvd does -- it is more straight. I think our Britax says it goes up to 60 lbs BUT it is likely our kids will outgrow it in height before they do in weight. I just feel like as they get taller, there is not as much support for the head as the back panel goes up to push the headrest and shoulder straps up BUT the side panels that are cushioning for side impact do not move and there will be a point where the child's head is getting to be above those side impact locations. That is the point where I would no longer feel safe using a convertible.

Our Eddie Bauer HB Booster is bulky but only pretty much the same amount as our Britax Blvd (they both take up a lot of space- ha!).

Good luck!

My 7mo is going to go into my 2.5yo's carseat when she outgrows the infant one, so we got him a new one. Plus, he was complaining about it hurting. We went with the Britax Frontier. It is a 5 point harness for now, and will turn into a booster until he is 120 lbs! Now, it is to move my daughter into the Boulevard.

The Frontier was not difficult to install, it is pretty light, and has cup holders too. My son loves it! I was worried about moving him up too soon, and/or buying a bigger one (he was getting too tall), for just a year or so, so this convertible works great for us.

We had a basic cosco convertable car seat for my daughter, but recently replaced it with the graco 65. This one is rated to 65 pounds and is made for taller children. My daughter is only 1.5 years old, but very tall/skinny (people guess she is 2.5 to 3 years old when they first look at her) and was already fitting the top most adjustment on her old car seat. In this state, 4 years and 40 pounds is the law for moving up to the booster, so we knew we needed something that would accomidate her height.

I plan on going to the backless booster when she is old enough. We have saved her smaller car seat for our next child, so that we don't have to buy another car seat for a while (it is less than a year old still).

Good luck

i got mine the belt positioning booser seats with the 5 point harnesses, so they could b strapped in like normal car seats and have the harness until they get old enough for the actual car seat belt, then you can just take out the harness and there are positioners on each side of the booster seat, then from there they should be out of them i think mine are rated up to 100lbs, and not quite as expensive as some of the other ones ive seen i think i got mine 30-50 each and i have 3 that match. good luck.