carseats, boosters, i have no idea

Yes you were, admit it! :booty:

 

actually, i was just going to literally throw them into the 3rd row seat and tell them to "hold on tight!" :smilie_xmas_116:

 

While doing donuts in the snow? And texting at the same time, right? :db:

Let us know how the boosters go!

 

yes! i make super sharp turns, and love slamming on my brakes... brake-checking people is a hobby of mine! :ibiggrin:

i will definitely let you know how it goes!

 

Can I go with you? I'll bring the beer! :drinks:

 

:rotflmbo: YES, PLEASE!!!! we got our first snow today, and it's kinda icy outside... i'm so bummed about it, i'll definitely need some beers to get me thru the traffic!

 

You really should just encourage them to ride in the trunk. Less chance of a ticket that way.

 

the stroller takes up too much room, and all they do is complain and whine back there that "waaaah! i'm squished! waaaah! i can't move my leg! waaah! waaah! waaah!" jeez.

 

Not to de-rail the thread, Danielle, but my kids also do not sleep in the car. I wish they would though. Good luck with your car seat decision! I have shrimps, the car seats they are in now they'll probably qualify for at age 20!

 

So I was in Target, looking at the car seats since I know we'll need new ones quickly and we were just lollygagging, reading at all of the tags, and a lady with her four kids came up and asked me if I needed any help because, "I'm a certified car seat safety tech." So she answered my questions!

Her five year old is in a MyRide 65. She said that the Nautilus was great and because my two are so light (33 and 36 pounds) that they definitely need to be harnessed, not just a high back booster. She also told me that to look in the book for my minivan to find out the weight limits of the latch system, most cars are either 45 or 50 pounds. And basically if you're harnessed, latch (if you're under the weight limit) and if you're in any sort of booster, do not latch. And the seat should not wiggle.
:smilie_xmas_116:

 

I don't know how her 5yo can be in a my ride, my 3.5 yo is about to outgrow hers in length (shoulders even with the highest harness slot)! Odd...

For the latch, most cars have a 40lb limit actually... definitely need to look in the book. And most states require kids to be 40lb and 4 before being in a booster.

 

I'm glad you posted this thread b/c I've been having issues with my girls' seats as well. The weight limit on them is 35 lbs and with coats on I can hardly strap them in anymore. (We don't own thick coats, I live in the south.) I had no idea there was such a thing as a 5 pt harness booster. My girls probably won't reach 40 lbs til they're 10, I need to get those seats!

 

so yesterday we tried them out as boosters, and the girls were much more comfortable! we aren't using the latch, and we're double and triple checking the seatbelts to make sure they are locked into place after securing them in. i'm still not crazy about it not being a 5pt harness, but it's working, so... remember: my girls are 43in and 43lb

and let me just also add that we took off the bases, and GROSS!!! :bad: i had to scrub that nasty crap down! now i know where all those crumbs go! *gag*

 

My dd is 5 and has been in a high back booster since she was 3. Flog me now I had the twins when she was 2.5 and couldn't climb into the third row of our SUV to buckle her into a carseat, not to mention, she's crazy tall and was about to outgrow the height of her marathon. We have the Graco Turbobooster for her and it works fine, she rarely rarely falls asleep in there.

I got Graco Nautilus's for the twins so they'll be harnessed longer. But sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. A booster and seatbelt is still safer than nothing at all

 

Yeah we're not giving food in the car now if we can avoid it... it was nasty when we switched cars!

And I disagree, for some kids seatbelt and booster is just pretty much the same as no carseat at all. Plus there's a risk of decapitation if they put the seat belt in the wrong place... so yeah... really have to make sure the kids are ready for it. But once they are, it's just as safe as a 5pt harness really.

 

what kids is it (booster/carseat) not safe for?
also, i would certainly hope that people make sure to put ANY seatbelt in the right spot, even their own!

 

It's not safe if the child doesn't know how to keep the seatbelt in position. There's no way, for example, that my kids would have the maturity for it... or they'd be turning around, bending to pick up something, anything... and if you have an accident at that time, it's pretty much as if they were not in a carseat at all.

 

Hah! I looked closely at my seats yesterday and to my surprise, they go to 50 pounds! I thought they only went to 40. So I can put off this agony of finding a new seat until they get too tall to comfortably sit there.

 

Watch the height limit too (or it might just be that their ears need to be lower than the top of the shell or something.

 

I didn't see a height limit on the sticker on the chair. I'll have to get underneath the chair to pull the manual out.

 

Bex--What seat do you have? A lot of the manuals are on-line. I can get it for you if you need.

 

That's just it, I have no idea. I think it's an evenflo convertible, but I'm not sure. It's like 3 years old too, and I think it was old (prior year model?) then. Heck, I don't even remember where we got it from.

It's brown and kinda cushy. :lol:

 

Bex - you can probably save yourself the trouble. All forward facing seats (that I've heard of, I'm sure there are exceptions) have a height limit of when the child's shoulders are above the top strap setting... so if the strap has to go up to go over their shoulders they're too tall. Or, if the child's ears are over the top of the shell they're too tall - whichever comes first.

 

Ahhah! I was right!

Evenflo Triumph Advance, not the 65 pound one. At any rate, Royce has 17 pounds before he's at 50, Alice probably has 13.

 

One thing to add is that each state is different in the laws when you can have kids in boosters or have to have them restrained with a harnessed carseat... here's a link to website with some info. laws by state

I know for Florida it's what was previously stated, have to be 4 yrs old, but many of the states listed show a higher age... I'm just mentioning this so that people research and know their own state.