advice needed on carseats for 3 year old and 8 month old

[hedyl1234]

ok, i started researching carseats today and am confused. My older DD is 3. 36 inches, 27 lbs. she's in a Roundabout. my younger DD is 8 months and 15 lbs and 26 inches. I will have to switch my younger one to the Roundabout we have my older one in. What should i get for my 3 year old? i know she's too small for a true booster, but i would love to get a combo seat that is 5 pt. harness that becomes a quality booster later. i figure when my younger one is bigger, she can get the next seat and then the older one can get a dedicated booster. i just have no clue on brands. i want something quality, also with a front seat adjuster if possible. i know i'm getting picky, though, since i'd really love to not spend as much as i did for the Roundabout. but if i have to i will.
whew! was that long enough? any advice appreciated!!!
Hedy

[momtoB]

Where are her shoulders in relation to the top slots on the RA? If you sit her down next to a wall, make a pencil mark at the top of her shoulder and then measure from floor to the mark. This will give her torso height. That info would also be helpful to know. All fwd facing harness seats are outgrown by height once the tops of the shoulders go past the top harness slots (using the harness past this point can cuase spinal compression in an accident), or once the tips of the ears go past the top of the shell (whiplash protection).

Just fyi: there are very few seats that make both quality harness seats and quality boosters. The only ones that do both jobs well are (listed from best to least best): the the Recaro Young Sport ($250), the Evenflo Generatins or Bolero ($90-120), and the Cosco/Safety 1st Apex ($99-130) - the Apex is also the only one that harnesses past 40lbs, and it requires a tall seatback/headrest to fully support it. It also has a 40lb minimum requirement to be used as a booster and for this reason alone I would say this seat would be overkill for your dd, as she could very well outgrow it by height before she hits 40lbs (my ds is the same way).

The Recaro YS has 18" top slots, the Bolero/Generations & Apex 17".

hth!