What kind of car seat do you use for your 4/5yr old?

[HarvestMoon]

I have my 4.5yr old in a booster seat that goes up to 26kgs.. it still has the 5 point harness like the smaller seats. You can remove it if you want and just use the seatbelt in the car although seems kind of pointless and unsafe to me.

Anyway i'm wanting to pass this seat down to my youngest and buy a new one for my 4 yr old.

Just wondering what everyone else uses?
Are booster seats with a car seatbelt even safe enough? I've heard a child needs to be at least 26kgs for a seatbelt to hold them in during an accident and DS is only 19kgs.
I've seen some seats that go up to 43kgs. They have the anti submarine feature but no harness. Would these kinds of seats be safe enough if i added a H harness?

[Fuchsia!]

i have the maxi rider AHR for my DS who is 5

[mim1]

The booster seats without a built in 5 point harness are safest if used with a H-harness instead of a usual belt. That's what I would recommend.

[crazymuma]

My 4.5 year old who weighs 23kg isn't in a car seat at all - never really thought about weather he should be or not. Don't think I could get him to sit in one now though - he has been out of it for awhile.

[Beachside Mumma]

My SIL lives in Victoria and is expecting a bub at the end of August. She has been organising car seats etc lately and was told that her 5 year old has to go back into a properly anchored booster seat, and has to be in one until age 7, as that is the law now. Not sure about the other states. Trouble is, he is over the 26kg limit of most booster seats. Apparently they're hoping to have a booster seat on the market by the end of the year going up to 30kg. She also mentioned that the fines for not having a child under 7 properly restrained in a booster seat are quite exorbinant.

Harvest Moon - what are the names & brands of the seats that go up to 43kg if you don't mind me asking?

[melissa.r]

Yep, law has just been passed that all children up to the age of 7yo need to be restrained in a booster seat with harness.
Car seats are made for adults, not children and it is totally unsafe for children not to restrained adequately.
I use a maxi rider which goes up to 32kg, once the child reaches 20kg you need to change from the 5-point harness that comes with the seat and buy a H-harness. My children are 5 1/2yo and 3 1/2yrs.

[Beachside Mumma]

What sort of Maxi rider do you have that goes up to 32kg? We have the maxi rider for Kenneth and it only goes up to 26kg and I just looked up the maxi rider AHR and it only goes up to 26kg as well... I'm not trying to be picky, would just really love to know.

[melissa.r]

What sort of Maxi rider do you have that goes up to 32kg? We have the maxi rider for Kenneth and it only goes up to 26kg and I just looked up the maxi rider AHR and it only goes up to 26kg as well... I'm not trying to be picky, would just really love to know.
Mmm, you are right it is 26kg. Apparently, the situation is that your child needs to stay in a booster seat with H-harness until 26kg and then continue to use H-harness (on car seat) until 7yo or 140cm.
I think the laws are still being worked out, but will come into effect from about Nov 2009.

[CorbinSethLincoln]

I have a unity safe and sound baby capsule- Lincoln
A maxi rider- Seth
A pegasus booster seat- Corbin
They are all safe and sound brand
I was thinking about putting Lincoln into seths when he is old enough, moving Seth into Corbins and then I suppose I will have to buy another Pegasus for Corbin. THey are only $120 so thats alright.
We dont have them laws yet, but i like my kids to be in the seats anyway.

[kezzaskids]

I have a Secure brand antisubmarine booster from K mart. It has a top teather strap. In my ca he uses a H harness with it, In his dads car he uses a normal seatbelt. The normal seatbelt goes on under the arm resta and feels/looks very secure.

[reAllytee]

Boof has outgrown his Maxi Rider & it was a waste of money for us being that he only used it for a year :rolleyes: but at least G will get the use out of it when the time comes !

We now have the Safe n' Sound Hi-Liner ....

If he somehow manages to outgrow this one then we are in for trouble as it means he wont be able to get into a car at all lol !

It has all the requirements that I demanded :


Anti- Submarine clip
Can be used with a Protecta Harness
Is a tethered booster even with harness
Also has special clips for when a harness is no longer in use.

[Beachside Mumma]

I'm quite curious now... Does anyone know of a booster seat that goes past 26kg? I have googled and googled but I just can't seem to find anything... Well I did find one, but it was a NZ seat.

[InSaneOne]

ally - just wondering how much you paid for the hi-liner and what the weight limit is on it?

[twinkletoes]

The Hiliner is only rated to 26kg here however it is rated to 45kg in other countries e.g. USA. Quite a few places have it on special at the moment. I think Babies Galore is selling them for $160ish

[Beachside Mumma]

Sorry for all the questions... but do you know why it is rated to 45kg in other countries and not in Australia?

[twinkletoes]

I think the different weight ratings is more to do with seats having to be sold in a particular category/class in Australia e.g. birth to 18kg car seat, 14-26kg booster. A booster must safely hold a child between 14-26kg it may be able to hold a smaller or larger child but Australian Standards (or whoever makes the rules) don't allow the manufacturers to state this. On the other hand maybe our safety standards are higher and the seat really is only safe to 26kg (but I don't think so). The U.S hiliner is also untethered.
This is just what I have gathered from reading forums. I am not in ANYWAY an expert.