Best Booster Seats with 5 Point Harness
Who wouldn’t want to keep their children as safe as possible while driving? As our children grew out of their smaller car seats, they weren’t quite ready to jump up to full on booster seats. Like every other parent, we’re thinking that we don’t want to buy more car seats than we have to while still keeping the kids safe. Let’s face it, the good car seats aren’t cheap!
We opted to look for the best booster seats with a 5 point harness. This gave us the ability to keep the kids in a harness for the time being, and gave us the flexibility to convert to a booster later rather than buying yet another car seat when they grew a bit more.
This is not an easy type of seat to find, but it’s a great way to buy a top rated booster seat with a 5 point harness and not spend money twice. It was a good path for us. Assuming you feel the same way, we populated the list below because there aren’t as many options for this type of seat. Identifying which are the best took some time, so take advantage of the hours we poured into our research so you don’t have to.
Chicco MyFit Zip Air Harness + Booster Car Seat
✔ Harness: 25-65 lbs and up to 54″
✔ Booster: 4yr + from 40-100 lbs and 38-57″
Chicco MyFit Zip Air Review:
The MyFit Zip Air Harness + booster seat from Chicco is our top pick! It is one of the upgraded models of Chicco’s original MyFit Series. It’s highly rated by previous buyers at Amazon and will safely hold children from 25lbs up to 100lbs, so it should last you a long time.
Safety features include a steel-reinforced frame, DuoGuard side-impact protection for head and torso, and LockSure lock-offs. It has premium connectors for LATCH installation, a 9-position headrest, and 4-position recline so there’s room to grow!
The best new feature of the MyFit Zip Air is the breathable mesh seat/backrest easily zips off. The cover can then be machine washed and you can still use the seat with the standard fabrics underneath until you’re ready to zip the mesh cover back on. Overall, this booster seat with harness is a great buy and we highly recommend it.
Britax Grow With You ClickTight Harness-2-Booster
✔ Harness: 25 to 65 pounds, 34″ – 49″ tall
✔ Booster: 40 to 120 pounds, 44″ — 63″ tall
Britax Grow With You ClickTight Review:
Great seat by a great company. Made in the USA and comes in 9 different color schemes to fit all personalities and styles.
Thanks to the ClickTight technology, this seat is one of the easier ones to install for the parent on the go and always in a hurry.
This booster seat with harness does accommodate for taller, heavier children than most others. This means they can stay in this booster seat with a 5 point harness longer than they can in those others. This is typically safer than a standard booster seat with belt-positioning, especially for side-impact accidents where this provides more support and stability.
Diono Radian 3R Convertible Car Seat/Booster/Harness
✔ Harness: Rear-Facing – 5 to 40 lbs
✔ Harness: Front-Facing – 20 to 65 lbs
✔ Booster: 50 to 100 lbs
Diono Radian 3R Review:
This is the original “3 Across” car seat. It’s narrow profile allows 3 Radian 3R’s across in most mid-size or larger vehicles! This is perfect for parents with twins or triplets, or just anyone that has 3 or more kids in car seats.
This seat is engineered to allow for rear-facing for longer than most. The superLATCH system allows for easy and secure installation. The frame is made from steel alloy, so it’s heavier, but also safer. This car seat has a folding design that helps it be easier to travel with or store in the garage when you’re not using it.
Graco SlimFit 3-in-1 Convertable Car Seat
✔ Harness: Rear-Facing – 5 to 40 lbs, Front-Facing – 22 to 65 lbs
✔ Booster: 30 to 100 lbs
Graco SlimFit Review:
This slim-fit car seat is great for smaller cars and it grows with your child, transforming from a rear-facing car seat into a belt-positioning booster seat.
The integrated cup holders rotate to make the seat slimmer, allowing for more room in the back seat and an easier fit in smaller family vehicles that can’t accommodate larger seats. In some cases, parents reported fitting 3 across!
The engineered harness system is adjustable with a single hand and the Graco InRight Latch attachment makes installation a snap with an audible click.
Diono Radian 3RX Convertible Car Seat/Booster/Harness
✔ Harness: Rear-Facing – 5 to 50 lbs
✔ Harness: Front-Facing – 22 to 65 lbs
✔ Booster: 40 to 120 lbs
Diono Radian 3RX Review:
This is a stylish and modern car seat that converts with your child’s growth all the way from birth to 120 pounds.
Narrow seat allows 3 across in most mid to large-sized vehicles and its size makes it perfect for traveling. The attachment systems makes it easy and versatile to use when travelling also. The frame is made of steel alloy for added strength, but does also add weight which makes it more difficult to move around.
