March 23, 2016 3 min read

Which are good car seats for 3 year olds?

A Guide

At three years old your child probably isn't ready for a booster seat. This is confusing, right? Because most booster seats say that they are suitable for children from 15kg, and a lot of three year olds weigh 15kg. We'll try to explain.

At three years old most children will lack the ability to sit sensibly in the car's three point seat belt. It's just so easy, and so much fun for them to pull the seat belt into their armpit. The trouble is that an incorrectly positioned seat belt won't be effective in the event of an accident.

Three year old children may also have the fine motor skills and strength required to unclip the seat belt's buckle, without understanding the consequences of doing so.

We think that three year olds are better off in a harnessed car seat. If your child is still under 18kg or 105cm, they can also use a rear facing car seat.

These are the car seats that we recommend for 3 year old children

Maxi Cosi Titan Multi-Age Car Seat:

The Maxi-Cosi Titan is a forward facing multi-age car seat suitable for babies, toddlers and children, it's easy to use and easy to adjust to suit your growing child. The Titan is used with a 5-point safety harness from 9-18kgs (approx. 2-4years) and in booster mode from 15-36kgs (approx. 4-12years). It is installed by ISOFIX and a top tether connection which keeps the seat securely connected to the car.

Maxi Cosi Titan Multi-Age Car Seat - $499

Britax Grow With You Clicktight Harness-2-Booster Seat:

The Grow With You ClickTight is a top-selling forward facing seat that pairs an extra layer of side impact protection along with the super-easy ClickTight Installation System – so you know your child is always properly secured.

Britax car seats feature SafeCell impact technology which includes a steel frame, energy-absorbing base, V-shaped tether to minimise seat rotation and staged-release stitches that slow and reduce forward movement during a crash.

This seat is used with a 5-point safety harness from 11.3-30kgs (approx. 2-5+years) and in booster mode from 18-54kgs (approx. 4-12+years). It is installed using the Clicktight compartment by Latch (the American version of ISOFIX) or the car seatbelt and a top tether connection.

Britax Grow With You Clicktight Harness-2-Booster Seat - $649

Britax Grow With You Harness-2-Booster Seat:

The Britax Grow With You Harness-2-Booster Seat is a very similar car seat to the one listed above. It is also a top-selling forward facing seat with the same SafeCell technology.

The key difference between the two seats is that, the Britax Grow With You Harness-2-Booster Seat doesn't have a Clicktight compartment for installation so a locking clip may be required to secure it in the car in some cases. (In plain English, this seat may not be as easy to install in your car as the Clicktight version)

This seat is used with a 5-point safety harness from 11.3-30kgs (approx. 2-5+years) and in booster mode from 18-54kgs (approx. 4-12+years). It is installed by Latch (the American version of ISOFIX) or the car seatbelt and a top tether connection.

Britax Grow With You Harness-2-Booster Seat - $499

Convertible car seats

There are a number of convertible car seats that offer both rear and forward facing options for your 3 year old. These are mentioned in our other blog post: Which car seats are best for a 1 year old?

They probably aren't the best seats to buy if your child is three already as you may only get to use it for a year, but it could be a good option if there is a younger child in the family who can use it next.

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