high versus low back booster for car

[Anonymous]

Hi all, it's time to switch my 6.5 year old to a booster (he's in a convertible seat that can be either a booster or a 5-point harness, and to date we've used the harness, but I need the convertible seat for his younger sibling). The specs on the low boosters say they can be used as young as 4. Do most folks use a high back for a 6 year old, or a low back? He is average height and weight -- 48 inches, 46 lbs. I want something that is safe, obviously, but also don't want to buy a high-back seat now if I'll likely be switching him to a low-back seat in just a year or two. When do most people switch to a low booster for their kids?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as a low back, there are either high back or backless. He should be ok in a backless at his age and height as long as the seatbelts in your car aren’t super high. A lot of times kids are ok in backless seats behind the passenger or driver but because the middle belt sometimes comes from the roof it can be too close to the neck - car seat tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no such thing as a low back, there are either high back or backless. He should be ok in a backless at his age and height as long as the seatbelts in your car aren’t super high. A lot of times kids are ok in backless seats behind the passenger or driver but because the middle belt sometimes comes from the roof it can be too close to the neck - car seat tech.

Sorry, high back versus backless. I am so clueless on this stuff that I don't even know the terminology! We don't usually commute in the car so he rarely rides more than once a week. No switching car seats between cars either.

He'd be behind the driver, not in the middle. I don't think the seatbelts are terribly high -- it's just a standard sedan (Hyundai Sonata).

[Anonymous]

I have a just turned 7 yo at 49inches and 50pounds still in a Britax Frontier in my car.

Then he is moving to the Britax (I forgot name) which is a high back which also converts to a backless.

I like the added protection for the head and love that I can change it to a regular booster when needed.

[Anonymous]

Backless

[Anonymous]

Most high back boosters convert to backless. He might be just fine in a backless, but at that age and coming from a harness, my kid found a high back booster more comfortable, especially for longer car rides. We just went with a graco turbobooster - there was maybe a $10 price difference between the high back and backless version.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most high back boosters convert to backless. He might be just fine in a backless, but at that age and coming from a harness, my kid found a high back booster more comfortable, especially for longer car rides. We just went with a graco turbobooster - there was maybe a $10 price difference between the high back and backless version.

This - we went with the convertible ones and my twins are still in the highback at 6.5. They will ride in backless ones for carpool in a few weeks but I'll keep the high backs on ours until they complain because if they're in the car with us it's because we're driving on the interstate since we don't drive around town much these days.