Question Next step in car seats

[Unregistered]

Hi all,

I'd like assistance in my next step for car seats. My situation is the following

6yo male 55lbs, 47.5 inches tall

3 yo male 39 lbs, 38 inches

The are currently in the following.

Primary car: 2008 Nissan Xtra
6yo - Nautilus
3yo - Britax marathon
In my primary car, I still have the 6yo in a five point harness. For now this is ok, but if you could give me the next step for when the time comes that would be great.

Back up car: 2002 Honda Accord
6yo - Maestro
3 yo - Cosco Scenera (is that the name?)

I need to fix this situation immediately, since my 6yo has horribly outgrown the Maestro.

thanks for your help
Leah

 

[monica-m]

Welcome to car-seat.org, Leah.

The next step seat for you 6 year old will be a belt positioning booster seat. Most new booster riders stay in position better with a high back booster. The IIHS has rated boosters for how they position the belt and the ratings can be found here: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/child-boosters.

The next step for your 3 year old will be a combination seat. You want something that can harness him for a few more years and then convert to a belt positioning booster seat when the time comes. You could hand down your 6 year old's Nautilus if you so choose, just be mindful of expiration dates.

 

[Dillipop]

Nautilus, marathon For now, you should be fine with these 2 seats- the nautilus will turn into a good high back booster but if you don't like the for when the time comes, a dedicated highback would work well for him. Maestro, scenera- dedicated highback booster for the 6 year old- the turbo booster is a good one, as are the parkway, and many others. Look for one that fits him well in your car and gives him growing room. One that turns into a backless later might be appealing.

As for the scenera, it is pretty much outgrown as well. Hand down the maestro to the 3 year old. As you know, it makes a good harnesses seat and you can reevaluate as he grows.

 

[Unregistered]

Thank you.

Could you offer a few more names for the high back boosters you think are good. There are so many, I need somewhere to start. What does the term dedicated mean when referring to high back boosters.

Also, is it true that the booster doesnt' actually attach to the car except with the belt that goes around the child??

Thanks
Leah

 

[LISmama810]

Here's a list of recommended car seats from CarseatBlog: http://carseatblog.com/carseatblogcoms-recommended-car-seats/ (scroll down to get to the boosters). Also check the IIHS link someone posted above. It can be hard to recommend a booster because each child and each vehicle is so different. Whatever you get, make sure the belt fit is good on YOUR child in the seating position(s) you'll use in your vehicle. (Lap belt should be low on the hips, touching the thighs. Shoulder belt cross at the center of the shoulder, not the neck or falling off the shoulder.)

A dedicated booster is a seat that is ONLY a booster, not one that converts from a harnessed seat into a booster.

A booster seat's purpose is to position the seatbelt properly over the child. There are some that use LATCH to secure the booster to the car, but that's primarily to keep the booster in place when it's not occupied. It's a nice feature but not a necessary one.

 

[aept]

Thank you. Could you offer a few more names for the high back boosters you think are good. There are so many, I need somewhere to start. What does the term dedicated mean when referring to high back boosters. Also, is it true that the booster doesnt' actually attach to the car except with the belt that goes around the child?? Thanks Leah

"Dedicated" just means that the booster is only used with the seatbelt and does not come with a harness. (Unlike the nautilus which could be used as either a harnessed seat or a booster seat.) Some dedicated boosters have latch which attaches them to the car, and the the seatbelt goes around to hold your child in. Other boosters do not have latch and the seatbelt is holding your child and the booster in place. These boosters should be rebuckled when empty so that they don't fly around the car in the case of an accident. There is a wide range of high back boosters. I have liked our Britax parkway SGL a lot and there have been some changes to it since we bought ours 4 years ago. It can use latch. I sure see a lot of Graco turboboosters in my travels which is a good and safe economical option. They don't go quite as tall as the Britax parkway so might not last you as long in "high back" mode. Both of these also can be used as a no back booster later on. There are other good ones out there too. Just mentioning some I have had a little experience with.

ETA - it took me too long to type my answer which is why I ended up "repeating" a lot of the same things Jennie said. I hadn't seen her response yet