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@CatchAFallingStar: when DD reached the height limit for her convertible seat. In my mind the toddler seat is the one that comes after the bucket infant seat. The booster seat has a minimum weight and height requirement. I think DD was about 4 when she switched permanently

I switched to a harness booster at 2 and a few months. I needed to pass down the convertible and DS was going to have to forward face anyway due to our car situation. He is still harnessed at almost 4 with no plans to change. DD is still rear facing in the convertible.

We just switched to a booster this month and E is a few months over 6. Our convertible seat was good until 65lbs and 52" so he's been in that seat since he was 10 months old. He was asking to switch because none of his friends were harnessed and I finally felt he was ready.

There are a few different ways to do the car seat thing. Stay in the convertible through rear facing and forward facing, then switch to a booster only seat. Or when you switch to forward facing you can get a combination seat that is a forward facing harness and converts to a booster.

Children should remain harnessed until a minimum of five (though for many kids it will be to 6-7). I believe what you are looking for is a combination seat (sometimes referred to as a harnessed booster).

This is a good place to get started:
https://csftl.org/recommended-seats/#combination

DS1 is turning 4 in a couple of weeks and is tall and “sturdy” and we plan to give his convertible seat to DS2 (6 months). So we think it’s a good time to switch to a harnessed/combo booster. I’ve been researching best prices for the one we want this week and will buy in the next few weeks.
DS1 is also right at the limit for latch. Which obviously isn’t a reason in and of itself. But rather than switching and reinstalling car seats around multiple times in the next few months we’ll just do it in one fell swoop.

Not that you asked but we have the Chicco NextFit convertible which we LOVE. We will get a Chicco MyFit. I was looking at the Britax Frontier Clicktight initially because seatbelt install is all we need now. But really love Chicco so much and the MyFit is actually cheaper so I think that’s what we’ll do. It’s also what DS1 is already “used to” so I think it will be easiest transition. We rarely need to uninstall/reinstall our seats anyway.
I literally just came to this conclusion today, haha.

We're in the midst of this decision. We just bought a high backed booster for my daughter to use twice a week for carpool. She will be 5 in 2 weeks and is 44" and 40 pounds. I feel fine with her using it for this purpose. However, we are also getting certified for foster care and will need to replace our car seats with narrower ones. Our Chicco NextFits are gigantic. So the question is should be permanently graduate her to a booster or buy her another harness seat knowing she'll get limited use out of it? I keep going back and forth.

@SweetiePie: that’s what we did, baby got convertible and big bro got the new seat! We did go with the Britax click tight and it’s pretty nice, not to mess with your plan I like the idea of sticking with a brand you like too though, but we have a Clek so they only have the seat belt booster.

My super tall 5.5 year old still isn’t in a booster! We’ll switch her to a HBB when she reaches the height limit for her foonf probably by the end of the year.