What comes after a convertible car seat?

And how big do they have to be for it?

I have a Britax Boulevard 70CS in my car- it's still great and DD fits fine in it.

She is tiny at 3.5- I'd say 34 pounds TOPS and maybe 37 inches or so.

The issue is the seat in DH's car. Since it was a car we don't use much we took his sister's Britax Marathon. It's a few years old now though and I really don't care for it. Adjusting the straps, etch is not anywhere near as easy as our Boulevard.

So we want to get something else for his car- nothing pricey or fancy since we don't take her in it much.
However, I am thinking maybe it's not worth it to get another convertible car seat at her age?
Should I, an more importantly, CAN I- go to the next step?
Is that a high back booster?
How big do they have to be for that?

Any direction is appreciated!

Re: What comes after a convertible car seat?

The next "stage" is a booster seat. DC should be a minimum of 4 years, but DS was 6 before we switched, and DD is tiny, and she was 7 before we switched her. I'm never in a rush to move to the next level of car seats.

What comes after a convertible car seat?

You can get a combination seat like a graco nautilus which is a harnessed seat that converts to a booster.

But if she still fits in ten comveritble( meaning her shoulders are not above the straps at the top setting or her tips of ears are not above the top of the headwinds) she can stay in that.

A booster is not really reccomended until 5 or 6. She would need to be able to sit properly with just a seatbelt all the time, including while asleep. Meaning no flopping over while asleep, a lot of kids have a problem with that part.

Re: What comes after a convertible car seat?

I just asked this question
We went to Buy Buy Baby and they showed us toddler convertible carseats. It basically looked just like a convertible car seat - has a 5 point harness, side impact, head rest with side flaps and it does not come apart (meaning the back does not seperate from the bottom)
It goes from 25 pounds to 120
The one the sales person showed us was the Britax Pinnacle 90 (something like that)
I have to do more research

Re: What comes after a convertible car seat?

Thanks guys. She definitely still fits in tbe convertibles but since we are looking to replace one I wondered if it was worth it to buy another convertible at her age.
I am.thinking about the graco Nautilus 3 in 1..at least that will convert to a booster when she is old enough

Message edited 1/19/2014 8:54:12 AM.

What comes after a convertible car seat?

5 point is by far safer and they should remain in one for as long as they can. We have graco Nautilus 3 in 1 for my girls and at 6.5 and 7.5 years old they are both still in 5 point harnesses with room to grow. We are just now discussing switching our oldest to a high back booster in a few months, at 8 years old. So it's well worth the money since you will still get many more years of use out of a 5 point harness!