Convertible booster seat question

Hey ladies,

My son will be 5 in May. He is currently around 42 lbs and very tall. I was looking at his covertible high back booster and it says that the 5 point harness is for 20-40lbs and that to use the regular car seatbelt is 40-100lbs. Does this mean he is too big to use the 5 point harness now or even at 50 lbs? It still has a lot of room for adjustment and is at the correct level at his shoulders.

from the way you have it worded i would say he's too big for it in the 5 point harness. you either need a different seat, or he has to go to using the seat belt.

Yes he is above the limit.

Quoting lunch lady:" Hey ladies, My son will be 5 in May. He is currently around 42 lbs and very tall. I was looking at his ... [snip!] ... 5 point harness now or even at 50 lbs? It still has a lot of room for adjustment and is at the correct level at his shoulders. "

IF he is 42 pounds and the seat is only to 40 pounds in a harness, that means the harness has only been approved for 40 pounds or less, and yes, it is now unsafe for him to be in the seat with the harness. I suggest using the booster. If you are not comfortable with that, I wouldn't myself, look into the Nautilus. A much longer lasting seat.

Gah, it just doesn't seem safe to use the seatbelt and actually the seat he has does not have a good rating for use with the seatbelt.   Looks like it's time to go shopping!

Quoting lunch lady:" Gah, it just doesn't seem safe to use the seatbelt and actually the seat he has does not have a good rating for use with the seatbelt.   Looks like it's time to go shopping! "

I would get a Nautilus personally. That seat is AMAZING. My daughter was in the harness until she was 8 and the only reason she moved out was because her brother needed the seat. In a booster setting, fully up it almost hit the roof of my Durango, so it's literally the last seat you'd ever need.

Thank you, I'll definitely look into it.

Yes, he is too big for the harness mode on his seat.

Based on what you say the limits are, I'm guessing he is in one of those 3 in 1 seats? The booster mode on those has a notoriously bad fit on most children, placing the lap belt too high and making the shoulder belt gap away from the chest.

If you believe that your child is mature enough to sit properly in the booster (no leaning to grab a toy, wiggling around, putting shoulder belt behind back, etc..), than I would suggest getting a dedicated booster like a high back Graco Turbobooster.

If your child is not mature enough to sit properly 100% of the time, I highly suggest a combination seat that harnesses to a higher weight then becomes a booster. Depending on your budget, some good seats to look at are the Harmony Defender 360, Graco Nautilus or Britax Frontier 85.

Here is a good site that shows how a booster should fit:
http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html

And this link shows what the best fitting and worst fitting boosters are
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr102512.html

Quoting Andie.:" Yes, he is too big for the harness mode on his seat. Based on what you say the limits are, I'm guessing ... [snip!] ... And this link shows what the best fitting and worst fitting boosters are http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr102512.html"

Thanks so much! Yes, I have changed his seat to the seat belt before just out of curiosity to see how it fit and the shoulder strap was too far away. I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable using the seat belt yet.