Question Looking for a booster (possibly harnessed?) for a 7 year old, average height, thin, leggy daughter

My daughter will be 7 in a couple weeks and I'm in need of a new seat for her to replace one that is expiring. She's my oldest, so moving into a booster is new territory for me.

She's around the 50th percentile for height (47") and 5th percentile for weight (41 lbs). She's pretty leggy; she still has about 2" until she hits the max shoulder height in our Radian (she is harnessed). She was able to ERF in the Radian until she was 6.

I am torn on whether I should be getting a seat that she can continue to harness in or not? I've seen arguments for both keeping her harnessed and not, and both sides seem valid.

I would like whatever seat I get to be one that I can install next to my younger daughter's Radian, so narrowness is important.

I'd like to be able to pass down whatever I buy to my younger daughter (she'll be 4 in the spring), so expiration is important.

I've had the Britax Parkway recommended to me, but the 6 year shelf-life is potentially an issue.

I've also had the Turbobooster, Evenflo Amp, and the Graco Wayz/Tranzitions (can't find that one on Amazon?) recommended; my only concern with those seats is that they just don't look comfortable to me; we have Cosco seats that we've used for airline travel and those seats just don't look comfortable compared to our Britax and Radian seats. I have no idea whether that is a valid concern or not, but I'm comfortable paying more for a more premium seat if it's going to be better.

I was leaning towards either a Britax Frontier or Pioneer but was told that those aren't great options for my daughter because she's thin and average height.

I have not had any Diono boosters recommended to me and I've been happy with our Radians so I'm wondering if there are any good options there?

I'm really at a loss and would love some advice. Thanks in advance!

At 7, if she can sit properly in a booster without leaning out of position, I would get a highback booster and skip another harness. And if your younger daughter is 4, I wouldn't worry about a 6 year expiration. By the time the youngest is old enough to booster, your oldest will be fine transitioning to a $20 backless booster and when the highback is expiring, you oldest will likely be ready to 5 step and the younger can take over the backless. And if the oldest isn't quite ready to ditch the backless, it's only $20 for another backless.


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Unfortunately, I don't know if she can sit properly in a booster or not because we've never tried it.

I talked with a woman who still has her 10 year old son in the Parkway, so that's what made me concerned about the 6 year expiration; let's say I buy a seat that's already 6 months into its shelf-life, that won't even get my younger daughter until she's 9 1/2 (she's still 3, won't be 4 for a few months)...but I have no idea at what age it's a good idea to switch to a backless booster?

Do you know if any of the Diono boosters are narrow like a Radian (Monterey XT or Cambria)?

The Monterey has conflicting info on the Diono website; in one place it says that it has 6 years and the another place it says 8 years until expiration:
https://us.diono.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/US_combined_Monterey_XT_Manual_10312016_WEB.pdf

One other thing: it seems like all these boosters have a 40 lb minimum requirement? My older daughter got a nasty virus that was going around in December; it lasted for 3 or 4 weeks and she lost almost 5 lbs (my husband got it, too, and lost almost 15 lbs and he's already a thin guy). She has now gained most of that weight back, but during that time (or if it were to happen again), would the booster not be safe because she'd be less than 40 lbs?

Thanks for your help!

I wouldn't worry about a HBB potentially expiring when your younger daughter is 9.5yo. At that age moving to a NBB would be perfectly appropriate (and my favorite NBB is $13).

I'm not really sure what HBB's are narrower, the Parkway would probably work for you. One of my favorite boosters is the Recaro Performance booster but it definitely is not narrow. With her size you could take a look at the Graco boosters, they fit smaller kids very well. I haven't ever seen the Diono boosters in real life so I'm not sure how they compare for width. I would expect a typical 7yo to be able to sit correctly in a booster, that is old enough to be told and understand that it is important to sit correctly in order to stay safe in the car.

For ages, I went with a HBB from age 6-8, and then a NBB for as long as needed. I had NBB's before 8 to make carpooling and traveling easier. My DD just turned 11 and is starting fit in the seatbelts without a booster in some vehicles. Both my 11yo & 9yo use a HBB in our truck because it doesn't have tall headrests.

The Affix has a 30 pound minimum with the back, 40 pound without. I believe all the Graco boosters do. I really like my Affix and it has a 10 year expiration, if that is concerning to you.

My 6 year old rides about half the time in a backless and half the time in a highback. I harness her on long trips still. All my kids have been entirely in a backless by about 8, unless we go on a long trip, then they use a highback to make sleeping easier.


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I'm back on car-seat.org after about six years because one of our high back boosters (Britax Parkway SG) just expired but my almost ten year old is pretty tiny (10th percentile) and he doesn't want to use any of our several low back boosters full time. He says the HBB is more comfortable!

This is just a contrarian opinion for those who might have petite children. My older DS is more average in size and, at 13 yo, already approaching "man size." Younger DS is obviously following his own, less tall, path... Don't dismiss your concerns about having a HBB if your family's size/history suggests it might be important...

Respectfully,
--willo