toddler carseat w/5 pt harness for children over 40lbs??

[MamaBird06]

I am anticipating ds still needing a 5 pt harness system before he reaches 4 years as it is the law in my state, but i am afraid he will be well past the 40lb limit i see on most carseats for the 5pt system. Right now, he is nearly 39" and 35lbs at 28 months. He is almost outgrown his graco comfort sport in height~40 inches is the max for it, and i am looking for a a new seat that could have him harnessed safely until 50-60lbs, i don't know how much weight he will be gaining, but I assume he will be over 40 lbs before he reaches 4 years as that is over 1 1/2 years away. Suggestions? I prefer not to spend an arm and a leg, but, safety is the #1 concern and the cheaper models i looked at only go up to 40lbs for the harness system.


Also i would prefer one that isn't very bulky that could be taken on an airplane.
Thanks

[MrsPinecone]

I think the Graco Nautilus harnesses to a higher weight and then becomes a booster to 100 lbs.

[talk2ham.1]

Try this site: http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/

This was recommended to me by a friend. I have no personal experience with it, but it looked really cool. Price isn't outlandish, though not the cheapest on the market either. My son isn't tall enough for these yet, but they look really convenient. The size is unbeatable too. In fact, I can't wait till he fits into one so we can fit our carseats better into the minivan. Not technically 5 pt., but with the vest itself being the safety feature, it actually looks safer than any other forward facing 5 pt. harness seat would be.

[~Ms. Nicole]

My husband works at Babies R' Us, I just asked him and he recommends the Graco Nautilus also (around $150) it will also go to a booster, he said the Britax will harness up to 65 lbs but it costs $260.

[Poodlemama]

My four year old is 38 pounds, and I have her in the Britax Boulevard. It has a five point harness and goes up to 65 pounds. After I got it, I liked it so much I bought a second one for my two year old, because he's already gaining weight WAY faster than she did.

I bought both of mine brand new off Ebay for $200-$215 and free shipping. You pay a little more for Britax seats, but if you read the consumer reports and crash test reports, these are among the best seats you can put your kids in.

I have three kids and we have two cars and I have six Britax seats. We just won't compromise safety for our kids. We bought every one but one off Ebay. They were NIB, with a warranty and all. I got the patterns I want off each one too.

I did find some AWESOME covers here when I needed to recover my daughter's first seat (Roundabout) for my youngest son.

[coles1mom]

My four year old is 38 pounds, and I have her in the Britax Boulevard. It has a five point harness and goes up to 65 pounds. After I got it, I liked it so much I bought a second one for my two year old, because he's already gaining weight WAY faster than she did.

I bought both of mine brand new off Ebay for $200-$215 and free shipping. You pay a little more for Britax seats, but if you read the consumer reports and crash test reports, these are among the best seats you can put your kids in.

I have three kids and we have two cars and I have six Britax seats. We just won't compromise safety for our kids. We bought every one but one off Ebay. They were NIB, with a warranty and all. I got the patterns I want off each one too.

I did find some AWESOME covers here when I needed to recover my daughter's first seat (Roundabout) for my youngest son.

:smilenod78:
Britax is a little pricier but you may never have to buy another carseat. I did not feel comfortable having him in anything less than a 5 point harness when and all my research pointed to Britax as the best. We got the Britax Regent and it harnesses up to 80 lbs. This should my son's last carseat unless he has a monster growth spurt.

[JillianP79]

I have been researching this now for several hours. I have decided to go with Sunshine Kid's Radian - I am going to wait until the new XT comes out. Check it out! It has great reviews, it is pricey though, like Britax...so I am here looking for deals. :-)

[Michar]

I am a hard core Britax fan... our DD's seats for our 2 cars as well as the one we got for the grandparents care are all from Britax.. they go on sale usually twice per year.. and when they do amazon will usually offer free shipping.. that's how we got our 1st 2.

[mamayarn]

Just for the record - I'm absolutely not a professional. Good for you for staying on top of your child's car seat needs!!

Here's a look at the Graco Nautilus:

Amazon.com: Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat in Matrix: Baby

It's forward-facing only so not a bad way to go since your little one is already at/over the rear-facing limit on most car seats. It harnesses to 65lbs and then becomes a booster until 100 pounds.

Here's the Britax Regent:

Amazon.com: Britax Regent Youth Car Seat Onyx: Baby

It harnesses to 80lbs and has 20" high shoulder slots. In a forward-facing car seat, the harness straps should come through slots that are above the height of the child's shoulders, therefore when the shoulders hit the top slot the seat is outgrown (one of a few ways to outgrow a seat). This is really important for tall kids growing like weeds! There's a comparison chart of some seats here: Car Seat Comparison Chart*::*Safe and Secure Baby

And can't forget the Sunshine Kids Radians:

Amazon.com: Sunshine Kids Radian65 Convertible Car Seat - Granite: Baby

Amazon.com: Sunshine Kids New Radian 80 Convertible Car Seat - SuperCool: Baby

Their top harness slot heights are 17.5 inches. The Radian 65 goes to 65lbs and the Radian 80 to 80lbs (shocker, no? ). The cool thing about these seats is that they FOLD and are really quite skinny for toting around, and they even sell a carrying case. The flip side to this is that I've heard they are impossible to install in some cars (BUT that might have been rear-facing I heard about - can't remember).

Hope this helps in some way.