Do I have to move my nearly 4 yr old onto a booster? Why?

[MaMight]

Dd is about to become too heavy for the weight recommendation on her big stage 2 car seat.

It says approx 9 - 18kg (why "approx?"?) and she is now 17kg.

I can't find anything to explain to my why she would be safer in a booster seat than in her lovely big car seat with a 3 point harness.

She still fits very comfortably in it, and loves her car seat.

Obviously I shall do whatever is safest. I'd like to find out more.

It's a height thing. If her head is over the top of her car seat you should move her to a booster seat. When they are 1.3 m they don't need one anymore.

You must not put a child in a carseat they are too heavy for - the harness is not tested for weights above 18kg. If you want her to remain in a 5 point harness, you should get her a seat which has a larger weight limit for the 5 point harness.

The harness is not tested beyond 18kg ie. it may come undone with the force of a crash . There used to be a few harness seats which went above that, Britax Elite for example but they may have discontinued as so many people are keen to move onto a highback booster almost as a rite of passage.

Yep - agree with the height thing. A child can be well below the approx weight, but still too tall for the seat.

if she still fits in it, then no harm keeping her in it as long as she's not over the max weight.

HTH

Thanks all.

How tall is too tall? The top 2 inches of her head are taller than the top of the seat, but if we were in a collision the main bit of her head is protected, so no neck issues.

I think that if her eyes are level with the top of the seat, then she is too tall (can't remember where I read that though, probably on here)

As soon as her eyes become level with the top of the seat she is too tall for it.

I shall go and check as soon as she wakes up.

Marvellous.

Thank you.

MaMight - your thread in pedants corner is still going

I guess I have been lucky that my middle ds is so small, at 5yrs 8months, he is still in his Britax first class si seat. His weight is getting quite close to the limit now (limit is 40lb, he's 36lb), but his height is fine. I am not sure what I am going to do when he reaches the weight limit because he is still so small for his age and he is a messer, so I don't think he would be safe in a high backed booster with a normal seat belt. Decisions, decisions!

My nearly 5yr old is in a Britax Elite which harnesses to 25kgs. She also in an Evolva but that only harnesses to 18kgs.
She is reading over my shoulder and telling me she prefers her 'big girl' seat...the Elite as it has more room.