boosters seats

A&A'smommy wrote: Alyssa needs a new booster seat, does anyone have suggestions??

coasterqueen replied: I'm a huge fan of the Britax Regency (I think that's the name of their 5 point harness booster) BUT as I say that Kylie absolutely despises it. Why, you may ask? Because it doesn't give her the room to move around like a regular booster and seat belt gives which is exactly why she has the 5 point harness booster. That is just one thing she'll have to hate me for.

moped replied:
Oh I love the idea of a 5 point harness booster - I must remember that

What weight/height do they start in one?

A&A'smommy replied: Oh yes definitely need one with 5 point harness, I don't trust the ones with the seatbelt.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:

From www.boosterseat.gov

A&A'smommy replied: Thanks Kelly!!!

lovemy2 replied: Olivia is in a 5 point harness booster - but then again she is little and will probably just be getting into a booster seat with a seat belt when she goes to college

luvmykids replied: I love the five point harnesses, they give me an extra peace of mind.

But I have no recommendations, I don't remember what the twins had and Macie has an Eddie Bauer of some kind.

Boo&BugsMom replied: We've got the turbo booster seat and I love it.

DansMom replied: Daniel is still 8 pounds away weighing enough for a booster. We really like the Britax Marathon convertible---it has a five point harness for his current size, but will go to 80 pounds.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: At the rate Logan is growing, he'll be in forward facing car seat until his 8th birthday. LOL. He'll love that.

MommyToAshley replied: I went to a safety class for parents (while Ashley was taking safety village) and they had certified techs talk about car seats and boosters. According to them, most highback boosters are rated about the same. They gave us free Even-flo boosters in the class and did car seat checks. They said that if the seat does not have a headrest, you need a high back booster and not just the backless booster. Also, you need to make sure the straps go across the shoulder, not across their neck. There is a way to adjust that on the highback boosters. Also, Ashley is getting pretty tall for her highback booster, it's on the highest setting. They said that she will need to go to the backless booster soon.

Karen, how much does Kylie weigh? They told me that I should NOT use a 5-point harness with Ashley as she was either too tall or weighed too much, I forget which. They had a Britax there, and they said that I would have to use the seat belt harness not the 5-point harness with her. Just thought I would pass that along so you can check the weight requirements.

coasterqueen replied:
The maximum height for the Britax Regent 5 point harness is 53 inches. The last time I measured Kylie, I believe she was 46 inches, but it has been a bit of time since I've done that. She's tall, but I don't think she's 53 inches yet. The seat is designed for children up to 80 pounds.

This is one of the reasons why we bought the Regent. We bought it a year or so ago, maybe 2 and so she'll get hopefully to 5.5 or maybe even 6 before needing a regular booster.

I have seen first hand my niece who is 8 years old moving around in a regular booster and lap belt and falling asleep in the seat, etc. It scares me to death having her in the car with me because she would clearly get seriously hurt in an accident.

Dh continues to argue with me about letting Kylie in a regular booster, but until she reaches 53 inches or 80 pounds I feel much safer that she can't move around in her seat or with the lap belt on over her shoulder.

MommyToAshley replied:
Hmmm, maybe they had a different one. It went up to 80lbs as well, but the 5-point harness was only safe up to 40 (or something similar, not sure of the exact specifications), then the seat belt had to be used with it instead of the 5-point harness up to 80 lbs. Again, I don't have that particular car seat so I am just going by what the certified carset techs said.

coasterqueen replied:
A lapbelt has to be used after 40 or 42 pounds in installing the seat, not in using the seat. You do have to use the lapbelt in the installation process.

MommyToAshley replied: It was probably a different seat, I don't know. I hope you don't think I am trying to argue with you, I am just passing along what the techs said in case it is of use to you or someone else. In the class, the techs stressed NOT to use the 5-point harness with Ashley. But, it didn't matter as I didn't have that particular seat anyways. There were some other Moms in the class that had the same car seat and they were surprised that the 5-point harness was not safe to use at this height and weight and it was the reason that they were using those seats. They thought they could use the 5-point harness much longer, but it turned out not to be the case.

coasterqueen replied:
Oh no, I know you aren't arguing with me. Far from that. I actually had to look up the seat guide, print it out, and read it, because honestly I didn't know you had to use the lap belt in installation til you said something. So thank you. I think she's about 3 pounds over that issue, so I'll show this to Dh tonight. We just got a new (recalled) part from Britax in the mail anyways so that needs to be fixed as well.

The car seat techs stressed to me not to use the 5 point harness in Kylie's other booster seat because she was too big. She uses the lap belt in that one. She only goes 1/2 a mile down our country road in that one - Dh picks up the kids from daycare. Otherwise if he was going to drive her around more in his car she'd be in the 5 point harness. I say that only because Kylie is a wiggleworm in the car.