recommendations for my 4-yr old

Hi
I have to replace my Britax Roundabout as it is 6 years old. I have been using it for my 4-year old daughter (it was a hand me down from her older sister). My daughter is on the small side: height 36 inches; weight 30 lbs.) I could buy another Britax Regent which is what my older daughter (age 6) now uses but she seems a bit small for that. Is there something now quite as large as the Regent that might work here?

Another option is to switch my older daughter to a booster seat which she wants and use her Regent with my younger daughter but should I try to keep her in the five point harness as long as possible?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome back to C-S.org

Your 4 year old is quite petite, so the car seat world is your oyster!

Economically speaking, the most sensible thing to do would be to pass the Regent down to your 4 year old and purchase a dedicated belt positioning booster for your six year.

Most 6 year olds are ready for the responsibility of a booster, but only you as the parent knows if it's true for your six year old. If you think she can be trusted to sit upright, mind the belt, and not turn around at an unexpected noise, or bend over to pick up a dropped item, 100% of the time, then she's ready for a booster. If you give us her weight and height, we can make some suggestions.

If you feel that your six year old isn't there quite yet and just needs more harnessed time, I'd look for a combination seat for your four year old, that will keep her harnessed for a while longer and then becomes a good booster.

The Evenflo Maestro harnesses to 50 pounds, has 18" top slots (so will keep your daughter harnessed for multiple years considering that's half her overall current height!), and then converts to a moderately decent belt positioning booster. It will be outgrown pretty early as a high back booster, although, considering your child's diminutive overall height, she may be 8 or so by the time she outgrows it, and would be fine in it a backless booster. The Maestro is economical at 80 dollars.

If you don't mind spending more money, I'd recommend the Graco Nautilus or the Britax Frontier. They both have 18" top slots, 65 and 80 pound limits on the harness respectively (obviously, you don't 'need' the 80 pound limit), and then convert to very good high back boosters. The Frontier will last as a high back booster until your child is ready to sit in a belt alone. The Nautilus will be outgrown as a high back somewhat earlier than that, but also converts to a very nice backless booster. They retail for 130-180 and 270, respectively.


Let us know if you want more info

Thanks for the recommendations for my 4-year-old. I may pass down the Regent to her - in that case, I would like a recommendation on a belt positioning booster for my 6 year old. She is about 51 inches tall and about 53 lbs and will be 7 in a couple of months. Incidentally I had purchased a recaro vivo booster for her to use when she goes in a friend's car but I have two concerns and I have been unsuccessful getting anyone at recaro customer service to return my calls. After I attched the back to the seat, the back continues to move back and forth -- it's not stationary. Is that the way it's supposed to be? The other concern is that when the seat belt is threaded through the positions, sometimes the seat belt locks up. My concern is that the seat belt would be too tight and possibly injure her in an accident. Am I doing something wrong here? In any event, if you have a recommendation for something else, I'll probably replace it.