Good 2nd set of car seats?

We are probably sending our kids to full-time preschool in the fall. The boys will be 3 years, 8 months, so I'm pondering what to do about an extra set of seats for my mom's car (she'll be my back-up person to pick them up if they are sick and I can't get there quickly - there is some daytime travel for my job, as much as an hour away, and DH is a teacher and can't always just leave).

Technically kids aren't supposed to be in a booster until they are 4, right? But both of my boys are already both over 40 lbs. and tall, too, bigger than many 4 year olds (they wear 4's and 5's in pants).

So what's a good 2nd set of seats - easy to move around, and not too expensive, but still safe? They're only going to be used in case of sickness, so not even daily. I'm tempted to buy a pair of high back boosters since they'll be almost 4 years old and are over the weight requirements for them already. Any thoughts??

ETA: I should also say that the preschool we're looking at using is about 2-3 miles from our house, so even if my mom does pick them up and brings them here to keep them when they are sick, it's also a very short trip (yes, I know, most accidents happen close to home! But still, it's really close by).

 

Most 4 yo are not ready to be in booster seats. This is a great article to know if your child is ready to move out of a 5pt harness or not.

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/baby_booster.htm


For what it's worth... my 5yo twins are not. We have Britax frontiers here. Love them. They can stay harnessed for a long, long time. A cheaper alternative is the graco nautilus, which will also turn into a booster down the road.

Edit: I didn't realize yours are not 4 yet. I would definitely not trust a 3yo in a booster, even just for 2-3 miles, and especially not with Grandma driving (not that I know your Grandma, but they might be less likely to listen to her if they start playing with the seat belt or something, and she might not be as strict as you about making sure they are not moving etc).

 

There are some very reasonably priced high back booster with the five point harness. We bought a Cosco brand for like $50 each for my husband's car. We left them in the seats with the harness until they were the height for just a high back booster. Once they hit the size for the high back part exclusively, we removed the seat belts and now they are able to get themselves in and out of seats by using the car's seatbelts, which is a gigantic huge relief. We can use the kiss and ride line at school because they can get themselves out of the carseat.

 

I just want to add, booster seats and high back boosters do not work with the latch system, BUT, the latch system doesn't work after a certain weight anyway depending on the make of cars.

 

Yes 40 or 45lb.

 

She said that her children were over forty pounds already. . .that would be something I would check into like ASAP.

 

I would (and did) buy high back boosters for my two to use in my mother in law's vehicle. If you want to get the ones with the harness the costco ones look good too. We needed something more portable, since it's rare rare that they use them. I bought a couple graco high back boosters and she keeps them on a shelf in her garage until she needs them.

 

We still have our five year olds in five point harnesses but they will have to move to boosters when the new baby comes because their seats have to move to the third row and there is only one LATCH hook up in DH's third row--right in the middle. Plus, we need them to be able to get in and out on their own since they'll be way back in the third row. By the time they switch, they'll be 5 1/2, probably 45+ inches and over 40 pounds (they are like 37/38 now). No idea what kind we are going to buy.

 

I didn't realize that at all.....we have the Graco MyRide 65 as their main seat that we use in the van, so I figured the latch system was still okay.....I think I better go dig out the manual and check. Thanks for the tip.

I looked up the Cosco booster with the 5-point harness, and it says the harness is only for up to 40lbs. So that won't work since my guys are already over 40 lbs. Mainly I'm trying to avoid spending $200 or more on seats that they may use only a few times, if at all.

And Fran, actually, my mom is VERY strict with making the kids listen, as much as I am. If they start messing around, she'll stop the car and make them straighten up. Now DH's mom that is a WHOLE different story!!!

 

There is new info regarding the latch. It is changing as of 2014. The child and the seat cannot be more than a combined weight of 65lbs to use the latch system.

One of mine has been switched to the safely belt. The other is still light enough to use the latch system.

They are 4 and one is over the 90th percentile in height and they are both still rear-facing. They have not outgrown their carseat rearfacing height or weight wise so they haven't been turned around yet. Once they are forward facing it is good for 5 pt harness until they are over 80lbs which I doubt they reach due to height.

That being said the 5 pt harness is best to use for as long as possible. There are a lot out there that are not terribly costly that might last you a while with the 5 pt harness.

 

Wow, do you have a radian? Mine outgrew their seats rear facing in height at 40 inches or something.

 

Yes they are Radians. I love them. Pain to install but love them. My inlaws bought them for us for the boys first Christmas/Birthday.

 

I checked my manuals, and we are still good on the latch for now (up to 48 lbs). DS1 is around 44 lbs, so I will be keeping an eye on his weight, and probably need to switch him to the belt soon. I'm glad you all told me there is a limit on those things!!

Many of the 5-pt harness ones that are not as expensive seem to top out at 40-50lbs, so they won't do us much good. That's why I'm trying to get some more ideas on seats to look at - I really, really don't want to spend $200-$300 for seats that are only going to be for a back-up, but with my kids being big for their age, we might not have much choice.

 

We bought a set of the evenflo maestro at around 3 1/2 for our tall skinnies that grew out of the height of their regular carseats. It goes up to 50 for weight with a harness, then converts to a booster.

http://www.evenflo.com/product.aspx?id=315&pfid=6597

 

honestly - I would just buy the high back boosters with the seat belt...mine have been in boosters without the harness since they were close to 5 and still in the 40-42 lb range (I have skinny minis)...if it is a rare occasion that they will use them (ie emergency) I really don't see the point in spending $200+ on seats that may only get used once or twice a year...however I don't buy into the carseat hype...in fact a friend of mine's friend just lost her 2 month old rear facing infant in a car accident when the vehicle was rear ended...

