Booster for a 3 year old?????

[jaq0000]

We have a 32 lb. 3 year old with a Britax Marathon. We need a seat for our new 1 year old. Could we get by with transferring our 3 year old into a Britax Parkway or should we go for another Britax Marathon?

We would really love to save the money by buying the booster but safety is, of course, our #1 consideration. Any thoughts???
Jaq

[katiesmommy]

How big is your 1 year old? Definitly no booster for your 3 year old. If money is the issue, I'd get a Cosco Scenera for the 1 year old. That would at least buy your 3 year old some time in a harnessed seat.

[jaq0000]

Thanks Sarah! Price is always an issue but safety is, of course, more important. I'd like to get away from buying a new seat every few years. We have a Britax Marathon and are looking at the Regent which has a max of 80 lbs!!! With these increased max weights on the harnassed car seats, why would you ever even need a booster? I think we will either go with another Marathon or the Regent. Anyone have any other ideas or thoughts on these two options?
Thanks,
Jackie

[Joolsplus2]

I find littler kids are generally more comfy in a Marathon than a Regent, particularly if they are big car sleepers (even my 7 yo complains there's not enough nap support in her Regent...), but it is also easy to climb into and looks more like a big kid seat and has more room in the crotch area... have you seen it in real life? It's pretty big (fits in little cars fine, but it's not going traveling anywhere...).

He's not a big guy, maybe he'd get plenty of use out of a Graco Ultra or Platinum Cargo or Recaro Young Sport or Evenflo Generations or Graco Safe Seat 2(they all have tall top slots, but only harness to 40 pounds). Then in a couple years, pass that down to dd and get a super-nice dedicated belt positioning booster.

You could in theory skip the booster if you use the Regent till it's outgrown (my 9 yo still fits in it, and he's almost about to fit in the car without a booster), but a simple backless or cheap highback would be convenient to own anyway for carpooling and such, once he's about 5 and ready to be out of a harness full-time (my kids are in Regents now, but have been using boosters in other people's cars since they were 4-5).

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