I know I’ve discussed here before how I have a love/hate relationship with car seat guidelines. On the one hand, I think it’s hugely important for children’s safety, and yes, I am totally that mom who still has kids in booster seats long after everyone else has ditched them. On the other hand, if I go strictly by the height/weight requirements, neither of my kids will be booster-free before high school.
Which… sorry, but no.
Anyway, I still appreciate a good grow-with-them car seat that works for different ages and stages, even if I’m not willing to strap my middle-schooler into one. Heh. So today’s deal on Buy.com on an Evenflo Symphony car seat caught my eye; this seat will take your kid from 5 to 100 pounds, and up to 57 inches tall. It works as a rear-facing seat, forward-facing 5-point restraint, and then as a booster. It may even slice, dice, and make perfect julienne fries, I’m not sure.
Today it’s just $120 shipped, compared to $168 at Amazon. (Check out a pretty thorough review here if you want more details than you get from the Amazon reviews.)
I don’t have babies anymore, but just allow me to say that nothing this cool existed when I did. (You kids today have it too easy! Now get off my lawn.)
Amen, Mir, I’m in the same boat – my kids are 8 and 5 and are still in boosters. They are not the tallest or heaviest kids and would certainly be in high school before they met the 80# recommendation! But the oldest is starting to get embarrassed by it.
There’s a PSA on tv right now with Cinderella’s fairy godmother saying kids should be in booster seats til they’re 4’9″ tall. I wasn’t that height until I was 14! I told my daughter that when she’s eight I won’t make her use one in friends’ cars or on field trips, but we’ll keep it in our own car for a while longer.
100 lbs and 57″? my grandmother needs to be in a car seat, i guess!
on the other hand, i have a picture of my mom bringing home my oldest brother from the hospital after he was born, and he’s just bundled in a blanket and lying between mom and dad in the front seat of the car! ah, 1964.
I’m in the opposite boat. My 7 yr old is apparently part-giant. But yes, it’s the law here, so he’s still strapped in!
That same car seat was on Woot.com last week. I’d buy it, but the infant padding has pink daisies on it, so it’s no good for us. Decent car seat for a good price, though.
What cracks me up about seats like this is they advertise them as “the only seat you’ll ever need” and then in the fine print mention that the seat expires 5 years from the date of manufacture.
Oh, and Mir, do you know the 5 step test? http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm
If your kids can pass all 5, they don’t need boosters, even if they’re less than 4’9″ (and if they can’t, and they’re over 4’9″, they still need ’em!)
At 18, I weighed 96 pounds and was just 5’0″ . . and knew a few gals even smaller than myself. I shudder at the possible social ramifications if booster seats had been around back then!