[Amysue1112]

Hannah has the Briax Roundabout and it is supposed to go up to 40lbs..however, when Hannah grows another inch she will be too tall for it..so...
I have been looking into the toddler/booster carseats, but every time I *think* I found one I like I see a bad review about it....I also want one b/c it is very hard for Hannah to crawl up into this one since it sits so high off the seat....and I want her to be able to for my bad back...AND...I know this sounds silly, but I want one with a cupholder!! She always wants her drink but doesn't want to hold it or stick it beside her in the seat..so it ends up tossed on the floor and of course she wants it again...argh

I would love Britax again but they are sooo expensive...any money is worth my baby's life and health but if anyone has good suggestions on a affordable alternative I would love to hear it! (I would also really like one with the LATCH system) \
She is 24lbs and 35 1/4 inches tall..I know some of the booster seats have a minimum weight of 30lbs...but I have seen lots that are 20 or 22 also.

Any suggestions or opinions would be WONDERFUL!



Thanks!
Amy

[ddahl]

I am going to tell you what I have found in my research because I have the same back issues and DS is growing by the nano second and its hard for me to lift him into the Tahoe-
THE BOOSTER SEAT IS A DEATH TRAP and a proven failure in numerous crash tests! There was an email circulating months ago about a family who had their kids in the back seat. The older 3.5 made the weight requirement so was in a booster and the younger one was in the car seat. They were stuck by another car and the one in the booster seat was killed on impact or died shortly after. I read aboout this shortly after my 3.5 year old neice came for a visit and I had purchased the Britex booster for her to use in my car. My DH is practically an award winning car seat installer and the thing tipped over when I had to hang it hard into another lane to avoid a near miss colision with another car. Keep in mind though that this may not have happened in a lighter weight car but who knows. I was shocked and had to pull over to right the seat. Shocking because we took the Chevy Tahoe over to the Fire Department to have the seats checked for both kids.
The interesting thing about many of these boosters is many of them are assembled in three pieces so they really can snap in half or bend with the right amount of force causing internal damage in a hearty crash.
Recently, I participated in the Joe Dimagio children's hospital safety check up and was told by the lady that my sons sippy cup could kill him in the car as the projectile force of the sippy cup could be as much as 2000LBS. x the objects weight. Could be exagerated but she told me she had been on cases where babies have been killed by a Kleexex box causing blunt force trauma during a crash.
I have the same issue with the dropped drinks and I generally have drinks because its so hot in Florida. There is a Britex that goes up to 65 pounds and its 300.00. Sometimes you can get them off EBAY. Its ridiculous that the best seat is the most expensive one. Every child should be affored the best seat possible and frankly if someone cannot afford it there should be a scholarship or something. We use the GRACO but we will also need to get another one probably by mid 2008. We have been able to train DS to climb into his seat without assistance and get his arms into the shoulder straps. Sometimes he still wants to be put in like a baby.
Good luck with finding a solution! I vote car seat until college ;-)

[Amysue1112]

Hi DDalh...thanks for the info...if the story you are talking about is the same that went around on I-Tube (I saw it again last night)..the 2 kiddos were both in booster seats..but with the boy the seatbelt broke and he was killed. I was not looking at that time og booster seat..I was looking at the ones more like a bigger car seat, and DEFINITELY the one with the 5 pt restraint. They call the a toddler booster seat but I think they are just more like a toddler carseat. I have to find soemthing bigger though b/c Hannah will grow out of it height-wise and that will be unsafe too. My back is sort of a secondary thing..but it certainlly would be nice if the carseat did not sit so high that it took a good climb for her to get up in it.

I will let you know what else I find out...thanks again for responding!

[ddahl]

Thanks Amy! The other thing I do not like about the car seats we have is that there is no much leg room for the kids either. Its constant kicking on the back of our seats that is enough to drive you totally bonkers. If you find one will you pm me or something? Thanks so much! :-)

[momraine]

We went to a car seat clinic. What we were told is the booster seats that have a small opening for the shoulder belt to go through are bad, because they kids pull on the belt and it gets stuck in the small opening and is then not tight enough in an accident. We were also told that the ones that are only the seat part and no back, are not good, as the shoulder belt was still often in the wrong place. So you want one that will position the shoulder belt correctly, and has a large opening for it to go through. My daughter's (she is about to turn 8) goes up to 100 lbs and has two cup holders that pull out. It does come apart, but he said this was good, as it would snap apart in an accident and would not break and leave sharp peices. It reclines, to match the seat. We were told this was a good thing as it fit the seat better, since often the seat back angle is not the same as the carseat, also we use it when she falls asleep, so she still has the belt positioned correctly, otherwise she would be leaning to side and it would not be safe. My son is tiny, so he is still in a five point carseat in one car, in the other he rides in his wheelchair, which has padded chest harness and the chair is tied down to the floor of the car with four tie downs. The truth is anything in the car, toys, drinks, cleenex, diaper bags, purses, backpacks, books, hairbrushes, etc. could turn into a missile during an accident. What this guy said though, was that you have to balance that. He said in his wifes car if there were no drinks and toys on a longer trip, they would have a higher chance of an accident becuase the kids whining would distract his wife. So his advice was keep what you need in the car, but clean it out often, and put what you don't need to be actually in the car in the trunk or under something. Truthfully the safest thing would be to stay home. LOL, so we have to balance safety with convience and comfort for our kids. That was why I finally took my older daughter out of the carseat, she was miserable being so restriced in movement and made the rest of us miserable too.

[bmarsicano]

HI. I have a Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat - Olivia, got the first one for a shower gift and it only went up to 40 lbs. This one I got goes up to 80 lbs and has the 5 poing harness. I read that story and got scared and actually the police said to keep them in a five point for as long as possible.

[amanda_p]

We have the Britax Regent. I watched that video on youtube and freaked out. I bought it online. It was no tax or shipping so that helped out. I am very happy with it.

[momraine]

Did you know we have a whole forum devoted to baby gear? There are several threads on carseats that would be useful.
http://forums.adoption.com/car-seats...ers-baby-gear/