best booster seat?

[elizabethaw]

My son is 3.5 years old and 36 pounds now. I'm expecting baby #2 in December (when my son will turn 4). I'd like to buy his booster now (on the assumption that I'll be rather busy when he is 4 and 40 pounds--I do understand that he needs to be 40 pounds). I was thinking about the Britax seats, just because we use the RA and really like how easy it is to use. They aren't terribly cheap--are they worth it? The RA was...

Thanks!
Elizabeth

[Mommy to a sweet baby boy]

You have a few choices in this situation

A) Go with a combo ff only booster that harnesses from 20-40 lbs and then can be used as a bpb
B) buy a marathon to be used harnessed to 65 lbs
C) Buy a huskyregent which can be used from 22-80 lbs with the harness.

I would reccomend either the marathon or the husky so that your ds can be harnessed for a longer period of time. You could also try your son in a bpb right now and see how it works. Most children at 3.5 yrs need a harness in order to be properly positioned in the seat, so i am not going to reccomend this, but just know that it is an option.

hth

[kijip]

If you go to a belt positioning booster at 40 pounds/4 years I suggest getting a dedicated BPB from Graco (like the Turbo Booster) or Britax (like the Bodyguard or Parkway) over the Combo option (nice if you need a harness until 40 pounds but you already have a seat till 40 pounds!). I think the Marathon/Husky option is the best bet but a nice BPB at 4 years is not a bad choice. If you don't want to spend the money on the Britax boosters, the Graco Turbo Booster is a nice option for about $40-60.

[elizabethaw]

So when you say that you think the Marathon/Husky option is the best bet, do you mean even for a 40-pound 4-year-old? I suppose you're saying that the longer they're harnessed, the better?

I think we would spend the money--the Britax boosters aren't a ton more expensive, and my Roundabout is much nicer to use than the other ones.

thanks!
Elizabeth

[Mommy to a sweet baby boy]

In general it is better to have a child harnessed for as long as possible. If you need a carseat that you will be using on planes and for travel i would purchase a marathon but if you do not fly often i would purchase a marathon. The husky is not approved for flying i believe due to its size i am not positive.

are you leaning more towards the marathon/husky or more towards a bpb?

[Joolsplus2]

4 and 40 isn't a magical number when you have to force your child into a less-safe booster versus a more-safe harnessed seat. Lots of kids fit in the Marathon till they are 5 or 6 and are perfectly happy and comfortable in it :) You'd get plenty of use out of a Marathon, and will have a nice hand me down convertible seat for the baby when the Roundabout expires (it expires 6 years from date of manufacture). Now is a good time to buy a Marathon, before they raise all the prices online to MSRP on 8/1/05 :P.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx