Tess celebrated the fourth anniversary of her birth on the weekend. She had a great time at her party, all the girls (and boys!) were totally lovely. And like every year so far, her birthday was sunny and warm. Lots of opportunity for indoor and outdoor play. She has been wanting a Barbie and the Diamond Castle party for what seems like forever, so that was easy to oblige. And she also loves getting her toes done. One of my friends has a business where she does house parties, and she paints elaborate designs (freehand!) on toes. It was a huge hit!
So, as she enters her next year, I have yet another parenting dilemma. She has outgrown her carseat. This is beyond bizarre to me because Sam at five was still well within the seat's parameters. But as we've established -- Tess is really tall. She now measures in at just shy of 44 inches and she weighed herself this morning and she is 40 lbs on the nose. Sam wasn't this size until he was almost six! Her carseat is the convertible kind and it says when they are 42 inches, 40 lbs and 4 -- they need to switch to using the seatbelt as a strap (still in the car seat, but she's outgrown the 5-point harness). To be honest she's been too tall for a while. The top of the harness is not supposed to be below her shoulders and she has such a long torso it's been below her shoulders for ages. But now she's complaining that it hurts.
So why am I hesitating to switch? If she was my first I wouldn't be at all. But Sam was just so much older when we made the switch. And in general, a 5-point harness is safer. But I don't think it's safer if you no longer fit it. I saw online that you can get carseats now that use the harness up to 45 lbs and 45 inches. But do I buy another carseat for this? When hers is rated perfectly safe for her size with the use of a seatbelt.
She has no clue how to undo the seatbelt (or do it up for that matter) so I don't worry about that. But seriously, she seems just too young. What has your experience been with switching to the seatbelt on a carseat (I am not switching her to a booster, just the different strap).
Here are some pics from her birthday weekend (which also included a dance recital and gardening!)
Her dance was an Ugly Bug Ball. She's supposed to be a Queen Ant but I challenge anyone to have recognized that! 
This is Alexa from Barbie and the Diamond Castle. I think that's her name at least!
Happy Birthday song time!
Leah is 45 inches and 40 lbs. She's been in her carseat with the seatbelt since Christmas when I noticed that she too was too tall for the 5-pt. She also has a back-less booster that I've used...as long as they meet the height and weight requirements and any carseat laws in place, I'd personally not buy another carseat. :)
Posted by: Emily | June 01, 2009 at 12:24 PM
May I ask what brand carseat you have? I have Evenflo's for the kids that have one slot higher than some of the car seats available. The key is to look at top slot height from the seat, these vary by manufacturer. The Evenflo is around the $100 mark and converts to a booster to and is rated for 48 pounds. Even a long torso child fits in this seat up to about 5 and a half.
Luke is now nearly 5.5 and still fits in the top slot, shoulders are even with it. But I must admit he's been using it as a booster since last winter. My kids have long torso and shorter legs so they outgrew some of the carseats available by 3.5 to 4, as well. If you are interested I can forward you the link to the carseat. I bought both of ours at Toys R Us, but you can get them at Walmart usually too.
At just turned four, I'd probably let her go in a booster on low speed roads but the highway, I'd be wary at higher speeds. Another thing I always look at is how the vehicle seat belt holds them in if they are asleep. The five point does a better job on our little ones I feel.
I hope this helps you, let me know if you want me to find the carseat name!
Posted by: Rose | June 01, 2009 at 05:17 PM
I'm sorry, just noticed you wrote she's 44 inches tall, wow! She's gonna be a model! Luke is about 43 inches and is now getting snug in it. My car seat may not work for her that tall with the five point harness. But it's the Evenflo Chase, FYI on the Toys R US.ca website.
Rose
Posted by: Rose | June 01, 2009 at 05:24 PM
I think she is the right weight to use the car belt. My kids were smaller, but my daughter is almost 7 and sounds about the same size as Tess and she uses the car seat belt and a booster. I think she is about 41 lb.
Posted by: jen w | June 02, 2009 at 09:08 AM
Our carseat is the Alpha Omega Eddie Bauer from Dorel. It's nice -- but it obviously has limitations. And yes, Tess is crazy tall. When we measured her on the weekend she is now taller than Sam was in October 07 -- when he was 5 1/2. I'm sure that will slow down soon!!
Posted by: Jenn | June 02, 2009 at 10:50 AM
http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=2857165. Thought you might be interested in this seat. It fits a child up to 50 inches tall in the 5 point harness. My sister uses it as she drives on the highway daily and has found it to be well worth the money and her guy is nearly six.
Posted by: Rose | June 02, 2009 at 06:33 PM
Happy belated birthday to Tess!! Tess and Sam are again living in a Gwen and Simon parallel universe. We didn't switch Simon to the booster seat until he was almost 6, because he didn't even weigh 40 lbs. Gwen, we switched right before Christmas last year--1 month shy of her 4th birthday because we couldn't take it anymore--Gwen was too tall, and was already 41 lbs...and the booster seats were rated for kids starting at age 3.
I think the switch is fine. Yes, 5 point is safest, but it is not safe if she doesn't fit into the seat correctly. Not to mention, once you start using the seat belt, we never wanted to go back...seriously...
Posted by: barbnocity | June 03, 2009 at 06:42 PM
She sounds like Brooke - tall, tall, tall! I had the same problem with her, but fortunately the car seat we had at the time allowed for longer lengths .... I can't remember the brand - it was an Eddie Bauer edition (blah, since being in the car accident, we had to hand in the car seats and get new ones, so I just got boosters for both kids instead).
Danielle is a year older than Tess and just hit the 40 lb mark and moved up to the booster with the regular seatbelt (this was a huge deal to her for some reason). But I hear you on the age thing - she is still just 4, but if she meets the requirements for the seatbelt ....
I guess it all comes down to what you are most comfortable with. If you are not ready for her to use the seatbelt, then maybe look into getting something for her that will allow her more growth. Sorry, I'm of no help - am I?? LOL. (just rambled and rambled)
Posted by: Jamie | June 04, 2009 at 12:39 PM
OK--I had to share but I was clicking on your website to see if you had any more updates and Gwen asked who the girl was in the picture, so I told her it was Tess, and she was 4 years old just like her, AND she had a big brother who is 7 who LOVES the solar system. Simon heard me and said, "He sounds like a good kid to play with, can we go visit them?"
I said that you guys lived in Canada, to which Gwen replied, "Oh, too bad they live in Canada and not on Earth....it would be too far to visit"
Ha ha hah hahahah....
I just wanted to share :)
Barb et al
Posted by: barbnocity | June 08, 2009 at 04:43 PM