Freaking Out

I have the same problem with my son, he is 3 years and 3'2". When his carseat started to get really tight I thought we could just switch him over to a booster seat. Before doing that I asked his Pediatrician. She very quickly said "NO!". Children should be in a 5point harness until they are 40 lbs, the height is really less of an indicator. Until then the belt straps in the car will not reliably hold him in place if you were in an accident.

If you are concerned about price, the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe runs about $100 and harnesses to 55lbs, the Cosco Apex runs about $150, and harnesses to 65lbs.

HOWEVER since yo usaid your son is tall, try this. Have him sit on the floor with his butt against the wall, then measure the distance from his seated rear end to the tops of his shoulders. THAT is the strap height/harness height. My guess is the carseat he outgrew only had a 14 or 15 inch top slot, and alot of other seats have a 17 or even 19 inch top slot. Thats a big difference.

The Safe Voyage Delux has a 16 1/2 inch top slot, the Cosco Apex has a 17 1/2 inch top slot, and plus they harness to a heigher weight so he'll be able to use it well into Kindergarten. THe Britax seats range from 17 to 19 inch top slots, and again the heigher harness weight allows for longer use.

I guess itsn ot a question of money for me, I want what is the safest and what can be used the longest. If you pay $250 for a seat and it lasts for 3-4 years, and you can get another 2-3 years out if it with another child, then in my opinion its worth it. Remember seats expire after 6 years.

www.albeebaby.com or www.specialtybaby.com has the best prices on carseats nad Britax, and offer free shipping.

I believe if he is 3, in Wisconsin and HAS to be in a carseat - not a booster. It's part of the law that became effective last summer. He can't be in a booster until he is 4.

That being said, we have a Britax Marathon - well, 2 actually, one for each vehicle since we share pickup and drop off at daycare. We bought ours online at www.travelingtikes.com. We weren't picky about the fabric so we ended up with 2 that cost $219.99 each with free shipping. I notice now they are up to $229.99 each. We did go to the Lullabye Shop in Appleton (the only place in the area that carries ALL the Britax seats) to get more info etc. The cost of the seats there was about $269 each. Of course, they tried to steer us away from purchasing online, insisting that we would be buying out of date seats and that we would never be able to install them ourselves. The Lullabye shop installs them in your car "for free" with purchase. Well, when we received out seats in May 2005, one had been built in April 2005 and the other in May 2005 so they certainly were not 'out of date" and we just went to one of the free seat clinics in the area to make sure we had installed them correctly (we had).

Sorry to ramble on, but if money is an issue, definitely do some searching online. We have been extremely happy with ours. I was most impressed with the safety testing Britax does (side, front and rear impacts as higher speeds than the US requires) and the fact the seat we purchased goes up to 65 lbs. I figure our daughter can sit in this seat for a long time.

I would ask your pediatrician to reccomend a car seat that would be best for your child. My dd is tall for her age(95th percentile) and I was worried about the possibilitiy of damaging her legs because of the car seat I had but as it turned out the one I had was okay. The pediatrician that she had at the time always stayed current on all the tyoes of carseats there are.

of course it's necessary!!! You are talking about the safety of your child here. I never skimped on her car seats, you can pay one bill late if it's a financial burden, but you can never replace your child. I recommend getting the harness he will be able to grow into and use for a while, no price is too high when it comes to safety.

Absolutely necessary. Car seats are something we have never even considered skimping on. Yes, they are much more costly, but when the safety of the most valuable thing in the world is at stake, there's no thinking twice. A 5-point booster harness is a necessity.
C.

it depends on where the seat belt lays on him (hips and across the chest not neck or under his arm) and how much he weighs they make all kinds of boosters you might have to look around till you find the right fit also bring him with to sit in the seat and make sure it is comfortable. I had the same proble when my son was younger he was always very tall and skinny wrong combination for seats but we found a really good one at kmart (the last place we went to) that he fit into it was one of those convertible ones that can be used with the harness or seatbelt and had different heights for the seat belt we looked all over (target, walmart, toys r us , baby depot @ burlington). he is now almost 5 and fits into the plain no back booster seat. We only used the seat about a year or so but it was well worth the money to keep hime safe and secure.

