Dd is outgrowing her britax, rec booster seat

CantWait2Be

Dd will be 5 in June and is outgrowing her britax. Recommend a safe booster seat that will get her through till she doesn't need anything anymore. 

mylove2005

I am unsure if your state has laws about height and weight but mind does so we have the Graco high back booster that transforms to a regular booster. We love it

black.kat

They say now children should be in a high-back chair until age 8!

JOEBunny

I like the Cybex booster, for its latch feature.  DD is still to small to use it a lot, but her friends have.  Not a fan of the seats that flop around or that easily break apart from their back.  The Cybex also has an easy adjustment for height. which few boosters have.

penguingrrl

My daughter is in a britax parkway and we love it. Very supportive when she falls  asleep in the car and I really like the safeguard clip (antisubmarining device) since she's young but too long-torsoed to ride in a harnessed seat (she outgrew all but the frontier, which can't be properly installed in our car). It's also the tallest dedicated high back booster on the market, so very long lasting and she claims it's really comfortable.

hopanka

We have the big kid britax. It's still a five point harness, but it goes up to like 8 years old. Much safer than a booster.

karen6784

I have a Diono (Sunshine Kids) Monterey for DD. I am very happy with it. 

penguingrrl

hopanka:

We have the big kid britax. It's still a five point harness, but it goes up to like 8 years old. Much safer than a booster.

FYI, the notion that a harness is necessarily safer than a booster is not true. Most of Europe believes the harness puts too much of the load in an accident on the neck and prefers using a booster so the spine moves together in an accident rather than the shoulders being held rigidly to the seat and the head and neck moving. It's only in North America that people push for extended harnessing rather than boostering once a child has the maturity to sit correctly.

hopanka

penguingrrl:

hopanka:

We have the big kid britax. It's still a five point harness, but it goes up to like 8 years old. Much safer than a booster.

FYI, the notion that a harness is necessarily safer than a booster is not true. Most of Europe believes the harness puts too much of the load in an accident on the neck and prefers using a booster so the spine moves together in an accident rather than the shoulders being held rigidly to the seat and the head and neck moving. It's only in North America that people push for extended harnessing rather than boostering once a child has the maturity to sit correctly.

I believe you mean the Swedish study. You have to remember though, that Swedes tend rear face their kids until 6 years old, so the study may be skewed. To be honest, there are no reliable studies for kids older than 6.

You have to take into account your particular situation. Is your 5 year old mature to not play with the seat belt, sit properly the whole time (as in: not take naps in the car), not slouch down...etc. I know my 6 year old is not that mature and will still do all those things, plus he's on the smaller side, so a booster would still not position his seat belt correctly. I've tried - the seat belt cuts into his throat.

Moreover, my Britax Frontier still provides a side impact barrier, which a booster does not.

penguingrrl

hopanka:

penguingrrl:

hopanka:

We have the big kid britax. It's still a five point harness, but it goes up to like 8 years old. Much safer than a booster.

FYI, the notion that a harness is necessarily safer than a booster is not true. Most of Europe believes the harness puts too much of the load in an accident on the neck and prefers using a booster so the spine moves together in an accident rather than the shoulders being held rigidly to the seat and the head and neck moving. It's only in North America that people push for extended harnessing rather than boostering once a child has the maturity to sit correctly.

I believe you mean the Swedish study. You have to remember though, that Swedes tend rear face their kids until 6 years old, so the study may be skewed. To be honest, there are no reliable studies for kids older than 6.

You have to take into account your particular situation. Is your 5 year old mature to not play with the seat belt, sit properly the whole time (as in: not take naps in the car), not slouch down...etc. I know my 6 year old is not that mature and will still do all those things, plus he's on the smaller side, so a booster would still not position his seat belt correctly. I've tried - the seat belt cuts into his throat.

Moreover, my Britax Frontier still provides a side impact barrier, which a booster does not.

This is true. My daughter had to move to a booster at 4 and has never once slouched, slumped, unbuckled or given me cause for concern in the booster. But she's 4 going on 40 and has always been a very compliant kid about rules. My younger one will likely remain harnessed longer (provided we get a car that can fit a frontier because she's also crazy long-torsoed). In Sweden they go straight from RF to booster (which  was my goal, but there are no seats in the US that would do that for my large kids), but my kids would likely have even outgrown Swedish options before 6 because they both have very long torsoes (my 4 year old's is 18.5", my 2.75 year old is a little over 15"). I'll admit forward harnessing makes me nervous because I don't like the tightly restrained shoulders, although if a child lacks the maturity to  booster safely there's no other option. At this point my younger one is about to need to go forward and we'll work on sitting correctly from the day she turns around with the hope that she'll be able to booster before she outgrows the radian in ~2 years (based on 1" of torso growth a year).

MammaBear81

Depending on the car we have a Britax Frontier, or a Safety first Hybrid Booster.  I prefer my kids in a 5 point harness, I don't feel comfortable with them with just a seat belt, esp on long trips.  Both seats are extended 5pt harness, and turn into high back boosters.  The safety first can also be a regular booster with no back if you choose.  My oldest is 6 1/2, 55 pounds and over 4 feet tall and he still fits comfortably in both seats.

Angela814

Our two main high back boosters are the Recaro Vivo and the Recaro ProBooster. Both are high back only and very easily adjustable for height.

I never understood what the problem was with napping in the car in a booster. Annalise has slept in her HBB often enough that I know she still stays completely in the correct position while sleeping. Both of her boosters have large head wings, so when she sleeps, her head just rests against one side.

outnumbered

hopanka:

penguingrrl:

hopanka:

.

Moreover, my Britax Frontier still provides a side impact barrier, which a booster does not.

We have the Britax Parkway for our two older children.   It provides great side impact protection with its headwings.  In fact it offers the same protection as a Frontier.  Both of my children sit still in the car and use the seat properly.

jandb2011

Diono and Clek.