What seat should I get for my petite kid?

jessadg

New member
My daughter is close to 4 1/2. She weighs about 33 pounds and is about 39 1/4 inches tall. Her "butt to shoulder" measurement is 14".

She's about to outgrow her Graco ComfortSport, as she's (finally) getting too tall for it. I know people complain about these seats, but we've had her in this since she outgrew her infant seat, and have gotten a lot of use out of it. Don't get me started on the straps, but this lasted a long time. (I did want a Britax, but we were too broke at the time.)

So we need a new seat, and here are some factors:

  • I'm not sure if there are still seats with puzzle locks out there, but I just canNOT handle the puzzle locks. They make me crazy.
  • I'd like something that can keep her in a 5-point for a while, but I also know that she's more likely to outgrow something height-wise LONG before she outgrows it weight-wise, so the height of those top straps are important.
  • We don't have headrests in our back seat.
  • We do have LATCH.
  • She's an only kid, so car-seat size is not a factor.
  • My husband is not wanting to spend a lot of money if there are less expensive options that meet our needs.
  • My daughter would prefer "pretty", though that's the least of the factors.
  • I would kind of prefer something that could convert to a booster, preferably with a back, but I'm not sure if there's a booster that has a 5-point weight limit of more than 40 pounds that we can use in our car.

I'd appreciate any input. I've been going nuts trying to come up with something. At this point, the Radian is looking good; I would love to see it first, but the nearest store with one seems to be several hours away in Brooklyn.
 
ADS

scatterbunny

New member
The ComfortSport is a fine seat for a petite little girl like yours, so don't feel bad about not having a Britax or something else that more folks own--the CS worked well for you, getting your dd to age 4.5. My dd was 36 inches tall and 32 pounds when she outgrew the CS...but that was on her 2nd birthday. :D

Do you really think she needs the higher weight limit harnessing? I think a good combo seat will be great for her. She most likely won't hit 40 pounds until she's 6.5 to 7, or possibly even later...so tall top slots are the main focus.

I think I would go with a Recaro Young Sport for a 33 pound 4.5yo with a 14 inch torso. She'll be able to use it harnessed until she hits 40 pounds and then it makes the best booster of all the combination seats.
 

jessadg

New member
Thanks! I'll definitely check that out. Do you know what the top harness height is?

Realistically, yeah, she's not going to need huge weight limits. For example, the Regal would be overkill unless we wanted to keep her in a 5-point harness until she's twelve. ;)
 

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