Counting Blessings: Advice?

Monday, January 24, 2011

Advice?

I would love some advice from all you parents out there. (And, parent-to-be, you may want to read too because you'll be dealing with all this someday!)

Abby is turning 4 this Wednesday (we are pretty excited around here). For a couple months, Garrett and I have been talking about getting her a new car seat for her birthday - one of those booster seats for kids 3+ (or 4+, depending on what state you are in). For people unfamiliar with car seats, a booster seat is just a booster that helps the kids sit up higher in the seat, and they use the regular car's seat belt (they are now out of the 5-point harness).

But here's the problem: I just realized that Abby is not yet 40 lbs (the current minimum for most boosters) - she's about 5 lbs shy. But... Ellie needs Abby's current car seat (yes, Ellie's still in her infant seat and ready to move up).

We could just buy Ellie a new toddler seat just like Abby's but it just feels redundant because Abby's probably going to need a booster within a year.

I found a Graco car seat ("Nautilus") that is a toddler seat and transitions into a booster seat. It has excellent reviews on Walmart.com and Amazon (and is actually the "best buy" on Consumer Reports, which you probably know by now is my bible when it comes to buying stuff). It sounds like it would be ideal because Abby would stay in the 5-point harness for now (which is the safest option), and then someday when she is ready to move into the booster, we'd already have it. But, this new seat is $140. (Her toddler seat was about $60-70, and a booster is about $50, so when you break it down it makes sense I guess). Is that worth it? Does anyone have this seat? Is it massive? I don't want anything massive... we'll definitely have to check it out at Walmart before making the purchase but I thought I'd ask first.

I guess my real question is, how far is "too far" when it comes to your kids' safety? Obviously as parents, we all do everything we can to keep our kids safe, but at what cost? How much is too much to spend on peace of mind? Because the reality is, every car seat on the market has to pass certain safety standards and they are all fine to use, I am sure. But ever since I read online that's it's safest to keep your kid in a 5-point harness as long as possible, I want to keep Abby in one forever! (What, you don't think she'll be as compliant at age 13? haha). But at what point are we going too far? Do we ignore those last couple of pounds and just put her in a booster seat now, or do we buy an entire new car seat (for $90 more)? (And while we're at it, do we buy this nice car seat for Ellie too while it's on sale, because eventually they will BOTH be in boosters at the same time? Because as a side note, we really don't like Abby's current chair because it gives her bruises on her back when we drive long distances.). How much is too much? Or, is there no such thing as too much when it comes to car safety? How much do you pay for peace of mind?

5 comments:

Jon and Molly Knight said...: What 4 year old wants that for her birthday?
But I say go for it. What's 5 pounds?; January 24, 2011 at 3:41 PM
Michelle said...: Parenthood is a never-ending stream of questions, purchases and nights of research on consumer reports, isn't it? I use the sunshine kids car seats.they can be pricey, but i love them because they are skinny, so should you need to fit 3 carseats in a row in a car you can do it. It's for kids up to 60 pounds (or 8- depending on which one you get). I have a couple boosters that were given to us that cade uses every now and again, but like you, I feel better if he's strapped in snug. Yes, even though he's 6. And the seat is much more comfortable for him when we take road trips-- he prefers to be strapped in rather than in the booster if he's going to be in the car for a while. IF you're going to spend money, don't spend it on boosters. Spend it on car seats.

How's that for adding to the confusion?'
:)
In any case, good luck with that!!; January 25, 2011 at 1:31 AM
Anonymous said...: Hannah,

I would take Abby to the store and actually place in in one of the car seats and see how the straps fit on her. Every child fits differently. What is most important is how the straps fit across her torso.

That being said have Abby sit in a booster and see how the seat belt goes across her. If the belt is choking her then she is probably not tall enough to have a booster seat. Lots of kids are heavy enough for booster seats but they are not tall enough.

I highly recommend getting a booster seat that has a spot to things....water bottle or toys, for example. Hope that helps!; January 25, 2011 at 10:06 AM
Kristen said...: Hannah, we ran into something similar when Avery was ready for a big boy car seat instead of the carrier. At the time, Becky was keeping Avery and I would drop him off and Rick would pick him up. It was great with the carrier, because we could leave the carrier with Becky and we each just had a base in our cars. Well when he was too big for it, we ended up buying two big car seats so whoever picked him up had a car seat. We talked about buying one nice and one cheap since one of us would be doing most of the hauling but then we decided that we are going to have at least two kids (hopefully) and the second seat would come in handy then. So we decided on two nice ones.

Basically, I think as long as you'll use if for your kids now and any possible future children, it's a good investment. And the positive thing is that when you're all done with it, you can either sell it or give it to someone you know that needs a good carseat. :o); January 27, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Shauna said...: Hannah,

I am very passionate about this subject since I agree that nothing is more important than safety. I had also contemplated getting Carter a booster seat because I thought it would be easier and he would use it for longer. But, after doing research I found that it is safest to keep kids in the 5-point harness for as long as possible. Although 5 pounds doesn't seem like a big difference, the thing that happens to kids that are just in a seat belt is that in the case of an accident they would slide out of the bottom and are more likely to hit their heads on the glass because a seat belt would not hold them as securely as a five point harness.

I got both the kids Britax car seats and while they are expensive, I think it is worth the investment. Britax seats are built with a steel frame and hold up much better in crash tests. I also like how the Britax seats hold the straps open when you are loading your kids in them so you're not fishing the strap out from under them. I really cool feature I wish all car seats had. The Britax LATCH system was also WAY easier to hook into the car than the Gracos we had and they also have a feature that holds them VERY secure when/if you choose to fasten the car seats with a seat belt. Very convenient and really gives me peace of mind.

Kids are supposed to be in some form of a car seat until they are 80 pounds which I think it is safe to say with your kids is a long way off. That being said, I think your idea of getting the Nautilus is a good one because of the versatility. It will also convert to a low booster when you are done using it for a high back booster and it comes with a harness.

As far as the comfort of the seat, I can't speak for the Nautilus (although it was one that I considered). I did notice a considerable difference with both my kids when I switched them to the Britax seats because they were SO much more comfortable than the Graco ones they were using. Hope this helps. Let me know what you end up doing.

Love ya!; January 28, 2011 at 2:27 PM