Carseat Advice - Homosassa,FL

Updated on August 04, 2007
D.M. asks from Homosassa, FL
7 answers

I have a 35 pound 3 1/2 year old son. He is just about ready for a new carseat. I was wondering if one was better than the other when it comes to the highback lap belt booster seats vs. the five point harness seats. What do you think?

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K.V.

answers from Tampa on

Dear D.,

My family just went through this. My son is 2 1/2 and 37 lbs so we had to get a new seat. I did a lot of research and ended up buying the Britax Regent Youth seat. It has a 5-point restraint that goes up to 80 lbs. I found it challenging to install but it is super snug and safe. We bought a second one for my husband's car. Another thing to keep in mind is to use the top safety tether and if your car has the LATCH system, it only holds up to 48 lbs. So I just use the seat belt and top tether. My parents purchased for their car the Safeguard Go Booster seat that has 5-point harness up to 65 lbs. It is somewhat challenging to install and not very comfy for a sleeping child, but it does fold up and can be used to travel. Good luck, K.

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G.C.

answers from Tampa on

Nothing is better than the 5 point harness.....it is the safest...

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C.T.

answers from Tampa on

I would get a five point harness seat, they have been proven to be much safer. Mostly because of them having the built in latch system and in accidents seat belts have been know to come undone. I saw this movie and how safe five point harness seats are and I wont put my kids in anything else. If you want I can e-mail you the link and you can view it, it was enough to scare me into putting my son back into a harness and out of his high back booster. Also right now Wal-Mart has car seats on sale.

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J.M.

answers from Tampa on

I have researched this a lot. The best thing to stick with in my opinion is the 5 point harness, research has shown this due to young children in car accidents. The BEST and I mean Best booster 5 point harness is the Britax-Regent. I have two boys and they eat all the time so the Regent will hold up to 80 lbs. This can now be purchased at Babies R Us. There is a Britax-Marathon which holds up to 65 lbs. This is at Target and Babies. I will warn you that they aren't cheap but if you are a car seat freak like me, $$ doesn't matter. The price for either is $269.00, the price is the same anywhere....hope this helps!
You can go to the Britax website and check them out!

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M.M.

answers from Tampa on

D.....Go 5 Point
You'll never regret it!

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R.

answers from Tampa on

Hi D., this is a difficult but searious decision to make.. You can't gamble with the life of your child. I know it's hard to swallow the $269, but you will feel much better once you do it. I too did alot of research before I purchased the Regent. It was so hard to pay the money but we are very happy with the product and feel much safer with our son in it. Some one I know calls it a barca lounger :) it's so big. If you want to see one in person you can see them at Babies R Us, they only sell the tan color. If you want the black/gray one you will need to purchase it on line. They don't generally charge shipping when you purchase one on line. TinyRide.com guarantees to have them in stock. Here is some information that may help you decide on a five point harness, just in case you havenn't come across this in your research. U Tube video talking about the dangers of booster seats.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

Here is one regarding turning your baby to face forward after the age of one, just in case you are going to have a second child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&mode=relat...=

Good website to mark to check on car seat safety info.

http://www.car-safety.org/basics.html

One last thing, if you purchase the Britax Regent and I hope you do, it will help to remove the headreast in your seat before installing, both myself and a friend realized it was much easier to install if we removed them. Also, the most difficult part of the installation to me was the seat belt, not the latch system. That is very easy in my opinon.

Good luck!!

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C.A.

answers from Tampa on

I personally am going to get the 5 point harness, just because the safety factors involved. My daughter just turned 3 and is 36lbs so we don't have too much longer until she will need to move to another seat. The little research we have done so far though has us looking at spending over $200 on a new seat and we'll most likely have to buy 2 of them (one for each car). I think the fact that she'll be much safer in the 5 point seat is peace of mind enough to spend the extra dollars.

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