Advice for almost 5 y.o. outgrowing 5 point harness

Hi All,

I'd appreciate your opinions. My dd will be 5 in January. She is 39 inches tall and weighs about 35 lbs. She is currently in a Graco Comfort Sport. Her shoulders have just reached the highest harness slot so it's time to move her on.

My dilemna is this. Do I buy another 5-point harness car seat or move her into a booster? At her current growth rate, she will not reach 65 lbs for centuries (OK maybe that's an exaggeration) but her weight gain has been only 3-4 lbs/year for the last 2 years. She's also only growing about 2-3 inches/year.

I looked into the seats that are 5 point harness to 48lbs and then boosters thereafter but it seems that most people on this website don't have particularly high opinions of them. I liked the Safety 1st Apex that we looked at at TJs but we don't have headrests in the back seat of our current car so that one is out. My dd didn't like the Graco or the Evenflo at all. She said they were both really uncomfortable.

I can't decide if she really needs another 5-point harness. She never falls asleep in the car now (only sometimes on trips of greater than 4 hours) and she's a fairly quiet-natured child so I think she would sit properly in a booster seat. I could get her a Marathon or a Radian but then would have to buy a booster after that. And would it really be necessary to keep her in a 5-point when she's 7 or 8? So, the Marathon or Radian would probably be used for about 2 years at the most and then we'd be on to the booster seat. If I had another child than I could pass the seat on to I'd definitely do that, but we only have our dd and aren't planning on any more children.

I'm rambling now but I'd really appreciate any opinions, particularly from parents of 6 or 7 year olds.

FWIW, we live on a small island. Most of our driving is done here with an occasional long-distance trip. Accidents are very rare on the island and that is why I didn't buy one of the more expensive carseats when she moved out of her infant carseat. It's another reason why I'm hesitating on spending the big bucks on a Marathon or Radian.

Assuming you are in Canada (since you posted in the CDN forum), YES she absolutely must remain in a harnessed child restraint until at least 40lbs. It is against the law, and against manufacturer's instructions, to place her in a belt positioning booster before she weighs 40lbs.

At her height and weight there are many, many carseats that she could safely use.

You said you looked at the Evenflo and Gracos at harness to 47/48lbs? There are a variety of "trim" levels on those seats, some of which are much more comfortable than others. Also, they are not as pricey as convertible seats, so you could use them with the harness until outgrown and then purchase a dedicated belt positioning booster.

I am the parent of a 6, almost 7 yr old. He has been in a booster full time since he was about 5.5 yr old, but he was well over 40lbs when we switched. I had actually imported a US restraint to keep him harnessed because he hit 40lbs when he was under 3 yrs old, if the seat were legal he would still be in it now regardless of age.

Like the pp said, by law in Canada, she has to be in a 5pt harness until 40lbs or 6yrs old.

There are a variety of the evenflo combination seats. If she's looking for something cushy, I'd try either the generations/bolero, or else the traditions. I know the traditions at sears has some extra padding, and if she's just outgrowing the comfortsport by height at 5yrs old, she is just a peanut torso-height wise and would have tons of growing room before needing to have the bottom comfort pillow removed. The Graco Cargo Platinum that sears has also has a lot of padding, so I'd maybe double check that one out too.

What type of vehicle do you drive? Did you put the Apex in your car and sit your dd in it to see how much growing room she'd have? The rule is that the wherever the mid-point of her ears is on the car seat shell, the apex must have support from the vehicle seatback or headrest at all times. So if you put the apex in your car, install it & buckle her in, then look at her head in relation to the vehicle seatback, how much room does she have to grow before the midpoint of her ears would be above the vehicle seatback? The apex has a fairly low profile, and with your dd being relatively short in the torso, she may have plenty of growing room. It's worth double checking anyways.

What was it about the graco & evenflo combination seats that she found uncomfortable? Did she like the Radian and MA? The Radian is comfy, but doesn't have a ton of padding - definitely less than an evenflo traditions at any rate. I probably wouldn't spend the money on a MA with her being 5 already. Definitely worth it for a young child, but unless there's a sibling to pass the seat down to, it's just not worth it at her age unless there's no other seat options - but there's plenty she'll fit still, so that doesn't apply at the moment.

