Yup, know it's been done before, but.........

[mum5]

I need your recs on a car seat for my 4 year old dd. She is 40lbs, and is43 " tall.
We obviously want the safest type of seat out there, but also cannot really stretch our tight budget to a very expensive one, but car seats are my Mum thing that I am totally anal about.
So keeping that in mind, what would you suggest?

Oh, and I have heard that booster seats are not the safest for a child either, although everyone that I know seems to use them. How correct is that?

[alegna]

Britax Regent is your best choice. You are correct. Boosters are substantially less safe than a seat with a 5 pt harness.

-Angela

[Heather30ish]

My almost 6-year old is still pretty comfy in his Britax Marathon.
We also have a Britax Parkway booster my husband's car (that he doesn't ride in very much) and that's nice too, but obviously not quite as secure as the Marathon. It's nice, though, and has the side-impact neck things, which we thought he'd hate, but he doesn't mind and they're nice for napping. It was much cheaper than the Marathon. I wouldn't put a smaller child in it though.

[rubelin]

Keep in mind when considering your budget that it is likely that you will get at least 4 years of use out of a Regent.

[True Blue]

If you really can't swing the Regent, another viable option is the Cosco Apex, as long as you have a headrest in the backseat. It harnesses to 65lbs, and even my 46in DS can still fit in it with room. It would at least buy you more time harnessed, and it does become a booster afterward.

[mum5]

thanks for all the replies. I will have to look at various websites tonight and see what the pricing is, and what will also work best for our car too.

On a side note, I am totally amazed at the number of my friends that have their kids in booster seats, with the belts on all twisted, most of the kids also get themselevs into their seats too!
I have also seen kids in a 5 pt buckling themselves in with the straps twisted and falling off their shoulders. :
I know I am totally nuts about my children in car seats, I don't even move them from car to car, I get them installed at the police station and never move them until is absolutely neccesary ie. not for my dd's to go in their freinds car to the park.