Car seats / boosters for older children

[Marylizah]

DS is 3 y 4 months old, and just went through a major growth spurt that left him at 18.5 kilos. So he has officially outgrown his Britax carseat.

We don't have a car, and don't use carseats very frequently, but I still want and need to get him a seat that is appropriate to his size.

My questions: are there any seats for children heavier than 18k that still harness? Or am I automatically looking at plain old booster seats?

Secondly, can anyone recommend a specific brand? Looking through a Babysrus catalog that came yesterday, I saw a German brand I've never heard of, the Osann. Can anyone tell me anything about it?

TIA.

[*theophane*]

hello there!
i can only tell you i got the impression that Osann was cheap when we tried it Germany 2 y ago. but it was for 0-9mo carseats, maybe their other products are OK?

if you want to know which brands are best, you can check the Touring Club Suisse (in french) car seat report it is the equivalent of AAA and each year they run extensive tests. it is a famous report, often quoted on french website- i don't know if there's a French equivalent.

anyway the bests are always Romer (germany) maxicosi/quinny (french-holland)
the French bebe confort is often poorly rated.
so are the Jane (spanish)
gracco appears but i don't know how well it is rated.

about the boosters, i think they are more envelopping than in the US and certainly not made of a simple seat, i think these are for really big kids.
i hope you'll get other answers on that particular point.

ISabelle

[Marylizah]

Thank you soooo much!! Very useful. Am studying the site right now. I'm surprised not to see Britax on the lists at all! As it's considered one of the best/safest brands in the US....

[*theophane*]

romer and britax are the same in the EU i think
http://www.britax.eu/

[Marylizah]

Thanks again! Just spent some time on their website. Looks like I'll be going for another Britax/Romer. Too bad the TCS didn't test some of the Romers I'm interested in!

Still, very helpful!

[LoisLane]

NEVER MIND -- a quick google search gave me the answer!


On a related note -- what are the carseat requirements in France? We will be moving to Burgundy for 4.5 months next Jan-May. We have a son who will be 7.5 and twin girls who will be 4.5. I doubt they will weigh 18 kilos by then, though... Will they need a full size carseat?

Thanks (and sorry if this is too much OT -- I can repost as an original thread if that is better).

[IsaFrench]

loislane , here's an official french site detailing car seats requirements

http://www2.securiteroutiere.gouv.fr...uto_sept08.pdf