Are Britax booster seats as good as the car seats?

[Daisy918]

I have a Britax Roundabout now and I just love it. I wouldn't ever recommend any other carseat. I'm pregnant w/#2 and DD will be 3 when the baby is born. I was thinking of moving her into a booster after her birthday. She is already 30 lbs.

The Graco TurboBooster looks nice in the stores, but I am prejudiced towards Britax. :) The extra money was worth in for the car seat...is it the same for the booster? Or is the Graco one just as good?

[Momof3Labs]

She's awfully young and tiny for a booster. Have you read this?

http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/boosterbasics.aspx

And if you look on britaxusa.com, one booster is for 40lbs and up, and the other two have high height minimums (38" and 43"). Is your DD quite tall?

[Mommy to a sweet baby boy]

I would reccomend either getting your dd a britax marathon or husky when your baby is born. This is because your dd is pretty young to be in a bpb. Do you know when your roundabout will expire? if you let us know we will be able to better reccomend what type of seat to buy

[Daisy918]

What do you mean by expire? :)

[searchdog]

Your Roundabout is only good for 6 years from the date of manufacture according to Britax. So I think the PP was trying to see how much life is left in your seat.

Here is a direct quote from the Britaxusa.com website.

"We recommend that the use of a restraint be discontinued if older than six years of age or has been in a severe crash. After six years, technology has changed, components degrade from the environment depending on how and where they are stored, parts get lost or installed incorrectly, instructions and labels may not be available to read. The restraint may be unsafe and should be thrown away."

[Daisy918]

Oh--I see. I got mine in 2003--so it's got life in it. I guess I should just keep her in it for awhile.

Why does the Graco seat say ages 3-10 if they aren't recommended til age 4? I don't get that.

[Mommy to a sweet baby boy]

If your dd is forward facing i would reccomend getting her a husky/regent. This is because it is much safer for kids to be in a harness than to be in a bpb, especially at her young age. With the ways that your children are going to be spaced this is what you could do.

When baby is born move him/her into roundabout either at birth or when they outgrow the infant carier. At this time you could move your dd into the regent/husky.
In 3 years when the roundabout will expire you can move the baby into the regent/husky and your daughter into a inexpensive low back booster. At this time when she is 6 she should be ready maturity wise etc to be able to sit correctly in one.

If you did not want to do that you could do something else. When the baby is born move him/her into the roundabout either at birth or when it outgrows the infant carrier, if you are using one. At this time you could buy your older daughter a marathon/boulevard/decathalon. When your roundabout expires in 3 years you can move your baby into the marathon and your older dd into either a bpb or a husky/regent. At this time their may be even more new seats available that we do not know of right now that would give you even more options.

In case you do not know the husky is a seat that can be used forward facing only from 20-80 lbs. It is being replaced in the very near future with a seat called the regent. This seat has the same dimensions and is to be used for the same things but they have some different covers.

hth and makes sense, sorry it got so long

[kijip]

"Why does the Graco seat say ages 3-10 if they aren't recommended til age 4? I don't get that."

Boosters are for children who don't fit into harnesses anymore so that the seat belt can be safely positioned to protect small riders in a crash. However, people have all different ideas about when children reach that point. Laws vary but most states require a harnessed seat until 40 pounds. There is 1 Britax booster that starts at 30 pounds and also the Graco Turbo booster. The seats meet or exceed the mininum crash requirements for boosters, not necessarily represent the safest option. All sorts of issues come up... from the child liking the seat to the parents viewing the jump to the booster as a milestone to reach to the relative cost of the different types of seats. That is why the 30 pound boosters exist- to meet the demand for boosters for older kids who are still small and whose parents don't choose to keep them in a harnessed seat, to provide an option for a very tall and thin child who is light but is now too tall to safely use the harness on the seat they outgrew by height or maybe to make the seat look more attractive to buyers since it can be used for a longer period of time.

At 30 pounds your child is still well within even the Britax limits for using the seat rearfacing, so I agree that your child's best interests are served by using the seat you have for her for as long as possible. Or get a seat with higher limits like the Marathon, Wizard or Husky/Regent and give the relatively new Roundabout to a new baby!

Once she is older and over 40 pounds (or 65 pounds if you choose the Marathon option), both the Britax and the Graco boosters are really nice.

[Daisy918]

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it--I like the idea of the Husky/Regent and I'll do that for DD. I didn't realize how much safer she is in the car seat vs. the booster!

[mattiew]

Thanks for this post and all the great answers! I'm going to be in a similar situation and was worried DD wouldn't be ready for a booster when DC #2 moves up from the snugride - you all came up with some great alternatives!