I just wouldn't spend the money - it is seriously not worth it...now if your parents were taking the kids on a road trip then I'd swap out the seats...but for an emergency run from school to home when sick or a surprise trip to the store - save your money...

 

This is how I would approach it as well.

 

Ditto. And I won't tell you when i switched all my kids forward facing and into boosters because I'm sure I'll get flogged for it.

 

I would also get high back booster for them. Easier for your mom, plus if she is not going to be using them a lot it is much easier to make sure they are installed correctly (since they don't need to be installed)

 

Thanks, ladies. I do think I'll probably do the boosters since it's just for emergencies, and DH thinks so, too. My mom has back problems, so installing it is definitely a worry for her, too. The Graco seats we have aren't heavy, they're just really awkward, and installing them can be awkward, too. If my mom would be driving them for more than an emergency, I would definitely make sure she had those seats and that they were installed safely.

 

I was actually waiting for the flogging to commence with my POV...so no you won't get flogged from me

 

Kids should really be harnessed as long as possible; most kids aren't ready for boosters with just a seatbelt until 5-6 (it has more to do with age and physical development than with weight; a 35-lb 6y/o is safer than a 40-lb 3-year-old.) Here's some information on boosters and how to tell when your kids are ready for them and how to choose a good one:
booster info


The Evenflo Maestro and the Graco Nautilus are both great seats that tend to fit most kids and vehicles well (highly recommended by car seat techs) and convert from a 5-pt harness booster to a belt-positioning booster and not too expensive. The Maestro is especially affordable.

ETA: And there's no "hype"; the statistics on FF vs RF and harness versus seatbelts speak for themselves.

 

these are $100+ seats, plus (at least the Nautilus) is VERY heavy, and her mother has a bad back...

in the grand scheme of things a once or twice a year trip in a booster seat 2 miles doesn't warrant the expense and the weight...and you can spin statistics any way you want to...it wasn't that long ago that booster seats were only up until age 4...

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Plus, I looked up the harness weight limits on the Evenflo seat, and it only goes up to 50lbs, which the bigger of my two boys is close to already (he's 44 lbs). The Graco seat is $180 on Amazon.

If these were seats that were going to be used regularly, it would be one thing, but they might not even get used at all. I just can't see spending $360 on a pair of seats that are just for emergencies. We have and will continue to use the Graco MyRide seats we have in our van for all our running around, so they will stay in the 5pt harness in those up until 65 lbs.

 

AmynTony, the Maestro is not a $100+ seat; $79 on Walmart.com and that's not a hard price to find for them. (Though yes, OP, if your LO is already getting close to 50 lbs it's not your best option.) Also, the first two prices that come up when you google the Nautilus is $139 on Walmart.com and on Amazon.com so I wouldn't go by the most expensive price you can find. But yes, if they will truly only be used once or twice a year, then sure, I can understand wanting even less expensive seats. (Though if you'll really use them that rarely, could you also look into getting them secondhand from someone you trust? And could your mom leave them in her car so she doesn't have to deal with uninstalling and reinstalling them?)You also might want to double-check your state's laws to see if they do require 4 years and 40 lbs minimum for boosters. Your mom may not know and may want to be aware if she's driving them illegally.
And AmynTony, the stats do speak for themselves; spinning them is completely unnecessary. There's a reason that 4 yrs is no longer the rec; it's not some arbitrary change that was made.

 

Again - I've seen the videos and the statistics (I was an insurance agent for 10 years)...most fatalities are from seats that are not properly installed or children that are not properly restrained...in which case the size of the seat or size of the child has nothing to do with it...

and as I said upthread, a friend of mine had a friend lose her 2 month old daughter (who WAS properly rear facing) when she was hit hard enough...in which case again, the seat nor size of the child made no difference...

it IS hype, it IS a way to terrify parents, and I don't agree with it...personally I can't wait until next year when my twins turn 8 so I can ditch the damn things...

most people don't agree with the way I feel...I remember "back in the day" when there was no such thing as a car seat, and certainly NOT until one turned 8 years old! By 8 years old I was riding in the front seat of the car...on the highway...I also rode a bike without a helmet, and walked nearly a mile to school...

 

See, what a lot of people also don't realize, is the higher weight limit seats (yes like the britax ones) were made for husky kids. They were not developed nor designed to contain a child until they hit middle school! They were made as an option for parents of children who were overweight, or otherwise just much much too large for a regular standard car seat.

But someone, somewhere, got the idea, that they could 5pt harness their little average sized joe until the poor kid was 7,8,9....yrs old. We can make a fortune selling these higher weight (and higher priced) car seats for kids to all these parents whose kids have already outgrown the average car seat.

And they are making a killing doing it by playing into the fears of parents all over the world.

I am not denying that a car seat is safer. I'm not denying rear facing is safer. However, I will not (and did not) harness any of my kids until they hit 65 lbs. My 6.5 yr old, who is a very tall child and has hovered in the 90% for weight and height since birth, would still be 5pt harnessed. And I find it ridiculous. She's been in a low booster seat for about 4 months now, since she outgrew the highest point of the high back she was in. My twins will be switched to the seatbelt in the nautilus's before school starts this fall for them.