Is 5.5 years old too old for a convertible (Boulevard and Marathon)?

[lvhkitty]

I didn't succumb to peer pressure and kept my daughter rear facing longer than 2 years (but still get flack from my husband and nanny).

Now she's at least 43 inches (due for a checkup) and 45 lbs.

Her shoulders seem to be under the top shoulder strap.

I'm being pressured to switch her to a booster (everyone else has one).

Am I too conservative to keep her in the Marathon 70 and the Boulevard?

Can I go straight to a Britax Parkway SGL? (I love Britax)

When are they coming out with new colors?

I think she'll squirm without a 5 point harness but she's got to start sometime.

I trust this forum more than my closest caregivers!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Why not a Frontier and harness a bit longer then use as a booster?
ETA- my 7yo is harnessed in a Frontier.

[trcy]

I don't think you are being to conservative by keeping her in a convertible, especially if you don't feel she is ready for a booster. It doesn't seem that she has outgrown the and they aren't needed for a younger sibling. I would leave good enough alone. DD rf until just shy of 4 and I got a lot of 'opinions' about that, so I have just learned to ignore.

[Snow mom]

Assuming she still is within the limits ( which it sounds like she is) and is still comfortable and you don't need the seats to hand down I'd keep her in that seat until one of those things changes. I personally wouldn't buy a frontier for a 5.5 year old unless there is some reason they won't be mature enough to booster when they need out of the convertible. I do have my DD in frontiers but I purchased them a few years ago and have another child to pass them down to. Parkway has new colors coming. Let me see if I can dig up links for you (but I will say that some things I've seen on the parkway comparability make me less interested in trying it as a booster).

ETA: Here's one of the new covers (scroll down to "others viewed" to see the rest): http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Parkway...parkway+yellow

[lvhkitty]

I really don't want to spend $300 on a Frontier at nearly 6. Plus it's as big as the convertibles.

She's an only child so really no potential hand me down.

I saw a cute color (Concord Grape) on Amazon but it says 1-3 months....

[jgenie]

If she's happy in her seat I wouldn't change it. DS1 stayed in his BLVD until it expired just before he turned 7. DS2 is following the same curve so will most likely stay in his that long as well.

[MommyAllison]

My older kids stayed in their Marathons until they expired (age 6/6.5 for them) - they were getting very close to outgrowing them but didn't. Part of how I justified the seat cost was that they would likely expire before being outgrown, so I wasn't in a rush to move to a booster. We did begin booster training in our second car around age 5.5/6, but they only rode in that car 1 or 2x/month, so the convertible was definitely the main seat.

[arivecchi]

I would not leave a kid in a convertible past 5. I think it's time to move to a HBB. The Parkway is great.

[georgiegirl]

Ds1 (5.5) still rides in a roundabout in DH's car. He's small (42" and 40 lbs) and he's safer harnessed, especially in winter. He's in a frontier 90 (harnessed) in my car. We do a HBB for traveling though.

[HannaAddict]

My five year and all five year olds were in them and then strapped in frontier (regent for first kiddo pre-frontier). They all started K in them and didn't do boosters that young.