Baby Bodyguards has given us their awesome recommendations for when to transfer your child to a booster seat and some of the best options out there!
Around 4 years old, most children will max out of their forward facing car seat. By max out, I mean that their shoulders are higher than the top set of harness-strap slots in the car seat’s back. A child should stay in a 5 point harness seat until the seat is outgrown.
Nowadays most seats are made to accommodate higher weight limits, so it is really the height requirement that parents need to be more attuned to. Buying a seat with a higher weight limit doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to use it longer. Parents also need to keep in mind that once a child is over 40lbs, in most cases LATCH is no longer the proper installation, and the cars seat needs to be installed with the seat belt.
When a child is around 8 years old, it will probably be time to switch to a forward facing booster seat. The job of a booster seat is to raise a child up high enough so that the seat belt is in the correct position for optimal safety. A booster seat is needed until a child is over 100 lbs and taller than 4 ft 9 inches.
We all remember riding in the car and the shoulder strap of the seat belt would sit firmly on our cheek. This is where the booster seat comes in. Booster seats come in three main styles.
- One- what is essentially a padded “phone book” for the child to sit on which lifts them to the correct height for the vehicle seat belt to fit properly. This is for children older than six.
- Two– a booster seat with a back and “belt positioner”
- Three– large seats with a five point harness such as Britax Frontier.
We always recommend that when a parent transitions to a booster seat that they choose one with a five point harness. The other types of seats while perfectly safe to use, in my opinion, should be reserved for older children. While they are a safe option they are not necessarily the safest option.
The Britax Frontier and the Graco Nautilus are both great seats that will fit your child from the time they can be in a forward facing car seat (2 years old) and through the booster seat years.
Whichever seat you choose for your -just graduated from a forward seat- child make sure it is one with a seat back. These come in two flavors, those with a five point harness and those without. The models without the five point harness have a clip called a “belt positioner” around the child’s chin area. The vehicle’s seat belt goes through this clip on the booster seat and is thus held at the proper height to fit your child correctly (no more uncomfortable and unsafe seat belt on the cheek or neck). What I don’t like about these seats is that unlike your rear facing and forward facing car seats, there is nothing holding this seat in place other than the weight of your child and the seat belt.
One of the things we really like about the Frontier is that it is both types of booster seat. When your child is over two and between 25 and 80 pounds and 30 to 53 inches tall you can use it much the same way you did with your forward facing car seat. You can use the latch anchors to hold it in place or the lap and shoulder belt and it has a five point harness just like your last car seat. When your child outgrows those parameters it is good until over 100 pounds and 60 inches tall (five feet) as a plain booster with “belt positioner”.
I love the age group that this seat covers and I love it’s safety features but it does lack the ease of installation and adjustment that most Britax owners will be accustomed too. This is a seat that you will have to install several times. Adjusting the seat requires you to uninstall it so that you can reach the straps at the back of the seat. Installation in some cars can be tricky and in a few models can only be done in the third row (Honda Odyssey). It’s definitely not my favorite seat to install but it’s far from the worst. Personally, I buy car seats primarily for safety, comfort to my child and lastly ease of use. This seat excels enough in the first two that I can forgive its shortcomings in the ease of use category.
Britax has installation videos on their site showing the different ways to install the Frontier. If you’re considering purchasing one you may want to contact Britax (they’re really helpful) and ask if there are any known issues with installing this seat in your particular vehicle. This seat when properly installed is in a league of its own.
Diono, makes the Radian and Monterey seats, which are great for parents short on space. This is the seat we recommend to parents with small cars or needing to fit 3 seats across.
A newer seat has come to market recently called the Bubble Bum. It is an inflatable booster seat, perfect for car pooling and travel. It has passed all safety tests and is super affordable at around $40.
The most important thing to keep in mind when buying any seat, is how it fits your child. You should take your child to the store and have them sit in the seat before you purchase it. The other thing to remember is that the seat is only safe it is installed properly.
Most of you have heard about Baby Bodyguards by now. First, they came and did an excellent “spec” on babyproofing our place, then they wrote a popular post on our blog about window guards for NYC, now they have been raved about on Park Slope Parents. They are getting lots of mainstream press as well. The Baby Bodyguard family consists of hand picked Pediatricians, Nurses, Emergency Medical Technicians, Firemen, Contractors and Craftsmen, all of whom share the same passion for child safety.