Car seats for 6 year old twins vs booster for babysitter's car

KDR1979

We have spent a fortune on car seats over the last 6 years! We kept them rear facing until they were 3.5 and now they are forward facing in Britax Pioneers (good until 70lbs as a car seat). We are trying to figure out what to do for our babysitter. The sitter has car seats in their 9 passenger van but I am guessing that my kids are very close to outgrowing them (or maybe already have). The babysitter has 5 kids (youngest are 7yo twins), so they are fine with their kids in booster seats. I am trying to decide if I am OK with my kids riding in booster seats when they are with the sitter-just 2 days/week....If not, looks like I am spending a lot of 2 new car seats. I see that the Britax Pioneer and Frontier are good choices, but $189-289+/each!

My son is a big guy ~46.5-47" and already ~58-60lbs so he is pushing the limits on the 5 point harness limits for a lot of the other car seats. My daughter is more average sized so she could fit in a 5 point harness longer than he could.

Do I just bite the bullet and pay another $400-500 on 2 new car seats so we feel comfortable with the kids riding with the sitter or let them move to booster seats?!? My twins turned 6 in April and start 1st grade in August.

Thanks for your opinion/help!

neverblushed

For me, it would depend on the size/shape/configuration of the seats and seat belts in the babysitter's van, and perhaps a little on how much driving the babysitter was doing with my kids. Your kids are in that weird age where some kids are in no carseat at all, others are in a belt-positioning booster, and others are in a 5-point traditional carseat. Could your son use a high-back booster in her van? Or are the seat belts positioned in such a way that they are way too big for him? If your kids really only ride occasionally in the babysitter's van, if she has to run an errand or something, I'd be reluctant to spend upward of $400 on carseats for kids who are on the verge of outgrowing carseats altogether. On the other hand, if she picks them up from school every day, or they ride with her a lot, and her van is large, with seat belts that really don't work for kids, you might have to put out the money. This might go without saying, but I would go with the least expensive type of carseat you feel will keep your kids safe.