High-back booster VS. 3-in-1 Carseat

AmyLaurel89

DH and I were returning shower gifts and contemplating what we would purchase with the return card and he asked me why I chose the 3-in-1 car seat to put on the registry. I told him it would work for our LO for years and safe us money. Then he pointed out that the high back boosters are good for 30-100lbs and our infant seat is good till 30lbs so that would actually be cheaper since the booster is $50 rather than $130ish. What other factors should we be considering here?? What are you ladies using? What would you buy? I am so looking forward to your perspectives on this one.

 

TheFannins729

because you can't go from an infant seat to a booster, even if the weight limits seem like you can.  you still need a 5 pt harness seat between those two.  so, you'll need an infant seat, most people then go to some sort of convertible seat so they can rear face and then forward face and then you'll need a high back/regular booster (in our state it's until they are 8)

TheFannins729

also, i wouldn't buy anything until you need it.  things change too quickly and the seats do expire. 

AmyLaurel89

Good point. I hadn't even thought about the harness differences. (pregnancy brain like big time)  I knew there was a reason that I picked the convertable in the first place and I couldn't explain it to DH so it made me think maybe I never had a good reason. This helped a lot!! Thanks. 

 

MrsM1113

Ditto PP.  Plus, a lot of LOs will outgrow their infant seat way before being ready to FF (just FYI, the AAP recommends waiting until at least 2 now, even though the law only requires them to RF until a year).  Most states require that the child be secured in a harness until at least 3 or 4, although some just go by weight/height (I think). 

mabma80

We have the regular infant seat (Graco), so we can take it in and out of the car.  Once they got to the age where they can be FF (around 1), we bought them each the Graco Nautils which is a 3-in-1.  That will last them 'til they don't need a booster anymore.  

VitaminC

The rule for boosters that I've heard is usually 4 years and 40 lbs.  So you really do need a convertible between the infant seat and the booster.  So even if you had an infant seat that went up to 30 lbs you would still need another one. 

Typically a baby will grow out of the infant seat that holds up to 30 lbs by height before they outgrow the weight.  DS is almost 3 and just 30 lbs.  But I'm sure he'd be way too tall for one of those infant seats. 

UZ2Bee

I think even if you get a convertible car seat, you might find that once your child has been sitting in it for 3/4 years that they don't want to anymore.  I'm going to interject my BTDT mom experience here:

My DD was SO ready to be in a different booster seat and feel like a "big kid".  We'd shelled out the money when she was born for a chair that could also be a booster, but she felt as though she was still a "baby" in it and really wanted a booster.  (My DS is on the verge of transitioning from a car seat to a booster and has this same feeling of "graduating" to becoming a big boy). 

We bought my DD a backless booster and she loves it.  HOWEVER, we have also purchased a high back booster which we feel is safer because it has the sides for her head to hit if we were ever in an accident - it also gives her something to rest her head on while she is sleeping rather than doing the jelly-necked head bob.

HTH and gives a little perspective.

kar5162

Infant seats, even the ones that go up to 30 lbs will only last usually until 9-12 months.  After that, they can sit independently and don't usually want to be so reclined.  In addition, even though they'll go to 30lbs, typically only very heavy kids will come anywhere near that weight before they outgrow the seat based on height.  As an example, DS is only ~24lbs at nearly 2, but 33-34 inches.  He outgrew the standard Graco seat around 9-10 months, around 28.5-29" since he has a long torso and his head got too close to the top. 

Convertible seats are generally recognized as being safer than 3 in 1s.  The current recommendation is to RF to 2 now, even though technically they can at 1 year AND 20 lbs.  You will really need a convertible after the infant seat from ~1-4/5 years.

Boosters are 4 years and 40 lbs and need to be used for quite a long time in some states - I think my state is 8 and/or 65lbs.

Car seats expire so whatever you buy now will almost definitely not last until your child is out of a restraint, especially if you're planning to reuse seats for multiple children.  I'd get your infant seat now and then your convertible once your child starts to get closer to needing to move.  Deal with the booster closer to 4. 

babyAutumn

Though our infant car seat was for babies up to 26 lbs DD outgrew it by four months because she was too long (29'').  So unless the high back booster is a rear facing one you might want to reconsider.  You never know how fast LO will grow.  My nephew outgrew his infant seat by 9 months because he weighed 32 lbs.  He had to sit rear facing until he was a year so their 3-in-1 was clearly a must.  You might want to just keep the return card until you have to make the car seat purchase to decide which one to buy.