I am the parent of a 7 year old, and also of a 5 year old. Just less than a year ago I was in your very situation. My DS was 4, and was outgrowing his AO car seat. I put him into the Graco Turbo booster that both of his older siblings had used from the time they were about 4 (even 3 didn't know the laws back then!!) and thought all was good. Unlike your DD, my DS was NOT a good booster rider, he was all over the place and more! A bit of online searching about what bigger harnessed seat I could get led me to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ. The child was pretty much the same age as my DS, and riding in the same seat....we even called our DS bubby as a nickname. After that there was no way I could put keep him in the booster. I went out and bought the Radian the next day(our DS is tall, and long in the torso, he was already verging on too tall for the hwh other posters have mentioned). He is our last baby, there is no one for us to pass the seat onto either. It was $199 (and aside from Marathon, any of the other seats mentioned above will be less than that!), but even given that I may only get a year out of it, works out to less than $1/day, which to me, is nothing...less than the cost of a cup of coffee for my child's safety. I realize that it is not that simple for everyone, it is a big $$ outlay at one time, but we were able to use CT$$ to help, and we used some of DS's money that he had been gifted. I think nothing of spending $199 on clothes, or boots, or school supplies, or whatever else the kids need, I really just think why should their safety in the car be any different. I have never been in an accident, and God willing never will, but you just never know. My son is still riding in the Radian, and every time I hear Kyle's song on the Radio, no word of a lie, I look back there and say thanks. My DD who is going on 8 this month would absolutely also be riding in a Radian of her own (by her choice mostly - she loved that seat!) it if she hadn't outgrown it by weight and height too really. She rode in it when we first got it for DS every chance she got, but even then she was verging right on 65lbs and at the top slots, at 7 years, 3 months. I hope that DS will be able to use it till spring (at which point I anticipate he will have unfortunately outgrown it by height), at which point he will go into a booster that I will likely buy new for him cause DD will still be using hers...so HTH with your decision.

Well, I'm surprised! She has to stay in a 5 pt harness until she's 40 lbs! For some misguided reason, I thought that as soon as they hit 40 lbs OR 40" they moved up to a booster seat. What did people do before these carseats came out with the higher height limits? At the rate my dd is growing, she won't hit 40 lbs until she is 42" or 43" tall.
Again, I must be mistaken, but when I bought the Graco I thought that most of the carseats on the Cdn market were certified for 40lbs or 40" whichever came first.

And even yet, 40lbs is the bare minimum of the law. As a parent of a 12 year old boy, I have to say that things have come a long way--to the benefit of our children's safety. Before, when your child didn't fit the norm (23lb 4 month olds that had to go forward-facing, 41lb 1 year olds with no choice but to move into a booster..) you basically crossed your fingers and prayed a little. We didn't used to have these wonderful options that we now have to protect our kids' lives. You should be happy to have a child that is still within the height and weight limits of available harnessed seats--you'll be able to keep her harnessed, and safer, for a while longer.

-N.

Yes, me again. I just checked out the harness slots heights published at http://www.carseatdata.org/cnt/resources/car-seat-measurements.

It says my Graco Comfort Sport has top harness slots at 14.5". The other ones don't seem much higher with the Evenflo Traditions at only 16" and the Graco Cargo at 17". It's possible that DD could hit the 16" before she hits 40lbs at her current rate of weight gain. She's getting skinnier as she gets older.

Thanks for the info about the Apex and the car seat heights. We have an old Jeep and the back seat is a low bench seat so I'm pretty sure it won't work but I'll check it out.

I guess that leaves me to choose between the Graco Cargo and the Sunshine Radian. Darn, I should have got one of those 48lbs Radians at CT on sale for $99. She'd likely have outgrown it in height before she hit 48 lbs. Why do I always figure these things out too late!

On another note, my girlfriend's dd is 40 inches tall and weighs about 32 lbs. She's in a Marathon and I see their top harness slots are at 17.5 inches. It's possible her dd will outgrow the Marathon before she hits 40 lbs!!

OK, so I'm not as stupid as it appears from my posts. Really.

Obviously, children don't grow only in their torsos so an extra 2 -3 inches extra in torso height could equate to a total height increase of 6 - 10 inches I would guess...as children's legs presumably grow faster than their torsos.

I really should think things through a bit better before posting. Sorry.

Don't worry... it's a lot of new information to take in.

If your daughter is just outgrowing her comfortsport by height now, are her shoulders right at the top slots or are they over already and by how much?

You actually have a lot of options to keep her harnessed for quite awhile.

The Evenflo Traditions is more cushy than the Vision/Chase and also makes an okay booster.

The Evenflo Generations is more cushy than the Bolero... otherwise same seat and converts to a decent booster.

The Apex looks fairly cushy as well, but needs adjustable headrests for when she gets taller and her ears go above the vehicle seat back... also makes a decent booster.

The Graco Platinum Cargo is the cushy, front adjusting model... but be warned that it does *not* make a good booster for skinny kids.

The Radian has the tallest top slots on the Canadian market, but given your daughter's torso/overall height I don't think you'll need to worry about that as much. She should gain those last 5lbs before she grows another 6 - 10 inches... this age is generally where the legs start to play catch up with the rest of the body... not a guarantee, but a generalization.

Lastly, the slot heights listed are *guidelines*. The seats will fit every child different, especially depending on which vehicle they are installed on and in which vehicle position.