2.5yo moving to booster seat - advice please

[scarecrow22]

My DD is only 2y 5m but is already 16kg and nearly 1m so according to the 'rules' we should move her from the 5 point safety harness seat to the booster seat with the car seat belt across her fairly soon. I'm worried she'll be able to undo the car seatbelt, however. Apart from pure discipline, has anybody tips on how to stop her undoing the seatbelt? Can you buy any fitting or accessory to make it harder to undo?
TIA

What's the position of her head like compared to the top of the current car seat? I think if her head is still protected then you should leave her where she is.

Or look at a seat like the Britax Evolva. It has a 5 pt harness that can be removed later - we got one for dc3 as he was too tall for his 5pt harness seat but not heavy enough for a booster. Because it's designed to take a much older child we kept him in a 5pt harness for much much longer than we otherwise could have.

Wait until she is 18kg and the tops of her ears are level with the back of the current seat.

The car seats with the impact cushions are much safer.

you have got until she is 18kgs before she has to move out of the harnessed seat. Or you could look at getting a seat that harnesses to a higher weight.

Are you sure you need to? I have two cheap Kiddicare seats and one goes up to 18kg and the other 25kg.

I've got to 18kgs with my similar aged child so we went for a high-backed booster.

She hasn't tried undoing the clasp, but she keeps taking her arm out of the shoulder strap. So fat the only thing that works is extra time to stop off, reposition and tell off OR bribery. We overdo the positive feedback if she's good for a journey and it's better after just a month, so hopefully we'll get there.

as ClaraOswald said she can stay in her current seat until she reaches 18kg and/or her ears are level with the back of the current seat. if the tops of her ears are level with the top of the seat then something like a impact cushion seat or the evolva will do until she reaches 18kg.
when you do move on to a booster make sure its one of those highback boosters as they are safer. (companies are not making the backless boosters anymore).
I usually say to my children that if their strap is not done up (or they ubdo it) then the car cant move, so if they undo it mid drive I pull over as soon as its safe and refuse to move. We also have a rule that they can't undo it until engine off. Obviously the older they are the easier it is to explain why its important to have seatbelt on properly.

Thanks - I was waiting for 18kgs, which I guess is not super soon, it's just that she has definitely grown since being weighed at 16kg a month ago, so it won't be that long, plus her head is way up high on her No 1 car seat. It's a good point though about the Evolva 1-2-3 having a higher headrest though - that is the seat I'm about to move her into so perhaps will be able to keep her in the 5pt harness for longer.

Elfycat - thanks for the encouragement. I am, I to admit, a liberal briber of my child: vegetables, nappy changing, hair washing, not kicking her brother's head ....

I'd definitely go for a group 1-2-3 as it will be tall enough to keep her harnessed to 18kg. 2kg is quite a lot of weight to gain for a lo so it may take longer than you think.
If you have the money though I'd go for Britax Two Way Elite which is harnessed to 25kg and is just over £200 iirc. I don't think even a 4 year old is really sensible enough to sit properly in a booster so I would keep her harnessed as long as possible. The TWE should last a long time and is pretty saleable too once you're done with it as it's a highly regarded ERF seat.

thanks weonly I had not heard of the TWE but worth every penny of £200 by the sounds of it. also with over two years between DD and DS (5 weeks ) can then use for him.

No problem. You can only buy the TWE from www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk in the UK I believe.