Question Help me decide which carseat to buy please!

I need to get a new car seat for my DD. She is 5 years old, 44lbs, 44 inches tall and her shoulder height is 14.5 inches. She is in a marathon in my car and we usually move the seat back and forth between my car (Honda Civic Hybrid 2006) and my husband's car (Subaru Outback 2010). We would like a car seat for my husband's car and eventually a second one for my car (in 4 lbs!).

I have looked at the frontier and the nautilus and I can't decide. I prefer a 5 point harness since we often take 10 hour trips and I read (I think here) that a 5 point harness is safer if the child sleeps in her seat.
Any other car seat I should look at?

Thanks!

Those 2 are your best options. Depending on her age when she outgrows the MA you might decide to do a dedicated booster for the second car or go with another harnessed seat. It would also depend on if you have a primary car for long trips and the other is more for quick trips around town and therefore less likely for her to be napping in.

Frontier XT pros
- 2" more of harness height (although at 5 and 14.5" that might be a bit of overkill for her)
- tallest high back booster
- can be latched in booster mode
- available in girly pink (might help sell it to her on it if necessary)
cons
- some people don't like the mesh fabric (not good with velcro) although the new ones have less
- can be hard to install in some vehicles so definitely try it in BOTH vehicles with seat belt to make sure (since you'll eventually have to install it that way when the LATCH limit is exceeded). The long belt path install is a little differentso read the manual.

Nautlius pros
- less $$
- also converts to a low back booster
- also available in a slightly less but still girly pink
cons
- some kids have head slump issues in some cars so I'd try it out in both cars to see if that is an issue (especially since you want it for sleeping on long trips)

I can't remember which one fits which body type better.

The FrontierXT would be my top pick for a child who has the stats you listed. Not only does it make a great Extended Harnessing seat, but it converts to a super tall highback booster down the road.