Graco Tranzitions 3-in-1 Harness Booster
✔ 5-Point Harness: 22 to 65 lbs
✔ Highback Booster: 30 to 100 lbs
✔ Backless Booster: 40 to 100 lbs
Graco Tranzitions Review:
This 3-in-1 Car Seat/Booster with harness allows for a wide range of children to fit in it. It’s light weight, but we don’t feel like it gives safety of some of the other seats on the list.
This is a very affordable option for parents trying to find a seat while on a strict budget. Most of the pads and supports are easy to remove and clean, and they are machine-washable. It is pretty narrow and we found plenty of reviews claiming they have 3 of these Graco Tranzitions across the backseat of their family vehicle without any problems.
Graco Landmark 3 in 1 Car Seat/Booster
✔ Harness: Rear-Facing – 5 to 40 lbs
✔ Harness: Front-Facing – 22 to 65 lbs
✔ Booster: 40 to 100 lbs
Graco Landmark Review:
The Graco Landmark should last you and your child a long time as it’s convertible from children 5 pounds up to 100 pounds in the booster seat.
This model is a good, average car seat with high marks for a moderate price that families can afford.
Graco is a trusted brand that has been around for a long time.
KidsEmbrace Harness Booster – Paw Patrol
✔ Harness Booster: Forward-Facing 22 to 65 lbs, 29-49″ tall
✔ Belt-Positioning Booster: 30 to 100 lbs, 38-57″ tall
KidsEmbrace Harness Booster Seat Review:
KidsEmbrace makes safety fun with their thematic booster seats. Similar seats come in all sorts of different cartoon characters. Other options for similar booster seats can be found here. Please make sure to check the specs on each sales page as they are not all the same as the one listed here in our review.
I have to admit, at first I thought this was a joke or toy seat for a child. After reading about this seat and combing through all the online reviews, it is in fact a series booster seat. And children and parents alike love it!
Evenflo Maestro Sport Harness Booster Seat
✔ Forward-Facing Harness Booster: 2yrs+, up to 50 lbs
✔ Belt-Positioning High-Back Booster: 4yrs+, up to 110 lbs
Evenflo Maestro Sport Review:
The Maestro Sport from Evenflo is a very affordable option for those with children already 2yrs and older.
The Evenflo Maestro Sport is a light-weight booster, and many parents have commented how this makes it easy to travel with. It does appear to have less padding for comfort and safety than most. Perhaps this is a good, inexpensive option for flights and other traveling when you’ll be carrying the seat around with you.
The width of the seat is narrower than some and also accommodates traveling around with your little ones.
Which is the Best Booster Seat with 5 Point Harness?
Like any other major purchase you’re going to spend your money on, there are several features to weigh out. You of course want to buy a booster seat that’s going to last. And, if you’re like us, you want to keep your child in a 5 point harness as long as it’s safe to do so. On each of our reviews above, we list the manufacturer’s recommended* heights and weights for each seat orientation.
Our Top Pick: Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat
For our top pick, we chose the Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat. It’s steel-reinforced frame and DuoGuard side-impact protection for the head and torso provide us with a good feeling about it’s safety features. The LATCH system it uses has made countless parents happy campers, I mean drivers, since this booster seat has been released. This is notable by the many very positive reviews left by previous customers of the Chicco MyFit booster seat.
Our Premium Pick: Britax Grow With You ClickTight Booster Seat
If you can afford it, we really like the Britax Grow With You ClickTight Booster Seat as it allows for a child to stay in the harnessed booster up to 120lbs or 63″ tall. This is larger than nearly any of the other booster seats with a 5 point harness that we could find. There are lots of color combinations to match your style and many great reviews on Amazon and at other online retailers from parents that have purchased this seat in the past. It’s also easy to install with the ClickTight technology, and it’s made made in the USA, which we love!
Conclusion
These were our favorites as we researched the best booster seats with 5 point harnesses. That doesn’t mean they’ll be the best for your specific needs. For example, if you need to fit 3 car seats, consider one of the Diono model and if you’re on a tight budget, you might consider one of the less expensive Graco or Evenflo seats listed above.
We enjoyed our little exercise on searching for boosters. But, just to be clear, we are not experts on car seats. We spent hours on pouring through reviews, comments, and YouTube videos on dozens of models to assemble the info we found in a single location to help others who are in a similar situation.
*Always follow the manufacturer’s recommended guidelines on car seats, especially if they differ from something you see above. Ratings, suggestions, and opinions on car booster seats change over time. For the real experts, check out the National Highway traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They make safety recommendations on car seats on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation.