Never Mind!! Visiting Family - Question about a booster for a 4 yr old?

[naomi's mama]

Hi. I'm visiting family in a few weeks and don't want to bring my car seat. My DD who is 4 yrs (5 in Feb) is in a convertible car seat right now. She's about 37 lbs.

My sister, who I'm visiting, has a Graco HighBack Turbo Booster car seat, supposedly OK to fit 30-100 lbs and for 3 to 10 years old.

We're just visiting for 5 days. Do you think this is "Safe" for her to use? I guess I'm just nervous b/c we haven't put her in a booster before.

ETA: Just read the Texas laws and it says 40 lbs is the min, and she's not there yet. I think we're just going to buy one and have it shipped to the store for my sister to pick up. I figured we'll just buy one since we do visit often. (Usually, another sister has one for us to borrow, but she's out of town for part of our trip).

[keen1981]

I would bring my seat. I don't like boosters for kids that still fit in 5pts. I suppose it's 'safe' if there isn't an accident. If there is an accident she would 'safer' in a 5pt. IMO. I purchased padded car seat bags to check my seats. They are huge, a pain and entirely annoying to travel with, but my kids are allows as safe as I can make them

[mommyfrog]

An Evenflo Maestro would be a good choice. It harnesses to 50 pounds with tall slots and is fairly inexpensive.

[an_aurora]

It could go either way--at that age, there's no data saying a harness is safer if she can sit still. Take a harnessed seat if you can afford it easily, but I wouldn't have issue with using a booster for the trip either.

And FWIW Texas does not have a 40-lb law; they just say under 5 must be in a seat, which includes boosters.

[monica-m]

Originally Posted by an_aurora And FWIW Texas does not have a 40-lb law; they just say under 5 must be in a seat, which includes boosters.

The law changed a couple of years ago to require boosters for kids under 8 or 4'9". There is a 4 and 40lbs suggestion written in to the law.

OP, why are you not just taking a seat with you? If you're flying she can ride in the seat on the plane and you can carry it with a luggage cart.

[naomi's mama]

Originally Posted by monica-m OP, why are you not just taking a seat with you? If you're flying she can ride in the seat on the plane and you can carry it with a luggage cart.

There's 4 of us travelling and we do travel to Texas often, usually, along with strollers, luggage, etc. It's just such a hassle b/c most of the time, my DS also has a car seat (he's 2). Since we travel to Texas often (3-4 times a year), it's just easier to buy one. Our family in texas is huge, so when my other sisters fly in to visit, we figure they could use it too, if we're not there.

Anyways, I think we are going to just buy another convertible car seat. She's on the smaller/average ht size, so we're just more comfortable with the seat at this time, I think -- although boosters seem so much easier!

[monica-m]

If there other kids that will use a convertible to rear face then a convertible will be fine. If no one is going to use it rear facing then you should by a combination seat so that you're not wasting half of a seat's functionality.