Car Seat Help

chica180

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. I have 4 1/2 year old twins that are still using their car seats. Neither of them are 40 lbs, so they don't meet the requirements for a booster. I'm expecting #3 in a few months, and I'm trying to figure out the best car seat plan. Ideally, I would like to get my twins booster seats that have the 5 point harness. Ideally, I would like them to be as narrow as possible so I can fit all three kids in the back seat. (The baby would go in the bucket carrier). We have a Honda Pilot. Does anyone have any suggestions on a 5 point harness booster seat that would work for us? I don't want to spend a fortune, bc we need to buy 2. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

niknak1208

I really like the cosco seat I bought for my daughter. She will be 3 in October. She's not yet 40lbs either. It's shaped like a high back booster but it has the 5 point harness. That's why I like it. It fits really well in my car. I've had SUV's but I had three seats on the bench of my Durango and it worked well. It's also super affordable. I think I paid $40.

niknak1208

I bought two of them also. And my mom has one for her car too.

chica180

Thank you so much!!  I'll look into it!

2-Step

This is a great site. You can search by your car model and it gives you options for 3 across:

https://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2014/07/3-across-installations-pilot.html/

Then you can cross-reference the car seat ratings here:

https://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/child-boosters

I recommend that second link because I found that a lot of the skinnier boosters did not get good ratings for safety. Booster safety ratings are important because unlike a 5-point harness, they have to position the car's seat belt properly for maximum safety. Some of those skinnier seats did a poor job of positioning the belt. I know you will have your kids in the 5 point harness for now, but that's something to think about for the future. 

The first link doesn't cover all models of carseats, so the other thing you can do is find the dimensions and then google search the name of that seat and "three across" and you will get a lot of forums with people talking about how the seat works. That is how I found our Graco booster for my oldest DS. We are TTC #3 so I wanted to be sure it was compatible. 

nofrogs

The Harmony Defender and the Evenflo Maestro are both really long-lasting seats for the money, and pretty good for fitting three-across. The Evenflo Chase is a little cheaper than the Maestro, but has only a 40 pound limit. The Cosco booster doesn't actually place the belt in a safe area on most kids, and is outgrown rather quickly in both booster and harness mode, so you would need a new carseat rather soon, if your kiddos are already 4 1/2. The harness height on the booster is 14.5 in, but the harness height on the Chase and Maestro, and the Harmony Defender are 18 in high. 

You can't use a harness after the kiddo's shoulder goes over the top of the strap, so you can see why a high harness height would make for a longer-lasting car-seat. The Defender is about $100, but works well as a booster, but the Chase, the Maestro and the Cosco one don't, and you will have to buy another real booster. Car Seats for the Littles is a good Facebook group for carseat advice, if you are on FB, and Carseat Deals is a good group for hunting for the best price on something, once you decide what one you want. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evenflo-Chase-Select-Harnessed-Booster-Car-Seat-Laguna/35847008

SLGILL1978

You can also go to Baby's R Us and they let you try the demo seats in your car.