I have to admit, I thought I was finished with the whole car seat issue. Installing car seats has to be one of the hardest things to do correctly. First you have to have the car's manual to find out how a car seat should be installed in this vehicle. Then you need the car seat manual to figure out how to install this car seat. And then you have to hope the two sets of instructions don't conflict, if they make any sense at all.
When my son was outgrowing his toddler seat, we bought one of the those convertible ones. It could be used as a booster seat too. I thought we were done. Other than buckling him into it, I haven't given it a thought in the last couple of years.
I happened to look in the rear view mirror the other day and realized that my son was almost too tall for his seat. Wow! Maybe the time has come to get rid of car seats altogether?
I checked some safety websites to see what they recommend. Most of the sites say something like what I found at the Keeping Kids Healthy and Car Safety sites:
"A child is usually ready for the adult lap and shoulder belt when the child can sit with their back against the vehicle seat back cushion with knees bent over the vehicle seat edge with feet on the floor."
The weight and height guidelines vary, but it seems to be 80 - 100 lbs and over 57". My son is no where near those dimensions.
So now we're in the market for yet another car seat. Back to figuring out what model to buy, who sells it, and where can I get the best price. And now that he's older, he's going to have opinions on what he likes and dislikes.
At least I won't have to find where the tether attaches or how to install a locking clip.
