Car seat for 3 year old?

Question

what kind of car seat do i need for my 3 year old? he is about 34 lbs. he has been in a convertible car seat for 2 years and now we want to give that one to his brother. do i need to buy another expensive convertible or large seat or can i buy a cheaper booster? does the booster still need to have a 5 point harness or is he big enough to use the regular seat belt? should a booster have a back still? thanks for your help!

Answer 1

For this situation I think a Graco Nautilus would be the answer!  He can be in the harness until 65 pounds and then it converts to a booster.

Answer 2

typically you don't use a backless booster (the cheap ones) until 40 pounds.  you can buy a booster with a back and a five-point harness that he should fit in for a good long time, though.

Answer 3

my 3 year old sister is about 31 lbs. and she just moved into some kind of toddler booster from Sears. I think it is the "cosco" brand. it has a back, because a child has to be 40-50 pounds before he can sit in the backless booster. it has a 5 point harness because 3 year olds are not old enough for a regular seat belt.  good luck finding a car seat! it doesn't have to be too costly

Answer 4

I'd go on a site like Walmart's and check out the size requirements for the different seats.  My daughter is almost 4, and still in the convertible one facing forward that I got for her when she outgrew the infant carrier carseat.  The booster seat with the back and the 5 pt. harness is now recommended over the smaller backless seat that you use just the seatbelt with.   That's what I plan on using for my daughter next.

Answer 5

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

Got this one for our 2 year old and she loves it! the harness supports up to 65 lbs :o) except we ended up paying abit more for it some where else

Answer 6

Forward facing harnessed seats are outgrown when a child reaches the weight limit, or more commonly when the child's shoulders are above the top harness slots.

If the child is 4 years AND 40lbs, then he may move to a booster with vehicle lap shoulder belt seatbelt.  If not, then the child needs a larger FF harnessed seat.  There are many seats that harness to 55-80lbs.  Some are the Britax Marathon, Decathalon, Boulevard, Frontier and Regent; the Sunshine Kids Radian; the Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE; the Graco Nautilus and the Cosco/Safety First Apex.

Stay away from: The Alpha Omega 3-in-1 seats only harness to 40lbs and most 40lb weight limit seats are outgrown before a child is mature enough for a booster seat.  They also have very low top harness slots, so are outgrown by height at around 2 or 3 years old.  The Graco Comfortsport also has very low top slots.

A child should ride in a booster with vehicle lap/shoulder belt until he or she reaches approximately 4'9" (around age 12) and then can move to just the adult seatbelt if he passes the 5 step test and the seatbelt fits him correctly.

Answer 7

you can move him to a booster. I got one for my daughter and it was only like $18.00 and the weight requirements are 30 lbs. Don't waste your money on another huge car seat. It doesn't have the 5 point harness you just use the regular seat belt and also the back of the regular chair.