Car Seat for 4 Year Old/40# for Toyota Camry

What seat are you currently using? Many less expensive seats are outgrown at 40-45lbs. I urge you to do you research and try your best to keep him in a 5pt harness as long as you can. We have a 2003 Camry and I have my 3yr old in a Britax Marathon and it's harness limit is 65lbs (although I'm sure we'll outgrow by height first), I have my 5yr old in a Radian 65, which also goes to 65lbs, but has higher harness slots than the Marathon. In my husbands car we have another Marathon for the 3yr old, and we have a Apex 65 for the 5yr old. It harnesses to 65lbs then is a booster until 100lbs. It's a ok seat but I've had trouble installing it in my Camry.

Take a look at the Nautilus it has been getting great reviews and it is around $150.

HTH
E.

Just because your child is big/old enough to move to the next type of car seat, please don't feel like you need to. The 4yrs/40lbs requirement is the *minimum* for moving up for a booster seat. If your current seat has a weight limit above 40 lbs, then keep using it. The longer you can keep them in a 5 pt harness, the better.

K.,

First of all, I would check your current car seat, and see what the weight limit is. If your current seat can hold more than 40lbs, then there is no reason to switch seats.

When he grows out of his current seat, this is what I have:
http://www.target.com/Cosco-Highrise-Booster-Seat/dp/B001...

It's the Cosco highrise booster, and it's $16 at Target! It's really lightweight, and easy for a kid to get in and out of. Plus, you don't have to latch or buckle it into the car, so it's EXTREMELY easy to pop in and out of the car.

Good luck!

A 4 year old of that size can be in a booster (preferably high back), but it's more about maturity (can he sit correctly every time, the whole ride - no leaning, playing with seatbelt, etc) than age & size.

My DD is 4, but still harnessed 99% of the time in a Graco Nautilus and a Britax Frontier. She has been booster trained in a Graco Turbobooster, but it's for travel and emergencies.

You should have no problem fitting a Nautlius or Frontier in a Camry. Our Nautilus is in my CRV and the Frontier is in DHs Corolla.

Check out car-seat.org for great info!

Not sure that your ped. communicated accurately. I believe (not an expert, but think you should check it out) that in some states (Wash. included) you are ALLOWED to move your child to a booster once he/she is 40 pounds AND 4 years old...not that you have to do this. Many carseats have weight limits in the 60 pound range, some even go to 80 pounds. So, if you still want your son in a carseat, with a 5 point harness (probably your safest option), check your carseat requirements - you might be able to keep using it.

The only car seat I recomend is the Safegaurd Go Booster. I have one for my 4 year old and my 2 year old. The age requirement is min 1 year old. It takes up no more room than your seat in your car. The bonus is that it has a 5 point harness that fits up to 6 years old or 60 pounds. It is the ONLY booster rated for safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They run about $150.00 (just checked and they are on sale for 129.99!!). THe fact that they can use them literally for years and they are SAFE, they are worth the money. Below is the website I purchased mine from as well as the NHTSA website. I highly recommend parents check their car seat ratings before purchasing!
http://www.albeebaby.com/safeguard-go-hybrid-booster-car-...
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Hi K., I would go to nearest Baby store and ask if you can take the floor model out to make sure it fits into your car.

Britax is a great seat and will go all the way up to 80 pounds...

I'm not sure if the car you have makes a difference on that. I had my son in a booster by the time he was 4 and weighed that much. I would've preferred to get my son a booster with a back on it, considering how he still was falling asleep in the car. :D But I ended up purchasing just a normal booster bottom seat. It works just fine and is easy to transport. :D

Check with the car seat itself. They usually have a label that says how tall and heavy a kid can be and still use it. I know ours goes to 65#'s and there's a decent chance that my daughter will still be rear facing when she's 4.