Seat options for 2.5 YO?

[natbie]

My DD Ella is currently in a Britax Roundabout. She's not quite 30 pounds and is about 36 inches tall. I also have a five-month-old in an infant seat. I think she has about two months before she has outgrown the Snugride, but it could be sooner. DD#2 (Sadie) is currently about 14 pounds and 25 inches.

In a perfect world, I'd move Sadie to the Roundabout and buy my older Ella another Britax (though not sure which one). However, I'm not sure we can afford to spend that much on another car seat.

I'd like to purchase a new seat for Ella right now, so we have a spare seat to leave for the nanny in the months until we need to move Sadie into the Britax. A friend recommended a high-backed booster by Cosco (don't know what the name of it is). It's approved from 20 pounds, but I can't find any reviews for it.

Another friend raves about the Graco Turbo Booster. It does look like it would be really easy to move from car to car, but Ella definitely doesn't fit the height and weight requirements at the moment. I have no idea how long it will be before she is 38 inches tall, though she is probably not that far from being 30 pounds (obviously I wouldn't move her into the seat until she met the requirements).

I guess the trouble is that I know a ton about car seats for younger kids but nothing about car seats for older kids. Do I want something that can grow with her? Is she even old enough for the Turbobooster? What would you recommend?

I'm confused. Can anyone help?

TIA! :)

[katiesmommy]

How old is Ella? She is definitly too little to be in a booster IMO! I think if I were in this situation I would buy Sadie a Cosco Scenera when she outgrows the snugride, they are about $40-$50 at Wal-mart. They are one of the most recommended seats on here for people on a budget. Then that way it would buy you some time for Ella to grow and mature some more. Then you could either look into getting a booster (depending on age) or a Britax Regent.

FYI, you could also look into the Fisher Price Safe Voyage. It's about $180, I think, and they go up to 55 lbs., I think. If I'm wrong about that I'm sure that Julie will correct me.

[natbie]

She's 2.5. I'll check out the FP Safe Voyage, though part of me is wondering if I should just get Ella a new Britax and move Sadie to the Roundabout. I was just hoping to find a seat that would grow with Ella until she was done with the car seat altogether (does such a thing exist?) rather than having to buy a separate booster later. But I had not known about the age recommendations regarding a seat like the Turbo Booster.

Thanks for the help!

[Joolsplus2]

How about a Graco Platinum or Ultra Cargo, or Evenflo Generations or Cosco Apex 65 (the other Coscos-that-become-boosters are bad...the ones that only go to 40 pounds have top slots lower than the Roundabout). And don't worry so much about a seat that'll last your dd till she's 10 or so and really ready to be out of a seat altogether...whatever you get now can easily be handed down to your younger child, and you can get a booster seat like the Turbo or Parkway (most people really don't know that little kids in boosters is A Bad Thing...maybe it's better they are at least in some seat, but seriously 5 pt harnesses as long as possible is safEST, for ALL of us, so why not give that protection to your kids while you can, you know?).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx