New seat help - Canada

My 3.5yr old is now 44lbs and 42.5" She is harnessed in a Rainier and Radian. But, sadly, she is all torso and has less than 0.5" of harness left.

Am I correct that in Canada the only other seat with a taller harness is the Frontier? It runs $450. My husband has noted that the law says she is big enough for a booster. Obviously the law is wrong. I need a few links of factual, not dramatic, info as to why she isn't safe in a booster. I fully expect she has a good 2-3yrs before she will be booster ready. She is a busy, energetic child. She is well behaved and quick learner but she cannot handle sitting still.

I need seat options. Canada. Very high harness height.

Hi there,

Your options are not limited to the $450 Frontier - phewf!

While the law says 40lbs the law in every province and territory also requires "proper use" of any seat. This means keeping the seat belt in place at all times, even when sleeping. Wiggly, impulsive 3 year olds are not capable of doing this for more than a few minutes at best. The take home here is that if the seat belt is not in place at the time of a crash then it can not do its job - hopefully that will help your husband understand why it's so dangerous for her to move prematurely to a booster.

But first a few government-based links that might help:

Transport Canada's forward-facing fact sheet has a bit at the bottom about not rushing to booster: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safedrivers-childsafety-stage2-forward-facing-1085.htm

Also Child Safety Link out of the maritimes has a booster fact sheet, the top line says "be able to sit correctly." This is the part where most kids under 5 fall apart. http://childsafetylink.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/booster-seat-fact-sheet.pdf

A very tall and long lasting harnessed seat -- and also well priced thankfully -- is the Evenflo SureRide, also called the Titan 65 at Walmart. It's usually on sale somewhere for about $140 or less. Right now it's $115 at Amazon The SureRide is only about 1" less in torso height than the Frontier. There are a few other options but that's by far your most economical. The SureRide doesn't become a booster, but, boosters are relatively inexpensive and can be chosen when needed to fit the child and the vehicle when the time comes in a few years.

What do you drive? There may be a few other options out there but will be vehicle-dependent.