Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

No, they shouldn't. The seat belt works when it fits, and waiting longer isn't safer or morally superior.

It's not just fit; it's also the child's behavioral readiness to sit in the same position all the time. It has nothing to do with morality but it does have to do with safety.

From a car seat tech:

This is really a hit job on Evenflo when the actual issues are buried in the article. A booster isn’t meant for a small child, and parents are switching kids too early. EVERY car seat company has a marketing department competing with the engineers at times, and there are many high back boosters that would perform exactly this way. It’s really a shame they didn’t present this as an overall issue with boosters vs harnessed seats.

I'll also add that some of these crashes sound very severe. We don't know how other seats would have fared. We don't know how a kiddo in a harnessed seat would have come through- and what if kiddo was 3, so young enough to be rear facing, would that make a difference vs forward facing harnessed vs boostered? I think some of this article brings up some very real issues: 1) the need for an updated NHTSA standard that includes side impact testing, 2) the need for some manufacturers to stop pandering to marketing and sales and focus more on safety, 3) the need for better education among parents and caregivers so they know that putting a 30lb 2yo in a belt positioning booster is not the correct choice.

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

OP here - I would never put a child that is less than 40lbs in a seat they don't belong in.

Wow, what a sucky company. Yes, parents should do a lot of research, but that doesn't mean companies should be able to get away with misleading advertising. Their advice for boostering went against AAP recommendations and they grossly misrepresented their side-impact testing. They absolutely deserve to be called out and lose business.

This article reminds me that I need to attach the tether for my front-facing convertible seat.

Anonymous wrote:This article was eye opening: https://www.propublica.org/article/evenflo-maker-of-the-big-kid-booster-seat-put-profits-over-child-safety

We use an Evenflo Maestro for travel and I'm ditching it. If one of their seats isn't safe, it's likely that none of their seats are safe.

This isn't about the seat. It's about the company's recommendation for boostering. Are you going to throw away your other seats from manufacturers whose guidelines advise boostering at 30 lbs?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

No, they shouldn't. The seat belt works when it fits, and waiting longer isn't safer or morally superior.

NP - You are ignoring the differing maturity levels of children that are that young. Yes, the seat belt works when it fits and your kid stays in it (and doesn't lean over, and doesn't slouch when sleeping, etc).

No kids are mature and if they are, something may be wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

No, they shouldn't. The seat belt works when it fits, and waiting longer isn't safer or morally superior.

You are very wrong. You don't use a belt for a young child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

No, they shouldn't. The seat belt works when it fits, and waiting longer isn't safer or morally superior.

NP - You are ignoring the differing maturity levels of children that are that young. Yes, the seat belt works when it fits and your kid stays in it (and doesn't lean over, and doesn't slouch when sleeping, etc).

They probably all do this because the article points out that there’s no standard for the side impact testing. This is what happens when companies are essentially allowed to self-regulate and market their products however they want. There were people at Evenflo who wanted them to put on the box that booster seats are only for children 40 lbs+, but they were overruled.

And we can’t require that people buy only theeee most expensive seats. Not everyone can afford Britax and Clek. The majority of US kids are probably in the bargain priced seats. They have to be used AND MARKETED correctly. But you know, this is the US, so profits uber alles.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

No, they shouldn't. The seat belt works when it fits, and waiting longer isn't safer or morally superior.

Anonymous wrote:That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

+1, really kids should be harnessed till 5-6. They put the minimum standards on the box but parents need to use common sense and best practices. They make good seats. This is an issue with all manufactures but even if they properly put age/weight parents still jump to them too soon.

Booster seats are not life saving devices.
They are seat belt positioners.

That’s what you took from that article? Not “don’t put your kids in a booster with a safety belt before age 4/at least 40lbs?” The girl who was severely injured was less than 40 lbs at the time of the crash and should have still been harnessed.

This article was eye opening: https://www.propublica.org/article/evenflo-maker-of-the-big-kid-booster-seat-put-profits-over-child-safety

We use an Evenflo Maestro for travel and I'm ditching it. If one of their seats isn't safe, it's likely that none of their seats are safe.