One of the best ways to ensure the safety and comfort of the kid is to place them at a height on the seat so you can use the seat belt to secure them. For this, you will need a booster seat to raise the height. But you don’t need to buy a booster seat separately to raise the height.
If you have a Graco seat already in your car, you can convert it to a high-back booster. But you may wonder, “How to convert Graco car seat to high back booster?” Well, the conversion process of the Graco seat to a high-back booster will depend on the type of Graco seat you have.
The conversion process will vary for normal Graco seats, Graco Nautilus, Graco 4ever, etc. In most cases, you need to disconnect the seat from the harness and use the rope to convert it to the high back booster and raise the height. Secondly, you can thread the Graco seat to the hardest part of the other seat in your vehicle.
Nonetheless, while converting the Graco seat into the high-back booster, you should maintain its safety purposes. Plus, it would help if you avoid common mistakes parents make while using a car seat for their kids. It includes promoting kids to regular seats too soon and not obeying federal recommendations.
What Is a High Back Booster Position?
Many people may not know about the high back booster system. Well, it refers to a system that helps you raise the car seat according to your child’s height so you can secure them with the seat belt. The high-back booster system lets you better position the car seat belt across your kids’ chest. So, it keeps the kid secure and prevents him from coming forward to cause tumbles.
Why Should You Convert Graco Seats to High Back Booster?
Both federal and state government suggests parents ensure the proper weight and height of the kid for using a harness. In other words, kids have strict weight and height restrictions on using the harness in their car seats. So, you need to find a way to help kids use harnesses or seat belts until they reach the right height.
The best way is to use the high back booster to help the kids reach the appropriate height. Then, you may use the car seat belt and harness to secure your child. Also, kids can easily reach the recommended height for the forward-facing seat. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy for the backward-facing seat, so you must convert it to a high-back booster.
When you need to use the high back booster, you will need to remove the harness or seat belt. Then, use the seat as a booster. You will have to continue using the booster in your vehicle until your kids grow old enough to reach the recommended height and weight to use the harness and seat belt. So, the conversion process of the Graco seat is important to follow federal recommendations. Also, it offers better safety for the kids in any vehicle.
Another importance of a high back booster is to protect kids from head injuries. When you have a collision or press the hard brake, kids might get hurt as their heads hit the back of the seat. The high back booster will protect the kid’s head during those times.
So, high back boosters are a great way to protect kids from unwanted injuries. It is crucial because kids have sensitive heads, and even a minor injury can prove fatal. Henceforth, the high back booster will relieve you from anxiousness and safeguard the kids with greater comfort.
How to Convert Graco Car Seat to High Back Booster?
Are you planning to go on a trip with your kids? Well, your child may still not have grown enough to reach the federal recommendations of required height and weight. Thus, you will have to find a way to allow kids to use the harness or seat belt in the vehicle for safety purposes. You have to convert the Graco seat into a high-back booster.
Graco seats are one of the most popular car seats that parents use on their cars for their children. One of the greatest benefits of this car seat is that you can easily convert it to a back booster instead of dumping it to install a kid’s seat. So, it will save you money from buying a second seat for kids. The conversion process of the Graco seat is easy enough, and you can complete the DIY job. We will guide you through the conversion process in the next few points.
Step 1: Removing the Harness
The first part of conversion for the high back booster is to remove the harness from the seat. The harness would connect the seat. So, locate the place where the harness connects with the seat.
Then, you need to remove the harness. As you observe the seat, you will find the external adjuster handle for the harness at the front of the Graco car seat. Also, there will be a harness release button in the middle. You need to push the button to release and remove the harness of the Graco car seat.
Step 2: Attaching the Harness with The Belt Guide
By this time, you should have removed the harness from the kid’s seat in your vehicle. Now, you must attach the harness with the belt guide. Using the Graco seat as a high-back booster is crucial with the following options.
- LATCH connection
- LATCH belts
First, find the tether strap and lower anchor’s location to complete the process. Then, find the shoulder strap of the seat. Finally, ensure that the shoulder strap can access the tether or lower anchor. Once you have ensured the location and access of the lower anchor and tether strap, you can proceed to the next steps.
It’s time to attempt the installation of the forward-facing seat and convert it. The convertible seat needs to have lower anchor connectors. And the connectors will help you attach the convertible seat to the top of the latches.
Step 3: Locating the Hooks and Ensuring the Proper Place of The Tether Strap
You have to observe where the front-facing seat for kids will be. As you observe the front-facing car seat for kids, check that it has hooks on all seating positions. It is important as most parents and car owners will overlook the feature. Once you have converted the Graco seat, you need to use the hooks to secure the high-back booster.
Next, you have to work with the tether strap of the Graco seat. Also, find the anchor point of the tether strap. Then, you must attach the tether strap with this anchor point, following a top-mounting position for better attachment.
This will secure the belt-positioning booster seat.
Step 4: Converting the Graco Seat
When you have located the tether strap, you can start converting the car seat. For this, adjust its position following your kid’s height. When you have adjusted the seat position, connect the tether system with it. Then, you need to adjust the LATCH connection or belts appropriately.
Finally, secure the LATCH following its connecting points. Once you have secured the LATCH with the adjusted Graco seat for proper height, your high back booster conversion is done. You may now let your kid sit on the booster seat and see if he/she can use the car seat belt to secure him/her. The conversion will offer safety and comfort for the kids.
