Need Help Choosing a Booster Seat for Almost 3 Year old--Please Help!

Unfortunately, at this age, you're stuck buying another convertible seat. The rules changed in the past couple years to 4 yrs. before a booster (our son was able to move to a booster at three just a few years ago, so it's a recent change). I just looked into it because our daughter is turning three and her legs are getting crushed by the straps of her convertible seat. Couldn't wait to change to the booster, but no, she has to suffer another year in the baby convertible seat.

Sorry ... I'm with you on the incredible expense and inconvenience of the convertible seats.

We have an EVENFLO convertible seat that is very simple and lightweight, and the cover is easy to remove and launder.

Hi Molly:
By "booster" do you mean a forward facing seat with a 5 point harness that can later be used as a belt-positioning booster when the harness is outgrown by height or weight (these are called "Combination" seats)? 3 years is too young to be using a belt-positioning booster (seat that has no harness and just positions the seat belt on the child).
For your son's age, a good choice would be the Graco Nautilus, which is a forward-facing seat that can be used with the 5 point harness up to 65 lbs or about 18-19" of torso height (seated distance from the child's rear end to shoulder), then can be used as a belt-positioning booster.

WHat seat does your child currently use? The only convertible seat on the market that can be used *with the harness* to 80 lbs. is the Sunshine Kids Radian80 or XT and if your son is "almost too tall" for his current seat I'm guessing it's something like a Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety 1st Alpha Omega "3-in-1" type seat, which has a 40 lb. weight limit on the 5-point harness and then can be used as a belt-positioning booster. If you do have the 3-in-1 seat, please check that your son's shoulders are at or below the harness slot because otherwise he's outgrown it by height. Also for many of the 3-in-1 seats, the top slot is only for when the seat is used as a booster b/c it's not reinforced for use with the harness.

an awesome resource for all car seat questions is http://www.car-seat.org/ - many folks there are certified child passenger safety techs and all are really helpful and knowledgeable at helping you find a seat that fits your child, car, and budget.

edited to add: another option would be to get your son a convertible with a higher height/weight limit (such as an Evenflo Triumph Advance, which has a 50 lb. forward facing harnessed weight limit and a height limit similar to the britax marathon, and can be found online for about $110 with free shipping at places like www.albeebaby.com ). Then you could pass your 3YO's current seat down to the baby, and by the time the baby outgrows the old seat your 3YO should be old enough/mature enough for a belt-positioning booster and then you could pass the larger convertible down to your younger child). Feel free to email me directly if you have any more questions!

Get the Graco high-backed booster - its about $50 pretty much where-ever they are sold (Target, Wal-Mart, Babies R Us, its a pretty standard model). It is very lightweight, and quite simple to move out from one car to another if necessary, and turns into a standard booster seat when your child is ready. I feel your pain! You do NOT have to buy another convertible: at 46 inches and 40 lbs, my 3 1/2 year old has been unable to fit into a convertible carseat for a long while now, and has been in a high backed booster per recommendation of her pediatrician since just before she was 3. There is NO WAY I am going to purchase a new convertible seat for my child every 3-6 months as she sprouts 2-4 inches and outgrows those convertible seats like no ones business.
As long as the seat belt hits your child at the correct place across his body (with the over the lap portion sitting across the hips, and the over the shoulder portion across his chest and NOT digging into his neck) and he meets both the height and weight requirements, he can safely use the high backed booster well into his older childhood until he outgrows it.
However, I want to make one note: if he is wiggly and will NOT sit properly or try to get out of his carseat, this is not the option for you. They can easily wriggle out of a high backed booster if they are not "mature" enough to understand that we have to seat in our seats properly to be safe.