car seat/booster combo

Is there a good car seat (ages 1+) combined with a booster? Our baby is turning 1, so she'll need a regular car seat, and I'm wondering if it's worthwhile to buy one that converts (expands?) to a booster?

Will we save any money by doing so?
Would it be substantially bulkier than a regular booster we'd get a few years from now?
Is the design nice enough that a child would still like to sit in it, or are we better off getting a more streamlined booster when the time comes?

Thanks for any input!

Hi Leela.

If your baby is just 1, she should still be rear facing in a convertible. Almost all of them rear face to 30 or more pounds, meaning that almost all children can stay rear facing to 18 to 24 month. The bare minimum for turning her forward facing (far less safe) is 12 months and 20 pounds.

Once she outgrows her convertible, you may want to get a booster seat with a harness to keep her in the harness to a full 40 pounds before she moves to the lap/shoulder belt and booster.

There IS one regular convertible seat combined with a booster. It is the Cosco Alpha Omega, also called the 3 in 1. I do not particularly recommend it. The AO is marketed as the "last seat you'll need" even though many/most children outgrow it by height well before 40 pounds and still need a combo seat with higher harness slots.

So I recommend sticking with a rear facing convertible now (Cenury Accel, Evenflo Triumph and Britax Roundabout are good choices in 3 price ranges), moving to a combo seat with higher harness slots later on.

Thanks for replying - I was trying to keep it simple but I guess it makes more sense to give the full story:

We have 2 kids, one turning 3 and the other 1 in September. Both are average in size.

The baby is in a baby carrier type car seat by Century, and the toddler sits in a Britax Roundabout. I'm wondering whether to hand down the Britax to the 1 year old and get a combination car seat/booster for the older one, or to buy a plain car seat and plan to get a booster later.

The concerns in my mind are:

(1) any safety issues
(2) cost; we'd strongly prefer something not as expensive as the (wonderful) Britax, but $50 more for the sake of other concerns is fine (i.e. buying a separate booster)
(3) slim profile - it gets tough fitting multiple car seats in the back of a sedan
(4) FAA approved, ideally

Thanks for your help!