Any Car Seat Experts That Can Help? TIA

Kedra231

Hi, I hope I found the right board...I was advised to come here & ask, possibly find help from @Fredalina if she's part of this board?

I'm from the Feb 14 birth board, but right now I'm stuck with a car seat issue for my 5 yr old.  She's 43 lbs, & 46 " tall, & she's in need of a new car seat pretty quickly here, & I wanted to get it done BEFORE I'm busy with babies & just forget about it in the shuffle & crazy.

They say online that there are car seats with the HARNESS that goes up to 60-85 lbs before you have to switch to the vehicle's seat belt.  Just for peace of mind, I'd rather keep her in a harness for a bit longer, so those are the seats I'm looking for.  

My problem is I've spent hours looking at sites & just plain googling, & I'm getting confused; one site will give a harness weight, another, just the seat's max weight capability.  Many seats are sold just online so I can't go & actually look for the info I need, & the info can be very sketchy.  

Many say that the seat is good up to 100 lbs, but then, some state that the harness is ONLY good until 40 lbs, then you use the vehicle's belt, other's do not mention the harness capability ANYWHERE on the site.  Some DO specify that the harness is good up to 60/65 lbs, but those seem to be few & far between, & one said only with the LATCH system, & we just bought a (used) minivan, & I honestly do not know if the LATCH system is in minivans, & if so, I didn't see it anywhere in our vehicles manual, but the dealership just tossed us a basic one, not our vehicle-specific one.

Some of these seats are under Combo, others Booster, & some are still under Toddler, so I've been trying to cover ALL the possibilities on ALL these sites, & it's not going well & it's taking me forever.  Help, please?

I've only found 5 online that have the higher-rated harnesses, & honestly, I need to find one that's priced as reasonable as possible.  $150 is the very max, especially b/c we'll be needing another one shortly for DS.  

Any recommendations of higher-weight-harness car seats, or, sites that have them at great prices/regular sales, ANY help you can give me will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you all for any help.

ASmallWonder

These are the recommended seats (with details) from the techs on the FB page Car Seats for the Littles.

Note: All listed seats will fit the average kid to around age 6 in the harness and generally provide a proper seat belt fit in booster mode.

 

Evenflo Maestro:

 Stats: $70, harness to 50 lbs with 18” top harness slots, high back booster with 19” top guide, 8 year expiration

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to install

Cons: Booster function is outgrown in height very quickly after the harness is outgrown, narrow set harness straps may dig into a child’s neck.

 

Harmony Defender:

 Stats: $100, harness to 65 lbs with 18.5” top harness slots, high back with 20” top guide and backless booster, 10 year expiration

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to install, narrow enough for 3-across.

Cons: Requires assembly, short crotch strap that can be uncomfortable (a longer strap is available at no charge from Harmony). Does not allow any part of the car seat to overhang the vehicle seat.

CSFTL Review:

https://csftl.org/harmony-defender-360-more-bang-for-your-buck

 

Evenflo SecureKid:

 Stats: $120, harness to 65 lbs with 18” top harness slots, high back booster with 20” top guide, 8 year expiration

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to install

Cons: Narrow set harness straps can be uncomfortable and dig into the child’s neck.

 

Graco Nautilus:

 Stats: $130, harness to 65 lbs with 18” top harness slots, high back booster with 21” top guide, backless booster, 10 year expiration.

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to install

Cons: Crotch buckle is not very deep and can be uncomfortable for bigger kids, doesn’t have great head support for sleeping and can be uncomfortable to sleep in for some kids.

CSFTL Review: https://csftl.org/graco-nautilus-review-and-giveaway-something-for-the-canadians/

 

Britax Pioneer 70:

Stats: $180, harness to 70 lbs with 18.5" top harness slots, high back booster with 20" top guide, 9 year expiration

Pros: Easy to use and install, no re-thread harness

Cons: This seat is basically a stripped down version of the Frontier 90 with slightly lower harness heights and none of the fancy features like the ClickTight installation and EZ buckle pad. 

 

Britax Frontier 90:

 Stats: $250, harness to 90 lbs with 20.5” top harness slots, high back booster with 23” top guide, 9 year expiration.

Pros: Click tight clamp makes it extremely simple to install using the seat belt, highest harness height capacity available, no re thread harness, converts to booster mode without removing harness, EZ buckle holds the buckle forward when buckling/unbuckling.

Cons: Not FAA approved for air travel. 

CSFTL Review: https://csftl.org/britax-frontier-90-an-in-depth-review-and-giveaway

thekatie

Combo seats (forward facing only, start with a 5 point harness and convert to belt positioning booster):
Evenflo SecureKid (can't remember exact price point)
Graco Nautilus

Convertibles with higher weight harness limits, don't become boosters:
Evenflo SureRide
Safety 1st Complete Air

Check out car-seat.org. Forums all about carseats. CPSTs who will help you pick the right seat for your car & kid.

bumpuser1691848

I'm not an expert, but I got this for DD after hearing great things about it.

https://www.gracobaby.com/products/pages/productdetails.aspx?ProductID=8J00MTX

The harness limit for this is 65lbs, then it converts to a highback booster, then a backless booster.

Kedra231

Thank you ladies, that gives me a few more to work with than what I found previously, plus the pro's & con's are great to find out BEFORE I purchase.

I'll start googling stores/current prices now & add them to my on-going list.  

Thank you for the quick responses!