Carseat or Booster - Now What?

My son is 3 1/2 and is currently in the Evenflow high back booster with the 5-pt harness. He is about 40 lbs now, but definitely not ready for a booster. I'm way too nervous I would suddenly look to the side and see him smiling at me after unbuckling himself!

The carseat he is in was not much more expensive than a highback booster seat and I wanted him in the 5 pt harness, so it was worth it to me. I'm pretty sure it's also a lot less expensive than the Graco Nautilus (or similar).

He's very safe, so that would be the choice I would make. It really is nice having carseats in both cars.

I would stick with the nautilus. It converts to a booster so you always have that option later. In the meantime, they are safer being harnessed, so you might as well keep them that way. Plus, they are used to the seat, so it shouldn't be a big deal to them to get another of the same.

My son is also 5 and about 44-45 inches, but he is 47 lbs. He has a Graco Nautilus and it works great for him. We also have a Britax Frontier and love that one even more. When he rides with his grandparents, he sits in a Graco Turbo high back booster. I feel like he is so much less secure and I'm never as comfortable when I know he's in that seat vs one of the ones with a harness.

Congrats on twins!

I wouldn't rush to booster at 40 lbs. That's a bare minimum. I would probably be OK with boostering a 6-year-old if he could sit properly every ride and was at least 40 lbs. But they are just 5, and very light as well.

We all want our kids as safe as possible (and alive) in an accident.

How about the Recaro Prosport? It has a harness and later converts to a booster. My 6-year-old fits nicely in this harness at 48 inches and 54 lbs. The seat has very deep side-wings for the head. Love it!

Or, if you wanted something more economical, how about the Evenflo Maestro? It's a very affordable seat and harnesses up to 50 lbs. They will have room to grow at 44 inches, too. It converts to a booster later. It's very easy to install. Note Honda has a 40 lb. limit for latch so if you drive that, you'll probably just want to install seatbelt given their weights, especially the 39 lb. child. Most other vehicles are a 48 lb. latch limit.

Well I am one of those moms, but I would get high back boosters because they are so close to the weight. A 5pt that converts is hard to reach around to buckle imo.

Your state doesn't allow high back boosters until 40 lbs? Or just not a seat belt positioned high back booster?

If your state allows it, I would get a high back booster that has a harness til 65 pounds. I just saw a Graco at Walmart that was around $80 and was a harness til 65 lbs.

I bet in a few months they will weigh enough to move to the other kind of car seat. I'd wait until they did then go with the high back boosters. That way you aren't spending a ton of money on something you don't need. In a year or two they will be using straight up seat belts and won't even need a car seat at all.

Since they are not going to be using them more that a couple of years I would wait and go cheaper. That's what I'm trying to say.

In Oklahoma "children ages 5 and under are required to ride in a booster seat or child car seat". If they are not big enough to sit properly with the seat belt at the right place they still have to be in a booster to make the strap go across them the right way but if they are 6 they don't have to be in anything special.

I still think you should wait. If the car seats you get go up past 40 lbs then you are still only going to be able to use them up to the weight limit they have set on them anyway. That why I think waiting until they weigh enough to move up to a regular booster is the best most cost effective thing to do.

IMO, the cost is worth the extra safety for you kids. As you know, you will never need another seat after these because after the 5 pt harness they move to high back booster and then regular booster.