Step 5: An Alternative Way for Older Kids
We suggested Graco seat convertibility for the front-facing seat in the first four steps. However, your kids may have grown enough to sit on a regular seat without the high-back booster system. They will still require additional head support. It will protect the kid from head injuries during collisions and hard breaks.
Graco has two other seat options:
- Rear-facing infant seat
- Graco convertible seat
These seats don’t use any LATCH system at all. You can remove their harness and secure them to transform them into a contoured belt-positioning booster. The conversion will provide added safety and comfort to your kids during a long journey. Even if it hasn’t got the conventional lower anchor on the seat, the contoured booster system will help kids to maintain proper shoulder position. So they will get relief from shoulder pain and injuries.
Read Also: How to Convert Graco Car Seat to Booster?
Tips on Turning Graco 4ever Into a High Back Booster
In the previous segment of the article, we have described how to convert a standard Graco seat to a high-back booster. But what if you have a Graco 4ever seat? Can you convert it to a safer high back booster for kids?
Yes, it is possible to convert the Graco 4ever seat into a high-back booster following the instructions below. You may choose two ways to transform the 4ever seat into a high-back booster.
- The first method includes using the rope as you remove the harness from the seat. You can complete the task with one hand only.
- The second method includes threading the harness through the stiffest part of the seat. It will need to have three points of connection for better safety.
The second method is preferable because it offers more space between the car seat belt and the baby’s body. So, your kid may move freely as you secure them with the seat belt. Also, it offers improved protection during collisions and accidents. Since the space between the seat belt and the baby’s body is spacious, your baby will experience more comfort during a long journey. It also is a better choice for proper shoulder and head positioning.
Tips on Turning Graco Nautilus Into High Back Booster
The Graco Nautilus is also a popular car seat harness system. The harness system is popular because of its quick-fit ability. Also, you can quickly transform the Graco Nautilus into five different harness places to allow maximum comfort and security for the kids.
For kids, you need to adjust it to the highest position. It will offer better head protection to your kids when they require it the most. The good part is that you can quickly remove the high back booster by remounting it from the highest position. This transformation is preferable when your kids don’t need head support anymore.
As you remove the harness support, the Graco Nautilus will become a backless booster. You will also need to remove the top strap of the tether system. The top strap will be inside the storage option of the system.
- When you have removed the strap, pull one side of the harness at a time firmly. You must use both hands to pop out the harness with firm pressure.
- You may take help from a second person to pull the seat buckle easily. As you pull one side, the helping hand can hold onto it. Then, you may easily pull up the harness on the other side of the system.
- When you take help from a second person to hold the pulled-up harness, it makes the removal even and easy. The strap won’t get stuck and you can easily remove it.
- Once you have removed the harness, find the locking position of the seat belt tongue. When you have found it, insert and buckle the seat belt tongue.
- Now, look at the lap portion of your Graco seat belt. You must continue tightening the seat belt’s tongue until there’s no slack there.
Following these five steps, you can easily convert the Graco Nautilus into a high-back booster. The conversion system won’t require more than 5 minutes at all. So, you should find it straightforward and fun work to complete.
Safety Tips for Using Kid’s Car Seat Properly:
Many parents make mistakes in using the dedicated car seat for kids. As a result, the seat can’t provide the safety and comfort it should be able to offer to your kids. Henceforth, you must maintain a few safety suggestions to avoid these mistakes.
- Parents should never promote their kids to adult seats in the car too soon. As kids grow up slowly, you should continue gradually promoting them to the right seat. You must promote your kids on each car seat step when they are grown enough.
- As a parent, you must always follow the federal recommendations for kids’ safety instead of state laws. Automobile experts and engineers make federal recommendations for vehicles and their passenger’s safety. So, you can expect better safety and comfort following the suggestions instead of the state laws made by politicians.
- You must read the car and seat manual when you mount the high back booster or kids seat. Reading both manuals will help you securely mount the car seat and ensure the best safety for your kid.
Get to Know: comparison of Evenflo Car Seat vs Graco
Frequently Asked Questions
Read the below FAQ section to get all the answers to your queries if there are any questions that still remain in your mind.
Is Graco Extend to Fit a High-Back Booster?
The Graco Extend seat comes with three positioning modes. It includes a high back booster position to help your kids easily reach the built-in seat belt.
Can a Graco Car Seat Turn Into a Booster Seat?
You may quickly transform a Graco car seat into a harness seat. For this, you will need a harnessed toddler Graco car seat. You may follow the suggestions we mentioned above to complete the conversion process of the seat.
When Should I Use a Backless Booster vs. A High Back Booster?
You should use the backless booster for older kids as they can reach the seat belt. Conversely, a high back booster is ideal for younger kids yet to reach the height to get the seat belt through their chest easily.
Conclusion
Parents want to ensure maximum safety for their kids. So, they should use seat belts to secure their kids when driving. However, kids may not reach the built-in seat belt due to their lack of height. In this regard, using a high back booster will allow parents to help kids reach enough height. So they can use the seat belt easily.
Following it, this guideline on how to convert Graco car seat to high back booster will be useful. As mentioned earlier, you need to remove the harness, raise the seat height and adjust the seat belt. The DIY conversion process is fun to complete and doesn’t need any high-end equipment at all.