I dunno, I ask myself why do they make and sell boosters if their not as safe. I know technology is just getting better and better and they didn't even have 5pt. harnesses that long ago it was those carseats with the tray thing that went over their heads. My daughter's infant seat (5years ago) wasn't even a 5pt. There's alot of people in the "old school" thought that don't even use booster or care. I have to admidt I am the one that orignially started that youtube video on here a few months ago, it really made a impact on me. There is some criticism to that video on one picture it shows that mom had added extra foam under their seats fabric probaly for comfort and I guess your not suppose to alter with carseats like that because it takes away from the safety. But according to that video the seatbelt came undone. I also remember a story on the news maybe two years ago about a 3 year old here in MN that was properly buckeled in a 5pt. harness (dad was a sheriff or something) and mom's minivan was rearended and that poor little boy died. I do personally feel a 5pt. harness is safer it covers more of my daughter's body and covers the amount of impact evenly across her midsection. I dont' think there is anything wrong with a booster if that's what you choose I just think that they're are better options out there but it all depends on what kind of money you want to spend. Theyre's differences in helmets, they'res spendy motorcycle helmets and cheap ones. Everything in our world revolves around money.If you buy a inexspensive new car that's one thing if you buy a really really exspsensive new car like BMW, VOLVO etc you might be getting more safety options like side airbags etc. It's all about money. Sorry I'm going on and on. My daughter has just hated boosters, she has a Evenflo highback one and a Graco Turbobooster I then researched and learned all about Britax products and felt that was a better option for our familiy. I am a poor struggling single mom so dont' get me wrong I'm not stuck up or anything and I used a tax return to purchase my daughter's seat Britax Marathon about 200 dollars. I've had it since 2004 and will probaly use it for a few more years I will have totally gotten my money out of this seat by the time were done. I have alot of carseat experiances. I had a big fat baby who was a chubby toddler (didn't fit in carseats easily especially with a coat on) and now a perfectly proportionate kindergartener and my daughter has BROKEN two carseats. One was a over the head shield type and the other was a Cosco Summit. We broke the buckle on one and the chest clip on the other not quality products if you ask me and we just did the usual wear and tear.I personally HATE Cosco products they also go by Eddie Bauer sometimes. I think Graco,Fisher Price and Britax have some really sound strong products. I try and only buy those specific brands. Fisher Price has a new line of carseats also and has teamed up with Britax so it's alot like a Britax product but not as exspensive. I am a extremely opinionated picky mom especially when it comes to my one and only daughter. So to end this it's really your opinion and what works for your family. I am sure there are alot of kids that would refuse to use a 5pt. harness and prefer a booster. My daughter is in kindergarten and she is the only kid I ever see her age in a 5pt. harness. I've seen many of her classmates not even use a booster. If your still in question go to epinions.com and look at how other's rate specific boosters and then look at how other rate Britax that may help you. I think your a awesome mom for having your child in a booster because half of my neighbors don't even do that with their youngins. You just have to decide what works for your family. Would your son really hate a 5pt. harness? If it's gonna be a fight maybe the booster works better for your family. My daughter is 43"inches tall and 45lbs and fits great in the Britax Marathon without a bulky winter coat. She also fits great in her Graco Turbobooster but she flops around in it and her head falls on her lap when she falls asleep.

I am a car seat tech. The first thing you need to do is get to a car seat fitting appointment. There the tech will go through all the different options and look at how your son is sitting in the child safety seat. If you are having trouble finding a place that will check your child you can go to www.safekids.org. There you can go to the MN site and find a place close to your home that can offer help. Most of the time these appointments are free. Your local police department may also be able to help find you an appointment. I hope this helps. Good luck with everything. My son is 6 and weighs 52 lbs. He has been in a high back booster for awhile now. I also work in a local level 1 trauma center.

Hello I just came upon this carseat in the Child magazine, it is a booster like seat with a five point harness. Go to www.safegaurdgo.com it is called the Safe Gaurd Go carseat. I looked at it, its a little more expensive however worth it when it comes to safety for your child.

Our son has always been tall. We too saw the utube car seat movie. We bought the britax five point harness that will last until he is 100 pounds. Didn't even have to think about it after seeing the movie. Safety first. I would much rather have him in a five point until he is 100 pounds then going to his funeral because I seconded guessed myself.

You will have to get one of the larger ones to be safe and law abiding both. I saw the Fisher Price one at Burlington Baby Depot and they also have a Britax one at Target. Babies R Us have some too but I'm not sure which ones. There are a lot of different kinds and the price usually depends on the weight rating. Just be sure to check what the maximum 5-point harness weight is. Some go really high on total weight but only a portion of that is for the 5-point harness. I have a handicapped daughter and she has a Britax car seat that goes up to 105 lbs but only 85 for the 5 point harness.
I would check around though and also check with the county or your insurance because, who knows, maybe they can help since he's so big and it's required.
Good luck,
J.

the local news here recently did a story on this (sorry I couldnt find the article) but their expert showed a bunch of carseats, and had tips on installing them the expert also said that the most important factor in choosing a car seat is the height/length requrements. age was the least importatn factor

Hi,
My son was tall also as a child. I tried the harness when we went to the malls or places where alot of people were. But eventually you just will have to teach him about not running around when you go places. It's better to discipline him while he's young and then he'll still have the respect for you as a parent. If you don't he may loose your respect and not listen to you. I know, I see it in alot of my relative's children, they don't tell their kids whats right and wrong and the kids just run them and they run wild doing whatever they want, includes getting in trouble and embarrassing them when company comes, because they won't listen anymore.
Today my son is 16, he's 6'5". He's a good kids. I'm glad I used the harness, yet I'm even happier I used discipline because he listens to me and we talk alot. I was not real strick with him but he knew when I said NO, it meant "NO".
Good luck with your son, stay close to him and talk alot, in his teen years he'll come to you about things instead of getting info from the streets and other kids. If you stay honest and straight forth with him, so he will with you, you'll learn to read his actions and reactions and even be able to tell when things bother him.
Take care.

yes,it's very necessary. Their little bodies are still not big enough for just a shoulder and lap belt on a booster seat. I have a 6yo who is still in a 5 point harness and even though it's a cost to keep buying the appropriate seat, her safety and well being is well worth the expense.