When to switch to harnessed booster?

[nellgirl]

I have a ways to go before making a switch, but I’m curious at what point you switch a kid from a convertible seat to a harnessed high-backed booster like a Britax Frontier?
Other than when they outgrow the convertible height-wise, but aren’t mature enough to use a belt-positioning booster, is there any reason to make the switch?

[VillainV]

Oct 14, 2018 0:52:25 GMT -5 nellgirl said:

I have a ways to go before making a switch, but I’m curious at what point you switch a kid from a convertible seat to a harnessed high-backed booster like a Britax Frontier?
Other than when they outgrow the convertible height-wise, but aren’t mature enough to use a belt-positioning booster, is there any reason to make the switch?

We switched when C was old enough to climb into the car and into the seat on his own. With the shape of the Marathon we had, he couldn’t climb in by himself. With the Nautilus he can. He can’t buckle the straps yet, but it’s nice to have him climb up into his seat while we load stuff into the car, then we just get the buckles after. He was around 3.5.

[Birdie]

We switched in my car right before vacation when he was 3. I thought having a seat that sits more like a regular seat (leg area doesn’t rise) would make him more comfortable and agreeable in the car. He’s 4.5 now and sizing out of the Marathon in DH’s truck so we’re installing a 5pt hbb tomorrow.

[lessel]

We just switched DS1 to free up his convertible seat for DS2. He’s 3.5. We probably had several more months to a year in it, but he’s tall and has a long torso so might have topped out a bit sooner.

[pugz]

Mine was almost 5

[ssmjlm]

When she outgrew the nextfit, which was around 5. My kid is tall though and I was honestly surprised the nextfit didn’t have another notch for the headrest.

[ewall]

Recently at 3.5. He still uses the 4Ever in my car, but I switched him to a Frontier when DH bought a new car. Mostly because we needed to free up a convertible seat for DD to use. And I'm really tired of digging the buckle out from underneath him. The Frontier solves that.

[minniemouse]

When the convertible expired. I wasn’t buying another one. Dd2 was almost 4, and had been riding forward facing for awhile by then.

[minionkevin]

I still haven’t and my Kid1 is 4y2m, but I know I’m behind most on this. We will probably switch when I need the convertible seats for Kid3 in ~15m (currently 7+w pregnant). Kid1 just flipped FF in my minivan due to the limits of the seat (my Kid2 is 2.25 and also close to 40lb so moved to the Extend2Fit I have in there, Kid1is in a NextFit) and is still RF in my SUV (Extend2Fit for both which go to 50lb).

[estrellita]

Like others mentioned, we just switched E recently at 3.5 so we could move A into the convertibles. We still had a while before we needed to, but found a good deal. Both kids are small so if we hadn't gotten the combo seat, E probably could have used the convertible for a LONG time!

[krystee]

3.5 for us (just last month) to free up the convertibles for DS2.

[cabbagecabbage]

FF in convertibles and harnessed booster are equivalents so I switched only when the convertible was out of commission. In my case, I was in an accident when DD was 4. Thankfully she wasn’t in the car but her seat was. I replaced her Britax Marathon with a Grace Nautilus.

[jackie011]

After his 4 y/o check up and I went over my questions with our doctor. She said he was certainly tall enough and weighed enough to switch if we preferred. Then we happened upon a good sale, so we switched. I was planning to wait until about now, as our seat didn’t expire until November.

He tries desperately to do all of the buckles himself. Getting in/out of the car is a big struggle right now as he likes to climb into the 3rd row and surprise me. I kind of miss the days of the infant carrier!!

[atarianna]

I just switched my DD at almost 6.

DD and DS (4.5) got Graco Tranzitions for my H’s truck because of their narrow footprint and she told me she likes that seat better than her convertible. She is in the third row of my highlander because I have bucket seats and the newborn and my DS are in those in the second row. She was really cramped back there so the new seat fits much better.

I still have both of them in the 5pt harness and plan to for the foreseeable future.

[penguingrrl]

I did when my son outgrew the FF harness on the radian at under 4. If he hadn’t outgrown that at under 5 I would have skipped the harnessed booster entirely. None of my kids ever misbehaved in a booster and the older two were in them younger than the current recommendation of 5 (they also outgrew the radian before turning 5 and just switched to a regular booster then as it was considered best practice at that time). I only consider that seat a bridge if your kid is too young to booster and outgrew a convertible or if you need to pass a convertible down to a younger sibling. Otherwise I wouldn’t waste the money. We ended up buying dedicated boosters because the frontier was higher profile and took a ton of space and was harder to buckle.

[sandandsea]

They’re the same thing essentially. We switched at 5 as Ds2 took over the combination seats so we had to buy new sets anyway. Our combo seats turn into boosters too so he really would have had a long time to outgrow them.

Ds1 will be 7 in December and is still in the harnessed booster. He often sleeps in the car so the positioning is better with the harness. He’s been buckling and unbuckling himself in all seats since he was 4.

