What kind/style of carseat is your 4 year old in? Is it a 5-point harness seat, or a seat that uses the seatbelt??
We need to get new carseats and I was surprised to see there were SO MANY carseat/booster transition seats.
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Mine is turning three, but I'm contemplating this because we will be buying her a new seat so baby sister can have the convertible. I'm planning on buying a harnessed booster that can convert to a belt-positioning booster when she's ready for it.
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Mine just turned 4 and he's lucky to be forward facing. He will be in a 5 point harness until he can drive legally
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@avivoca: yes, our almost one year old is getting the convertible seats.... That's a great idea, a harness that converts to a belt, i wonder if they all do that.
We tried out a belt and I felt like he could move too much still, even though he is meeting the weight/height requirements. It feels like the harness is safer.
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@skipra: haha
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It is a combo harness to booster seat, you can use either the 5 point harness or the seatbelt.
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@looch: which one do you have?
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We have a booster with a 5 point harness that goes up to 65lbs, then it converts to a high back booster for kids up to 110lbs. The back also comes off when they are tall enough and it becomes just a regular booster seat. I want to use the harness as long as possible because it is safer. LO is 4.5 years old and 50lbs.
http://harmonyjuvenile.com/defender-360-3-in-1-convertible-deluxe-car-seat-moon-rise-1/
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**** OOH, ALSO: can your kids still sleep in their seats? I'm thinking since these are so upright now it's going to be harder for him to take naps.
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Definitely recommend a harness to booster seat (we have the Britax Frontier). I know some people have 4-year-olds in boosters but I have a hard time believing they sit properly 100% of the time. My guy is 5 and still harnessed, and I'll probably keep him that way for another year or so.
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He's still in his Graco size4me 65 that we bought to transition out of the infant seat. I don't see any reason to switch him to a booster yet. I'll probably keep him harnessed until at least 5, maybe 6.
We needed a new carseat for my mom, since he outgrew the seat in her car. We went with a Harmony Defender, since it will harness to 65lbs, then convert to a high back booster, and later a regular booster. There's several of these reasonably priced combination seats on the market, the harmony defender, the graco wayz/tranzitions, and Evenflo Transitions.
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@hellobeeboston: we have Britax Frontiers and love them!
DS will be 8 in 2 weeks and is still in a 5 point harness in my car (which he uses 90% of the time). He sleeps great in it!
I actually HATE the seatbelt for kids that sleep - we took DH's truck out of town which has a seat belt booster and he was so slumped over while sleeping =( -
Ooh, also... if you're looking at seats that convert from harness to booster, keep an eye on the harness weight limit. A lot of the seats will say from 20-110 lbs, and you need to dig a bit to see that the harness weight limit is only to 50lbs or something like that. Some of them were as low as 40! If you have a peanut, it might not apply, but I have a large 4 year old.
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@hellobeeboston: I have two Britax Frontiers and one Graco Nautilus.
When we were on vacation this past year we borrowed a belted booster and I did not like the way my son could lean and move around in the seat. I had to sit in the back to make sure he stayed in the seat and didnt' try to bend towards the middle to see things on the other side of the road...he had just turned 5. So harness for him!
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@kiddosc: that's why I love the britax - its up to 85lbs harnessed on ours and the newer model is 90
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@Mamaof2: Thanks! We've used the Britax seats for the infant and convertible seats thus far....
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i voted for what she will be in, which is her convertible car seat. she's still RFing at 3.5 and we'll flip her at 4, i think. she's NOWHERE near ready to be sitting still in a booster.
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@hellobeeboston: we also have a britax frontier which, for him, is for all intents and purposes the same as a convertible seat--the harness keeps him restrained the same way. There's no way I would feel ok with him just in a seatbelt.
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LO is 4 and still in her Britax convertible seat which just got turned forward-facing when she turned 4. She's small, so she has space left in this seat.
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We like our nautilus. Just fyi, if you want your kid to nap in the seat, stick with a harness. Belted boosters are supposed to be for kids who can sit up safely so the belt hits them in the right spot and who don't regularly slump over to nap in the car.
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I thought this was helpful: http://www.lucieslist.com/forward-facing-car-seats/
I haven't selected one but I plan to get a forward facing combination seat for my 3 year old when the baby outgrows her infant seat. She will be in a harness for a looooonnngg time but no sense in buying another convertible seat for the baby when the toddler is already forward facing.
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@hellobeeboston: we are in a 5 point harness booster that converts. He can still fall asleep by his head does flip forward terribly in it.
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She's five and harnessed and sleeps fine in her britax.
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DD1 will be for this winter.
She's still rear-facing in a Clek Fllo. She still has three inches to RF and then nine inches for FF. I imagine she'll be in this seat at least another three years.
Instead of turning her and switching to a harnessed booster when we move DD3 up to a convertible we ended up buying a third convertible. -
I will have both kids in a 5 point harness until they physically can't be anymore. I seriously wonder why car seat belts aren't harnesses
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At my son's four year well check, my doctor made a point to try and keep my son in a five-point hardness as long as possible. She said it's the safest option for him. So I have no plans to switch him anytime soon! He still has over 20 lbs to go to the weight limit anyway.
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@skipra: haha same. I've got a peanut.
I like the diono radian rxt for my 4 year old. Very low profile, solid seat.
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So LO just turned 4 and we just switched to a Britax Frontier and will keep her in the 5 point harness for as long as possible. For some states, the laws are different on seatbelt boosters so make sure to check that. Like you have to be 40 pounds AND 4 years old AND 40 inches. My daughter only meets the age requirement so I wouldn't feel comfortable putting her in.
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N will be four in just a few short weeks (what?!???). He is in this seat.
http://www.evenflo.com/Products/Evenflo/Car_Seats/Symphony_DLX/ -
@hellobeeboston: my 4 year old is still in her convertible (and will be for another year or two height wise, I think!) in my car....but for my mom's car I got a high back booster with a five point harness - I'm pretty sure you can remove the harness to use the car seat belt. It's definitely less cushy than her convertible, but I also bought a cheap one (whatever the booster version of a Cosco Scenera is) because it is rarely used. She doesn't sleep in her convertible anyway, so that wasn't a consideration for us.
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