Help! Booster Seat for 4.5 year old

[ctbarts]

Hi - I have not posted in a while, (so long that I forgot my user name and needed a new one:) but it seems every 2 years we have new baby or someone outgrows something, so I need some help from all of you educated and dedicated car seat safety experts. I have a few questions which I will post in seperate threads.

Here are my facts:
DS 7yrs 62pounds and 52 inches; sits primarily in Parkway
DS 4.5yrs 40pounds and 40 inches; sits in a primarily in Britax MA
DD 3yrs 30 pounds 37 inches; sits primarily in Britax Ma (forward facing as she gets carsick)

I am looking for a car seat/booster seat for my 4.5yr old for DH's car (01 Toyato Camry) for occasional drives around town and to school. We used to have him in a Britax RA but it is about to expire and he has hit the 40pound limit. I have a 2nd Parkway that I use for carpooling, but I would feel better if he were harnessed and it would be nice to have a harnessed seat for DD if she rides in Dh's car (hopefully they can use the same harness slots). Of course DH thinks we do not need anything new and would put everyone in a $25 backless booster if I let him.

Although I am very intersested in the new Britax Frontier, I think the pricetag is a little much for our occasional use carseat. I am thinking the Graco Nautlius might be a good option, since down the road we could use it as a booster or as a spare booster for big carpool days.

Are there other seats I should consider? Should I just go with a highback booster?

Any thoughts or advice would be apprecaited!!!

[psophia17]

We have the Evenflo Generations for DS1, he was harnessed until about 50lbs, and it's been a lpb since then (sometime around 3.5yo). The harness was great and it'll be his forever seat, since the head support part includes the slot for the shoulder belt, and the whole thing can move up or down as needed.

I have two friends with the same seat for their almost 5yos, and both their boys are still harnessed no problem. One of these boys has a 3yo sister, and she uses the same harness slots he does.

[TaChapm]

I would go with the Graco Nautilus so that if your other child needed to use it she could. It is a great seat and I love that all 3 of my kids can use it! We have never owned a spare seat for DH's truck because he thought it was a waste for money but now we don't know what we would do without the Nautilus! I also think it is great to install and I am spoiled to a Britax install. I can get a better install on it in DH's truck than I get with our Marathon.

[o_mom]

We have the Evenflo Generations for DS1, he was harnessed until about 50lbs, and it's been a lpb since then (sometime around 3.5yo).

Just to clarify for the OP - Petra is in Canada, where the Generations harnesses to 47 or 48 lbs. The US seats can only use the harness to 40 lbs so if you are in the US, your 4.5 yo has already outgrown the harness on that seat.

The Graco Nautilus is a great choice in your situation! You will get plenty of use out of it with will your kids ages and weights.

[psophia17]

Oops - I didn't realize there was a 8lb difference in harnessing weights. I remember trying to figure it all out the options at the time, but must've forgotten the rest...sorry!

[o_mom]

That's OK - we all were jealous of those 47/48 lb combo seats for a long time. Now that we are FINALLY getting some decent ones here it's not so bad. :)

[bubbaray]

You could also look at the Triumph Advanced. It has an adjustable harness (no slots), so that feature might work well if you are using one seat for two different kiddos. The top of the harness is pretty high -- I didn't measure, but when I was playing with it at the store recently, it looked pretty close to that of the MA.

HTH