WWYD: 7.5yo carseat/booster?

[Anonymous]

We are sort of nutcases about carseat safety, thanks in part to a major accident that happened when my youngest was 2yo (no one was hurt, praise the car seats!) I kept my oldest in a Britax Frontier until the date of his 8th birthday, even though he was a big enough kid that we actually had to use it solely as a booster at that point. My younger child is now 7.5yo and hates the seat - he is constantly twisting the harness and getting frustrated with it. Sometimes I still have to buckle him in when he cant' get it straight. We have a high-backed booster for travel and used it this weekend after moving the carseat out to transport some big items. My son is so much happier. He is not wiggly and at least when we travel is not prone to slumping in ways that would decrease the effectiveness of a regular lapbelt/booster arrangement (the older kid was, which was why I was so hardass about using the Frontier). 7.5yo is about 65lbs and about 55 inches tall (give or take an inch).

I'm really tempted just to stick with the booster for the last 6 months of the required usage. Am I being a lazy unsafe parent?

[Anonymous]

Your kid is almost five feet tall and you still have him in a car seat? Not a booster?

[Anonymous]

Wow. Just wow.

[Anonymous]

Just use the high back booster. It makes sense, for all the reasons you stated.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're lazy and unsafe at all. You've kept your son in a harness long past when most would have moved him. I'm very concerned with safety and kept all 3 of my kids rear facing and later harnessed as long as possible. However, my 8.5 year old is smaller than your son and has been in a high back booster for about a year now. My son is currently about 62 pounds and 52 inches. He can definitely sit properly with a seat belt in the booster. He had grown extremely uncomfortable in his harness by the time we allowed him to move. If you go to safercar.gov, there's a calculator you can use to determine the appropriate seat.

[Anonymous]

http://www.safekids.org/safetytips/field_age/big-kids-5%E2%80%939-years/field_risks/booster-seat

4 feet 9 inches - 57 inches tall
Below that and you should be in some sort of booster

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. Safercar.gov advises booster seat, thanks very much for that PP.

To the Wow PPs, I get it. As I said, some of my neurosis on this is that we were T-boned with both kids in the backseat (the impact hit at the back passenger door where the kid in question was in his car seat) and the EMTs had to extract him from the totalled car in the middle of Conn Ave.

That was 5 years ago, but it's the kind of thing that sticks with you. The EMTs told me at the time that they had never seen a child fatality in a car with car seats properly installed and in use. I do a lot of things half-assed in life, but this is one place I try not to cut corners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Safercar.gov advises booster seat, thanks very much for that PP.

To the Wow PPs, I get it. As I said, some of my neurosis on this is that we were T-boned with both kids in the backseat (the impact hit at the back passenger door where the kid in question was in his car seat) and the EMTs had to extract him from the totalled car in the middle of Conn Ave.

That was 5 years ago, but it's the kind of thing that sticks with you. The EMTs told me at the time that they had never seen a child fatality in a car with car seats properly installed and in use. I do a lot of things half-assed in life, but this is one place I try not to cut corners.

Hey, you have every right to be paranoid.

And this is good to know. But using a booster that properly positions the seat belt should count as part of that, as well.

Another thing to consider is the safety of the car. If it's relatively new, it's generally safer, with more air bags, reinforced roof, reinforced doors, front end collision avoidance systems, etc. I don't know what you are driving, but I get paranoid about safety, too, and try to stay in newer cars with more safety features.

[Anonymous]

I still have my 8 year old in a frontier, but she has no trouble getting in & out and doesn't complain. I would switch her if she couldn't buckle in/out consistently for sure.

Out of curiosity, which booster do you have?

[Anonymous]

At 7.5, he should have a good belt fit or get a different HBB - they are cheap enough. I hated our frontier and my son complained about his harnessed seats at 6.5. I was hoping till 7 or 7.5 but it just wasn't fitting as well as I wanted. He did great with the transition and has a good belt fit.

[Anonymous]

I have my 4.5 year olds in boosters. I'm sure they'll all be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have my 4.5 year olds in boosters. I'm sure they'll all be fine.

That's not something I'd be bragging about. They are fine till you get in a horrible accident.

[Anonymous]

A tall 7yo should be just fine in a hbb. Have you tried your frontier in booster mode? I've had 2 kids who liked that and I've liked how we don't have to fight with the shoulder belt guide in the frontiers (unlike with hbbs where the back detaches.)

[Anonymous]

I think a hbb is fine. But I wouldn't switch to a plain seatbelt as soon as he turns eight. Many kids are still too short to properly for a seatbelt without a booster at 8, despite the law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have my 4.5 year olds in boosters. I'm sure they'll all be fine.

That's not something I'd be bragging about. They are fine till you get in a horrible accident.

Do you use a 5 or harness? It would be safest.