How Long Will Kids Stay in a 5 Point Harness?

My daughter is 7 in 2nd grade and is in the Britax Regent and prefers it over her booster. Her friends all try and sit in it when we carpool because it's different. We have no problems on our end with being uncool. We are kinda anti-booster people you could say, my daughter just slouches, falls asleep and slumps out of the seatbelt etc. We just prefer a 5pt. anyday over a booster. Plus she can safely buckle herself correctly in a 5pt. fast and easily with a booster she screws that up all the time and I have to double check and make sure she actually did it correctly.

My 6 1/2yr old is still in a 5pt harness, the Britax Regent. he is in 1st grade and had a 'speak up' (like show and tell) and had to bring something with the letter 'C' and he brought a picture of his carseat and explained to his friends in class why he sits in it, the safety of a harness, and then told them they should all still be in a 5pt harness or a booster seat! He told them all how comfy it is. Like the other poster, when friends ride with us, they all try to sit in the Regent because its big, comfy, and they think its really cool.

For your 2yr old, you need to buy a 5pt harness, a good choice is the Graco Nautilus. It will harness to 65lbs, and then becomes a high back booster, eventually a no back booster, to 100lbs. Its a GREAT value for $150.

My 3yr old just went forward facing in his Britax Marathon, and we LOVE that seat too. However if I had to buy a new seat now Id buy the Nautilus because of its versitality as he's older now.

My 6.5yr old still fits in the Nautilus, so your son could easily use it to age 6 with the harness.

My son is almost 6. He is still in the Britax Regent. It is recommended to keep them in 5 point as long as possible. It's called "the cadillac of car seats" and my son thinks that means its cool. The trick is finding a way for them to think they are a "big boy" in a "big boy car seat"

I just asked our dr the same question because most of my daughter 4 year old friends are in boosters. Im not quite comfortable with that, even with them saying 30-100 lbs. The dr told me to keep her in a 5 point until she is 40 lbs. The bigger concern with a booster is where the seat belt hits. If you were to get in a wreck, would the seatbelt slice into their neck or does it lay comfortably across the chest.

I think it would be uncool when I was a kid in the 70's-80's but nowdays I think more parents are choosing 5 point harnesses so maybe it wouldn't be any big deal. If my kids complained I still would put them in the seat no matter what was said to them.

We are all about Britax seats and using 5pt. a harness as long as they meet the requirements on the seats.

We have a Britax Regent which is 22-80 lbs.
Our Marathon is 20-65 lbs.
If you want a seat at a max of 100 lbs. I'd go with the Monarch which is 30-100 lbs.

I was thinking that by the time my child has outgrown the Regent she may or may not need the Monarch. We'll just evaluate things as we get there.

Here's the Britax website where you can filter your search.
http://www.britaxusa.com/products/default.aspx

My son will be 5yrs old tomorrow. About 1yr ago we put him back into a 5-pt harness from the highback booster seat that only used a seatbelt. We told him he was going to be like a racecar driver and he thought that was sooo cool.

He have the Graco - Nautilus 3-in-1 MultiUse Car Seat and I would highly recommend it. This will be the only car seat your child will need until they no longer need any type of seat at all.

3-in-1 muli-mode Car Seat for longer use:
Extended 5 point harness use from 20-65 lbs
Converts into High-back belt positioning booster for use from 30 to 100 lbs
Converts into Backless booster for use from 40 to 100 lbs

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8112222

PS: We did look into the Britax Regent but couldn't justify the cost nor size over the Nautilus.

We have the Sunshine Kids Radian65 for both our girls
(ages 2 & 5). They can be in this seat until they are 65 lbs. and 53 inches tall and it is a 5 point harness. This car seat is also useable for 8 years as opposed to the 5 year usage of most other car seats.

My 5 year old has never known any different, so she has no idea that others her age sit in a booster. This car seat is also very highly rated for saftey. It has energy absorbing EPS foam panels that line the frame, the harness attaches directly to the steel frame for extra security, has wide, steel-reinforced belt pathways and rounded edges,it is one of the only convertible car seats that allows the use of a Tether while the seat is installed rear-facing and you can fit 3 Radian car seats across in your back seat.