please recommend your booster seat(s)

i am going to need two booster seats for the babysitter's car so that she can take the twins to pre-k.
i have a spare convertible for the baby.
can anyone recommend their boosters? i know NOTHING about them. the boys are 4y 4months. not really sure if they are above average for height/weight, etc.

ETA
i am thinking i want a high-back booster. is a 5-point harness safer than a seatbelt? some have the LATCH system??
but not a convertible car seat that turns into a booster if that makes sense. im trying to save a little money since its for the babysitter but the kids MUST be safe. i need the safest seats possible!!

 

We are looking at boosters now for my five and a half year old twins. We've decided on the Graco Nautilus (I think that's what it's called). It starts as a five point harness, then concerts to high back/seatbelt positioning, then converts to backless. There is no question that a five point harness is safer than a seatbelt positioning high back booster. What you need to consider is whether your boys are ready for a seatbelt positioner. I don't know all the factors, but I know that my twins, at 5.5, 43-44 inches tall and in the 40-45 pound range are not in my opinion.

As between LATCH and seatbelt installation for a five point harness, they are equally safe when done right. LATCH is just easier and therefore much more likely to be done right.

 

We have the Graco high back boosters for my husband's car, they are the LATCH system. Like Rachael said, LATCH is just as safe but easier. The only thing I suggest if you get boosters with the LATCH is to have a rule with the kids they are not unbuckle them without asking and the car has to be stopped. When we first got them, I did not think about that rule and while we were driving my son says, "I got my seatbelt undone, WOW!" DH and I had to pull over the car and buckle him back in and basically made that rule. It was something we didn't think about before hand to address. We just assumed the kids would leave the buckles alone (why we assumed that I have no idea).
In the minivan, we have the convertible car seats. It's the car they mainly travel in, so they are mainly in 5 point booster when we are out.

 

I just wanted to mention to check the weight limit on the latch system. Most cars latch's are only good up to a certain weight ( 40 pounds I think), so after that point you need to use the seat belts. How often is the baby sitter going to be taking the kids in the car?

I know my girls switched to booster seats from the marathon during pre-k, but we carpooled home from pre-k and one of them sometimes rode in a booster seat. We got the graco turbo booster that became a backless as they got older. We also got harmony backless boosters for DH's car at some point. Now at 8 years old. (and 52 inches tall) my under 50 pound girl still uses the harmony booster seat in both the jeep and the suv and just the seat belt in MIL's nissan Sentra.

 

The LATCH weight limit is one of the reasons we are switching to belt installation (and they are going in the third row to accommodate the baby).

 

I just had a consultation with a seat expert and she told me the latch installation is fine for boosters at any weight because the latch is for the seat only; the belt is what is restraining your child. However, obviously follow your manufacturer's instructions.

 

But that wouldn't be true of the boosters with five point harnesses.

 

At 4.5 years old, I'd only put them in a 5pt harness. Most 4 year olds lack the maturity to sit properly in a booster seat. There are a few options out there that convert from 5pt to high back booster...Graco Nautilus, Evenflo Securekid, Britax Frontier or Pioneer, are a few.

 

my kids are really good in the car.
they are currently in roundabout 50's and the sitter will be driving them to and from school each day.

i want a high back/five-point harness. is that correct, lol?

 

Yes, I think that's what you want. Jori listed the options: Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier/Pioneer, Evenflo SecureKid. I've done a lot of research on these lately. For us, I basically concluded that the Nautilus and the Frontier were even in safety and the Nautilus is tons cheaper (and I say this as the woman who has the kids in Britax Advocates right now at $350 a pop x 4). I think Graco does a great job with infant seats and boosters.

 

are those above seats convertible car seats? they look really big; like car seats as opposed to boosters.

 

They are boosters with five point harnesses that convert to seat belt positioning high backed and backless boosters. They are the only five point harness "booster" options. Otherwise, you just have high back and backless belt positioners.

 

OHHHHH....thank-you so much. I GET IT NOW, LOL!
OK - so these are the ONLY options:
- Graco Nautilus
- Britax Frontier/Pioneer
- Evenflo SecureKid

I have one more person to interview and I do not know what kind of car she drives. The girl we met that we are leaning toward drives a Jeep Liberty. However, if this last person blows us away, we are going with her.
I am guessing I might have to see what fits in her car but safety was of course my concern for my little ones....are these different sizes as far as width goes?

My daughter will ride in a Maxi Cosi Priori

 

Those are the only options I know of. Could be more, but not many.

Don't know anything about width, but they should have the widths on their websites.

 

We had the Graco Nautilus seats until the kids were about 5 1/2. I really like them, mainly because of the 5 point harness. They were safe and reasonably inexpensive. One thing I will say about them, when we went away from the 5 point harness, we ended up getting Graco High Back Booster seats and selling our Nautilus seats. They are kind of bulky for boosters, in my opinion. The Graco Nautilus when you use the 5 point harness is basically a car seat. With that I mean that it is installed just like your previous car seats (you can use the LATCH system if you have it). So it isn't something you can just put in and out of the car in a minute. Takes some time to make sure they are installed properly. But they are very safe and my kids (tall for their age) were very comfortable in them until we made the switch.

 

I just posted a similar topic over on the gear forum. Could you ladies go over there and weigh in as well? I would greatly appreciate it.