Anonymous wrote:I have 53 pounds 10 year old. I think the age portion of the law doesn't really relate to safety only to give kids an out when they get older. She is still in a booster. I am not sure she will be there until she is 4'9 but I have no plans to take her out now at 4 ft tall.

http://fha.maryland.gov/ohpetup/kiss/pdf/New_Booster_Law.pdf

Law is under 8 unless child is taller than 4 ft 9 or weighs 65 pounds

8 on is either child restraint or seat belt.

My child at 8 weighed 80 pounds and was 53 inches so we moved him to the seat belt earlier.(yes he is on the bigger side, he has alwyays been 90th for height and off the chart for weight)

I have 53 pounds 10 year old. I think the age portion of the law doesn't really relate to safety only to give kids an out when they get older. She is still in a booster. I am not sure she will be there until she is 4'9 but I have no plans to take her out now at 4 ft tall.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The seats are Sunshine kids radian seats and they are supposed to be safe for kids up to 65 pounds or 80 pounds, and 4'4", with the five point harness. I just have no idea at what age kids "typically" reach those two points, or if it would be just plain cruel to expect him to sit in one after a certain age. I do think tests show that the 5 point harness is much safer than using the car seatbelts -- as long as the height and weight are ok.

My dd sat in the Sunshine Radian 80 until she was 9 1/2 yrs old. According to her last check up she was in the 50-60% range for height and weight. Now, she did not sit in this seat all of the time. She usually sat in a high back booster but we have one position in our vehicle that only has a lap belt which then requires a 5 pt harness seat. The proper saftey restraints are non negotiable in our vehicles. My kids know it, their friends know it and it has never been a problem. The older kids love the Sunshine Radian because it looks like the seats that the Nascar drivers sit in. They learnt at an early age how to answer any teasing about sitting in a harness seat. thinking back our kids sat in the Sunshine Radian, as their primary seat, until about age 6. But on an as needed basis until 9 1/2.

Anonymous wrote:a 55 lb 9 year old??? Wow, that's tiny. I think my 6 yo may weight that.

I think the law in MD is in a booster until age 8. My kids are average size and wanted out of the booster a few months before turning 8 but I insisted on waiting.

I'm the PP with the 55 lb 9 year old boy. Yeah, he's pretty skinny - but his dad was built similarly and he can take down a 20-piece McNugget box when allowed to!

We're going to focus on X-C when the time comes!

My 9 turning 10 daughter is still in a booster but she is virtually the only one of her friends that it. While she obviosuly has past MD age, she is far from the height recs so I still keep her there (4'1 55pds) ..but don't worry about it for carpools etc. I guess the new recs keep kids ina 5 pt longer so maybe amoung the slightly younger crowd it will be more common for a 10 year old to be in one..right now ever a booster is rare.

We have those sunshine radians, and while they say that the height includes when the kids shoulders are over the level of the straps they are the only car seat that says that and it hasn't be independently studied. We don't intend to use them past when the straps are even with their shoulders. My 99th percentile for height 4.5 year old with a long torso is only just slightly under having her shoulders even with the top strap. I expect she'll hit that point within 6 months.

My seven-year-old is 51 1/2 inches, so he's nearly too tall for the seat, OP. He weighs about 60 lbs.

55 lbs at age 9 is 25th percentile for weight, so really not that unusual. If your 6 yo weighs that much, he is 90th percentile.

a 55 lb 9 year old??? Wow, that's tiny. I think my 6 yo may weight that.

I think the law in MD is in a booster until age 8. My kids are average size and wanted out of the booster a few months before turning 8 but I insisted on waiting.

Anonymous wrote:My 10 yr old will use the Britax booster (forgot the model name) that has the head rest/side support. But only because I basically won't transport him anywhere without it, and he has no choice. And he knows his mother is safety-crazed. But even I won't go as far as making him use a 5 pt harness, even though he would physically still fit into one. His 5 yr old brother on the other hand, is still in one. So to the PP who said it's not safe: completely wrong, as long as it is height/weight rated appropriately. We'd all be better off in them, but most of us would balk at fumbling around with the clips, dealing with the wrinkles in our clothing, etc.

Pretty much same here except my oldest is 9. He can ride in a backless booster or high-backed booster, but either way he's in a booster. He's only 51" and 55 lbs.

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year old son is mow 62 pounds and 4'4" and he is only 62 pounds due to a special diet we put him on this summer !!! He gained almost 10 pounds I was so happy so yes he is still in a seat....

Not to hijack the thread, but what was the diet? Trying to get our son to gain some weight.

My 10 year old son is mow 62 pounds and 4'4" and he is only 62 pounds due to a special diet we put him on this summer !!! He gained almost 10 pounds I was so happy so yes he is still in a seat....

PP here - forgot to add that my 6.75 y.o. is 65 lbs. but he is tall for his age.

Wow. My 12 yr old is 60 pounds. He does not use a booster for sure. He may not reach 80lbs until he is 16.

Please be aware that the "latch" systems on most cars have weight limitations that are lower than those on many five-point harnesses. You need to use the seat belt to secure the car seats for larger children, and it can be tricky to get the seats secured properly. This is one reason we gave up on the five point harness when dc was big enough.

My 10 year old is 58 inches and 70 pounds. He switched to just using a seat belt within the last year. His head was close to the ceiling in my Focus in the booster. The regular seat belt fits him fine. I can't recall when exactly he started with just a booster with seat belt...around 5?...Many kids abandon all boosters earlier than 10 and of course with carpools etc it can get complicated. I have not seen 5 pointers designed for elementary sized children so I don't know if your child will soon complain about that.