need some carseat advice

my2kidsSafe

New member
My ds who is 4.5 is a big boy. I mean huge. He weighs 52 lbs and is 46 inches tall and wears a size 13.5 shoe. He is almost the same size as my 7 year old. In my car he is in a regent and i have no problem there. The problem is he outgrew the MA in dh's car. DH basically only picks ds up from preschool which is about a mile and half down the road every other wednesday. Thats it. I had the radian in dh's car, which worked fine until my dad needed to pick up ds the other day. I can't get the regent to fit in his car and needed the radian. Unfortunately it was in dh's car. I ended up leaving ds with my dad and picking it up from dh's work and then coming home to put it in my dads car. So im needing another option, ds goes with my dad more than dh and travels farther distances so i would rather have him in the harness with my dad. Would you put your almost 5 year old with ds' stats in a booster. It wont be until september that dh has to bring him again.
 
ADS

Mom2FiveGirls

Active member
If your DH will make sure your DS stays sitting correctly then yes, I would put him in a high back booster for a short drive once a week or so.
 

kater-tot82

New member
As long as my child could stay in proper position for the ride, I would be ok with a high back booster for the use you are describing.

And wow he is a big boy! That's about the size of my 8yo :)
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
He is huge. He had a head start and he was born big. He was the size of a 3 month old at birth. He was 11 lbs 6oz and 22.75 inches long
 

Phineasmama

New member
Holy cow! I have a 4 1/2 year old DD and she is usually taller than the other kids her age...but wow. He's a big boy for sure!
I know my DD could sit properly in a booster, she's very well behaved and mature for her age. I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I just keep her harnessed because I can :)
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
people usually mistaken him for a 6 or 7 year old all the time. The problem is behavior wise he still acts like a 4.5 year old. Which people always say stuff about it, then they are surprised he actually is only 4.
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
also another surprising thing is he grows at a crazy rate. His teacher measured the entire class in september, and then remeasured them 2 weeks ago. He grew 4 inches in 9 months. Who grows 4 inches in 9 months. Only my monster.
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
people usually mistaken him for a 6 or 7 year old all the time. The problem is behavior wise he still acts like a 4.5 year old. Which people always say stuff about it, then they are surprised he actually is only 4.

He is really big. My 4yo isn't all that big and we still get looks & comments. She's 45lbs & 44". People always "look" when she's doing things like running around on all 4's, snarling & saying she's a dinosaur. She's a social butterfly, so I taught her to say "My name is Elizabeth. I'm FOUR." when people talk to her.
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
4 inches is a lot lol! How do you clothe this poor child!? :p

you don't even want to know. I am a clothes addict. Love gymboree and other similar brands. I bought him a ton of summer clothes in april. Well i had to buy more already as he outgrew them. I have a strange feeling he will outgrow these soon. When he does he is getting cheap clothes.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
hello... my 11yr old was like that (but he was ultra skinny at that age and then spurted 6" in the first two months of first grade and packed on 20lbs (the best side effect he's ever had from a medication))

I would say yes, partly because (if he is like my son, even though MY son was leggy, he may outgrow the Regent at 6.5yrs old) he needs time to be used to a booster before he HAS to use one all the time.


And as for how you clothe a child like this... well, my trick was thrift stores... especially as HARD as Damian is on his clothes... when he was in his worst spurts, we weren't even able to save any... because literally the growing that fast made him so clumsy he was just ripping his clothes to shreds in the process.

Also, adjustable waist pants... and stashing a full wardrobe of pants in two different sizes in my attic (so when he was a size 8, we had sizes 10 and 12 in the attic... when later that year, he was a size 10, we stocked up on size 14... and you get the idea.

Now he likes his clothes super loose, though, so we don't have to... and his growth has slowed considerably... he's only going through a size a year for the past 2yrs... so the trick is to have the pants 2sizes bigger (like he likes) and then make him wear a belt... and of course, hemming without cutting... and hem in sections... so I can undo ONE hem when they're about ONE size too big... then undo the other when he no longer needs the belt.... and start buying pants again.

Shoes... he was going through them about every 6mo... so whenever his shoes grew, I started sale-hunting... even now that he (for the past 2yrs) is down to about 1 size a year, he wears his shoes hard... so I watch the sales close... and I watch the shoes for holes... I also buy shoes in 2s... when I bought his size 10s at the beginning of the year, I also bought size 11s. if he hasn't outgrown the 10s (the first time EVER that will happen.. him not outgrowing a size at the end of the summer), then I'll still hunt down a sale... because we have found ONE brand of shoe he doesn't wear through in 6months or less... Lands End... the really good moccasins (and he loves that they are slip-on) to order a size 11 in those and pack the regular sneakers away for his brother or let him have them as a backup pair

Oh... and he always has liked wearing shirts big... so I buy them so that they last through 2 sizes of pants...
 

kandamom

New member
people usually mistaken him for a 6 or 7 year old all the time. The problem is behavior wise he still acts like a 4.5 year old. Which people always say stuff about it, then they are surprised he actually is only 4.

I hear you! My 44" 3.5-year-old acts every bit like a 3.5-year-old. He talks and moves like a three (almost 4) year old, so I think most adults understand that he is young. He also has a baby face. I'm pretty sure I'd be getting dirty looks rather than looks of sympathy from people sometimes, if they thought he was a five-year-old. I have more trouble with kids who are in the 4-6 age range not understanding why he is taller than they are, but acting so much younger.

To answer your question, I would be fine with him in a booster occasionally - assuming he sits well in it. I recently had my 3.5 (almost 4, 44", 42 lbs) - year-old in the Parkway sg for a brief ride in a shuttle car (a newer sonata) when I was picking my van up from the shop. I was sitting in the back with him, to make sure he sat properly. The parkway fit him beautifully, and he sat very well. You know your own child's maturity level best, of course, but I think most kids would be fine.

Wow, 4" in 9 months! DS1 started out huge, but only grew 2" between his fourth and fifth birthdays. If I am remembering correctly, he was 45" at his 5-year check-up. He's 9 now, and still wearing a size 8 in shirts. Luckily, I have all of ds1's clothes for ds2 to wear as needed.

Best of luck!
 

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