I’m pretty pleased with myself right now. While looking on Slickdeals I found an amazing offer for a car seat I had been looking at for after the baby outgrows the infant carrier type car seat. I have to admit I would have had a hard time stomaching the price of the car seat at regular price. The Britax Marathon (in graphite) is usually a $280 car seat and VERY highly rated, supporting a child up to 65 pounds. I found it on sale at Target.com for $45 shipped! And I bought three others to sell on eBay! While I have to wait 3-6 weeks for delivery, I’m really in no hurry and quite pleased with this deal!
I looked up Colorado state law for reference on how long a child has to ride in a car seat (whether it’s infant rear-facing, forward facing, or a booster seat):
“The law requires that children who are at least four years old but less than six years old and are less than 55 inches tall be properly restrained in a child booster seat or with a child safety belt-positioning device.”
Texas laws are quite similar, although once the child reaches 5 years old, they are not legally required to be in a booster seat. We’ll have to see how tall she is by this age and whether or not we thinks she needs to ride in the new seat or not. Regardless of whether she’s 5 or 6, we’re still ok buying the car seat now as car seats don’t expire for 6 years after manufacturing (usually the year of purchase) so no need to worry about that.