[nellgirl]

Thanks all! So it really sounds like if the convertible is still convenient/comfortable, fits, and isn’t expired, it’s fine to keep them in it. What I mean is that thre’s no reason to switch if they’re okay now.
She’s 2.5 and still rear-facing, but she can get in herself and buckle (but not tighten, obviously) herself, so I think I’ll keep her in it for a while.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Oct 14, 2018 8:01:11 GMT -5 cabbagecabbage said:

FF in convertibles and harnessed booster are equivalents so I switched only when the convertible was out of commission. In my case, I was in an accident when DD was 4. Thankfully she wasn’t in the car but her seat was. I replaced her Britax Marathon with a Grace Nautilus.

This.  If you don't need to get rid of the combo seat, there is no reason to buy a harnessed booster.  If possible, I'd wait till they were ready for a high back booster and use the combo seat till then.  High back boosters are cheaper and so much easier to switch from car to car and kid to kid.  I thought when I bought a harnessed booster, I'd use that as a booster when my kids were ready, but eventually I got rid of all the bigger seats for smaller, lighter, easier high back boosters.  

[pooh8402]

Oct 14, 2018 10:08:19 GMT -5 nellgirl said:

Thanks all! So it really sounds like if the convertible is still convenient/comfortable, fits, and isn’t expired, it’s fine to keep them in it. What I mean is that thre’s no reason to switch if they’re okay now.
She’s 2.5 and still rear-facing, but she can get in herself and buckle (but not tighten, obviously) herself, so I think I’ll keep her in it for a while.

Ditto what the others said. FF in convertible and a harnessed booster are the same thing. E is 3y3m and still less than 40 lb, so he still in the reclined setting of his combo seat (Graco 4Ever). Once he hits 40 lb, I'll have it sitting up more so it's more upright like a harnessed booster.

[aspentosh]

We switched when she was growing out of the convertible and needed more leg room in our sedans. That was around 5.5-6. We went with the Nautilus and it's great. At 6.5 she can easily climb in and buckle/tighten the 5pt harness herself.

Disclaimer: DD is still only like 45lbs at 6.5 so I wanted to keep her in the convertible as long as possible.

[Susie]

About a week ago, at almost 3.  We found that our Extend2Fit was not working out great in the FF position (we liked it fine while RFing), so rather than keep fighting it I bought her a Chicco MyFit.  

We were going to have to buy another seat eventually because Hobbes and #2 would eventually get to the point where they are both in convertibles, and if that day was going to come eventually I figured why fight with the E2F in the meantime.

[Velar Fricative]

We also switched at 3.5 to free it up for DD2, but knowing what I know now, if we didn’t have to switch for that reason and DD1 could still fit, I would have switched earlier anyway. We have Graco Tranzition seats and the footprint is so much smaller, which is nice.

[vtdiamond]

Oct 14, 2018 19:46:30 GMT -5 Susie said:

About a week ago, at almost 3.  We found that our Extend2Fit was not working out great in the FF position (we liked it fine while RFing), so rather than keep fighting it I bought her a Chicco MyFit.  

We were going to have to buy another seat eventually because Hobbes and #2 would eventually get to the point where they are both in convertibles, and if that day was going to come eventually I figured why fight with the E2F in the meantime.

How are you liking the MyFit? I’m thinking about going with that one after I read your other post about the frontier cover not being washable. We’ve been happy with our key fits and next fits

[steamboat185]

Just about 4 so #2 could move into the convertible car seats.

[gastro]

We switched at just 4 - we replace a giant britax convertible with a much slimmer diono. I wanted more room in the backseat because #2 was coming. We switched to belt positioning high back booster at age 6.

[Susie]

Oct 14, 2018 20:47:37 GMT -5 vtdiamond said:

Oct 14, 2018 19:46:30 GMT -5 Susie said:

About a week ago, at almost 3.  We found that our Extend2Fit was not working out great in the FF position (we liked it fine while RFing), so rather than keep fighting it I bought her a Chicco MyFit.  

We were going to have to buy another seat eventually because Hobbes and #2 would eventually get to the point where they are both in convertibles, and if that day was going to come eventually I figured why fight with the E2F in the meantime.

How are you liking the MyFit? I’m thinking about going with that one after I read your other post about the frontier cover not being washable. We’ve been happy with our key fits and next fits

So far, so good.  We have the LE version, and the snack container thing that fits into the cup holder doesn't stay well/isn't very useful, but the seat seems comfortable, she likes it, and getting her in/out is really easy.  I like that the cup holders are dishwasher safe too.  Haven't had to clean the actual seat for the first time yet though.  It's not as narrow as a Diono, but it's a good couple inches narrower than the Graco and Britax seats which is also nice.

We're going to give it a few more weeks before we order anything new for the 2nd car, we still have a FFing E2F in our SUV.

[jorja]

DD is almost 4. We will switch soon, because my youngest is going to need the convertible soon.

We haven’t switched yet because she is still rear facing.

[picksthemusic]

We switched DD and DS at 3.

[kershnic]

My kids are 4y8m and I have no plans to switch until they outgrow the convertibles on some dimension, which I don't foresee happening any time soon. They're nowhere near close for height or weight and they're still perfectly comfortable, so I see no reason to buy new seats.

[lolo]

DD is just shy of 5.5, in K, and still in a FF convertible.

She does have an Immigo that we use when we travel. I think we used it for the first time when she was 4 and had outgrown the Cosco Scenera.

So far, she prefers her convertible because she sits up higher and can see more.