What's The Best Car Seat For a 3 Year old ?

littleangelfire81

There is no one BEST seat for everyone, b/c everyone chooses different seats based on what they need. However, there definitely are seats that are worse/better than others. SKIP any seat with a 40lbs weight limit, which unfortunately takes out most of what's on the market. The general combination seat (think Evenflo Generations/Bolero/Chase, Safety1st/Cosco/Dorel/Eddie Bauer Summit only harness to 40lbs, and then you MUST remove the harness and use as a booster, and they make terrible boosters on top of that b/c they don't do a good job of positioning the belt. Don't be fooled by the "20-100lbs" or "20-80lbs" on the outside of the box. The fine print is that the harness only goes to 40lbs.

So...there's really not THAT many choices I'd consider for a 3 year old. you don't want a convertible car seat, b/c its not worth the money for a feature (rear facing) that you won't be using. So that takes out a whole lot of seats, too, even that have higher weight limits. The Britax Marathon is a great seat, as is Evenflo Triumph Advance, but not worth it for a 3 year old.

So what would I get? 3 choices:
1)Graco Nautilus RIGHT NOW its $123 at Walmart.com + 97 cent shipping(might be in the store, too, I don't know) regularly $140-$150, its an awesome seat! HArnesses to 65lbs with 19" top slots, then becomes a great booster, like a Turbobooster. Cup holders, easy to use, easy to install, if you don't like the cover walmart has, check out Target, it has a softer cover. Each store that sells it will have a different cover on it. I can't say enough good things about this one. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8112222

2)Britax Frontier - definitely the pricier choice at $249. Harnesses to 80lbs with 18.25" top slots, then becomes the tallest booster seat currently on the market. Very comfy padded seat, but can be a bear to install, definitely buy it somewhere you can return it if it doesn't work, or go to http://www.car-seat.org for help from a tech installing. http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=albee-baby&query=Britax%20Frontier

3)Britax Regent - $279 or $249 sometimes (albeebaby had some for $219), harnesses to 80lbs with 20" top slots, tallest on the market. Does NOT becomes a booster, so you would need to purchase a booster seat once she outgrows it. Very comfy, called the king of car seats. :) http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=albee-baby&query=Britax%20Regent

4)Safety1st Apex65 - this one is at the bottom of the list for a reason. Its much flimsier than the others, doesn't work as well as a booster, and won't harness as long b/c of 17" top slots. Harnesses to 65lbs. It is often the cheapest option, though. Beware: the headrests in your vehicle must go at least as high as the middle of the Apex65 headrest in fully extended position. This is b/c the seat has NO support in the back of it. http://www.albeebaby.com/sa1stap65boc.html

Most important, no matter what you choose, keep that kiddo harnessed as long as possible! Its a lot safer than a booster seat.

WHY KEEP THEM HARNESSED:
Compare the following crash tests for your self and see the major difference a harness makes.
Forward facing harness vs. booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/recarostart.mpg
A lateral test (the third view in) of a harnessed seat: http://www.oeamtc.at/videobox/index.php?domain=oeamtc&videobox=Kindersitze_bis_18_kg_oder_4_Jahre&movie_kind=swf
A deep winged high back booster like a Parkway: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/seitencrash/concordliftpro.mpg
A shallow winged high back booster like the Turbobooster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/seitencrash/htsbesafe.mpg
And a no back booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest/videos/tests_2001/seitencrash/Baby_Sunny_touring_P3_vorne.mpg

VIEDOES OF KIDS WHOSE PARENTS DESPERATELY WISH THEY'D KEPT THEM HARNESSED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPBSEQ4xbTw
We also now know the spine is not solid until age 6.

So to sit in a booster and use just the seatbelt like an adult (basically a booster just fits the belt to the child,so it's essentially the same), they need to be able to not have the lapbelt cause those injuries, have the head proportionate like an adult, and have a solid spine like an adult. kids under age 5 have higher rates of head injury if they are riding in boosters than kids over age 5 (presumably because younger kids have heavier/larger heads in proportion to their bodies, so they fly forward farther or with greater force, thus incurring greater injury if/when they come in contact with vehicle interior or intrusion?).

Veronica

http://www.target.com/Graco-Turbo-Booster-Ionic/dp/B000LP3VEG/qid=1227490664/ref=br_1_6/175-3427109-4233710?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

http://www.target.com/Graco-TurboBooster-Car-Seat-Moonbeam/dp/B0015W2SNO/qid=1227490759/ref=br_1_2/175-3427109-4233710?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=3579951&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=2

http://www.target.com/b/ref=in_se_pagelist/175-3427109-4233710?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=3579951&rank=pmrank&viewID=leaf&field-pricebin=&store=&rh=&page=2&fromBrowse=1

http://www.target.com/Evenflo-Big-Kid-Booster-Seat/dp/B000YZ627Q/qid=1227490837/ref=br_1_5/175-3427109-4233710?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=3579951&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=3

http://www.target.com/Evenflo-Big-Kid-Booster-Seat/dp/B000F8JNF0/qid=1227490895/ref=br_1_12/175-3427109-4233710?ie=UTF8&node=3579951&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=3579951&rank=pmrank&rh=p_36%3A%2425-%2449&page=1
i like evenflo and graco

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: