Good car seats for 4 year olds

For the purpose of this blog post I'm going to assume that you are shopping for a car seat for your four year old. There are plenty of car seats that will fit a four year old that I won't include here, because they probably won't fit the child past their fifth birthday.


The car seat that you buy for your four year old should be the last car seat that you need to buy, if you choose correctly. So we're going to recommend some car seats that will give you both safety and longevity.

Your child will need to be in an approved child restraint until their 7th birthday, but in New Zealand it's recommended that children travel in booster seats until they're 148cm tall.

This car seat installs with a seat belt, it will carry your child with the 5 point harness until 18kg, which is around 4.5 years old. Once your child has reached the harness weight limit you can remove it and the car seat becomes a booster seat, using the car's three point seat belt.

This car seat will carry your child with a harness up to 29kg. It's a cost-effective option, but you may still need to buy a booster seat if they get to 29kg but are still less than 7 years old.

This is a sleek and stylish booster seat, that packs a punch in the safety stakes too. The seat belt loops through the head rest, ensuring that the belt is always in the correct position for the child, and there is a recline feature. Your child will be restrained by your car's three point seat belt, so they will need to be sensible enough to sit up with no slumping or moving around the car to use this seat.

One of our most popular seats, the cruiserfix is adjustable in height and width, along with an adjustable seat that will support larger children's legs. Install this booster seat using ISOFIX and your car's three point seat belt, as with all boosters that use the car's seat belt, children need to be sensible and mature enough to sit in them properly, and some 4 year olds aren't quite at that stage yet.

This booster seat performs really well in the European tests. It's adjustable in height, the seat adjust to support the child's thighs, the seat reclines as well! Children need to be mature enough to sit properly in this seat, no moving around the car or slouching.

This booster seat is simple in design, it sits on the seat of your car and the child is held safely with the car's three point seat belt, as with all boosters that use the car's seat belt, children need to be at a stage where they can sit in them sensibly.