Q&A: Can I skip a convertible car seat?

My 21-pound 11 month old is outgrowing his infant car seat. To save money, can I skip a convertible car seat and just buy a toddler booster?

You could—but it’s not the safest idea. That’s because a convertible car seat can be used rear facing and a toddler booster seat can’t. In fact, many convertible models offer the potential to keep babies and toddlers rear facing until they weigh 35 pounds (depending on the model), and the rear-facing mode offers the greatest protection in the event of an accident. “The longer you can keep your baby rear-facing, the better,” says Kisha Price, a health educator and certified child passenger safety technician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Safety Center in Baltimore. (Learn more about why rear-facing longer is better.)

At the 35-pound point, you turn a convertible car seat around and your child faces forward until he reaches the seat’s weight limit in that mode, which is generally up to 40 pounds, though some convertible seats have front-facing weight limits of 65 pounds or more. Models typically have an adjustable five-point harness system, which we recommend based on our tests. (See concerned about rear-facing babies?)

With a toddler booster seat, on the other hand, your child rides front facing with the car seat’s own internal harness from 20 to 40 pounds, though some toddler booster seats go up to up to 65 or even as high as 80 pounds, for kids who are heavier or larger than average for their age. (Learn more about all car seat types.)

Because a convertible car seat keeps your baby riding rear facing initially, we recommend buying one with a five-point harness instead of a toddler booster as your baby’s next-stage car seat (when he outgrows his infant car seat). To save money, consider buying a convertible car seat with a weight limit of 65 pounds or more. That move will allow you to possibly skip a toddler booster and jump to a belt-positioning booster when your child is ready. A belt-positioning booster is designed for kids weighing 40 to 100 pounds. A belt-positioning booster uses only the vehicle’s own safety belts to restrain your child but it’s designed to correctly position both the lap and the shoulder portions of the vehicle’s belt correctly across the stronger parts of your child’s body, the collarbone and hip area. It should be used until your child is at least 57 inches tall—the minimum height at which car seat belts will fit a child correctly.

See our latest convertible car seats report and Ratings (for subscribers).

My 21-pound 11 month old is outgrowing his infant car seat. To save money, can I skip a convertible car seat and just buy a toddler booster?

You could—but it’s not the safest idea. That’s because a convertible car seat can be used rear facing and a toddler booster seat can’t. In fact, many convertible models offer the potential to keep babies and toddlers rear facing until they weigh 35 pounds (depending on the model), and the rear-facing mode offers the greatest protection in the event of an accident. “The longer you can keep your baby rear-facing, the better,” says Kisha Price, a health educator and certified child passenger safety technician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Safety Center in Baltimore. (Learn more about why rear-facing longer is better.)

At the 35-pound point, you turn a convertible car seat around and your child faces forward until he reaches the seat’s weight limit in that mode, which is generally up to 40 pounds, though some convertible seats have front-facing weight limits of 65 pounds or more. Models typically have an adjustable five-point harness system, which we recommend based on our tests. (See concerned about rear-facing babies?)

With a toddler booster seat, on the other hand, your child rides front facing with the car seat’s own internal harness from 20 to 40 pounds, though some toddler booster seats go up to up to 65 or even as high as 80 pounds, for kids who are heavier or larger than average for their age. (Learn more about all car seat types.)

Because a convertible car seat keeps your baby riding rear facing initially, we recommend buying one with a five-point harness instead of a toddler booster as your baby’s next-stage car seat (when he outgrows his infant car seat). To save money, consider buying a convertible car seat with a weight limit of 65 pounds or more. That move will allow you to possibly skip a toddler booster and jump to a belt-positioning booster when your child is ready. A belt-positioning booster is designed for kids weighing 40 to 100 pounds. A belt-positioning booster uses only the vehicle’s own safety belts to restrain your child but it’s designed to correctly position both the lap and the shoulder portions of the vehicle’s belt correctly across the stronger parts of your child’s body, the collarbone and hip area. It should be used until your child is at least 57 inches tall—the minimum height at which car seat belts will fit a child correctly.

See our latest convertible car seats report and Ratings (for subscribers).

Comments

[j dowoski]

are you kidding? you want to skip using the covertable car seat on your 11 month old to "save money"?! instead of focusing on cutting corners my best advise would be to focus on the safety of your child. i ask that you think of the potential damage your 11 month old child could suffer should you get into a car accident while having him in a toddler booster instead of a convertable car seat. by the way, they call it a "toddler booster" for a reason. please try to always put your childs safety first.