How tall? Doesn’t height factor in just as much as weight? (And both height and weight more important than age).

My 6 year old is still in a 5 pt harness due to the height/weight limit on his seat (Diono radian) being higher than most seats.

We did it around 6; he was about 45 lbs. In the 2 years since, we have taken 2 long trips in which he fell asleep and fell all the way forward, which freaked me out, but he was ok. The seatbelt/high booster combo didn't really restrain him from falling forward when asleep. I figure eventually he will learn to sleep to the side? I don't remember this being an issue when I was a kid and we did a lot of long car trips.

I don't usually like to make safety decisions based on what friends are doing, but it's true that we were by far the last to make the switch and he wasn't happy to have had to wait so long.

How bad is it to switch out the seats? You could use the booster around town and the 5-point harness for long road trips?

We moved my older one out at age 5 around the same size as yours. I think the main issue is whether they are able to keep the seatbelt in the right place or not, so it might be more about maturity than size. If you get a high-back booster, it should help hold it in place mostly, but I can see why you would be concerned if she regularly falls asleep.

It did some research in the past about safety, and for the older kids, the safety seemed to be about equal between the 5-point and the seatbelt, as long as it was used properly. My younger is now 5, and we need to decide soon on the same issue. So far, he seems happy in the 5-point harness, but we will move him by the time he is 6 most likely.

4-5 we moved into harnessed boosters depending on the seat/outgrown. 6.5 for high back booster with a seat belt and 7-8 depending on the car for a backless booster. 10 to stop the booster. She needs a minimum of a high back booster, preferably with a harness.

Diono radian and some of the britax 5 point ones look like boosters and can be both but I don’t think you can easily go back and forth bc the seatbelt would be used to hold the seat in place when used in harness mode. I had this issue with one of my kids who was tiny and we talked a lot about how you need to ignore some comments and all parents have different rules in their cars and all cars have different sized seats. My
One ds still needed a 5 point harness at 7! His then 5 year old sister met the requirements to move out before he did

My 5 year old is 44lbs. She really wants a booster seat, but she still falls asleep in the car on longer rides. For how long did you keep your kid in a 5pt harness? Other kids are starting to comment when she climbs into my car that she has a "baby" seat. Are there other 5pt harness seats that look more like a booster or allow the booster option for short rides, but would allow the 5 pt harness for road trips when we know she'll fall asleep?