Booster seats - 80 lbs?

[one l michele]

My oldest will be 8 in two weeks, he's still in a Graco Turbo Booster with back because he's only 46 lbs and 49". At this rate he'll be in a booster seat when he learns to drive. His younger siblings are of similar build as well. So how do you determine when to move them to a regular seat, by age? weight? height? or all of the above? Is age, weight, or height more important when deciding?

[Mrs Mungo]

My oldest will be 8 in two weeks, he's still in a Graco Turbo Booster with back because he's only 46 lbs and 49". At this rate he'll be in a booster seat when he learns to drive. His younger siblings are of similar build as well. So how do you determine when to move them to a regular seat, by age? weight? height? or all of the above? Is age, weight, or height more important when deciding?

I decide by height. When they can sit in a regular car seat and their knees can bend over the edge of the seat and their ear comes above the back of the seat. This is my own way of doing it, not a scientific method as far as I know. It just seems like the way they need to sit and have the belt hit them correctly. I'm 5'1" and weighed 95 lbs when I got married. My eldest is 12 and doesn't weigh 80 lbs. TWELVE! I'm not keeping her in a car seat, that is ridiculous. eta: My 9 year old *is* still in a booster, she's just not quite tall enough, imo to safely ride without it.

[abbeyej]

Ds is just a little bigger/older than your son. I will let him go without a booster when he needs a quick ride with a friend or something, but 99% of the time he's in a booster. I just can't think of a compelling reason *not* to have him in a booster in our car. He's much safer, the seat belt fits at a more comfortable angle...

[JudoMom]

My oldest will be 8 in two weeks, he's still in a Graco Turbo Booster with back because he's only 46 lbs and 49". At this rate he'll be in a booster seat when he learns to drive. His younger siblings are of similar build as well. So how do you determine when to move them to a regular seat, by age? weight? height? or all of the above? Is age, weight, or height more important when deciding?

because they don't mind. My oldest (8.5) is 43 pounds, and my 2nd (7) is 42 pounds. My guess is that it's height, weight, age for safety, but I don't know for sure. Ds8 has gone without a booster seat if needed (if it was left in dh's car or something), but I do feel better when he's in the seat. When he starts to complain about the seat, then I'll probably let him stop sitting in one, but he's never even hinted about not liking it (he complains when he doesn't have his seat because he can't see out of the windows well).

[Jennifer in MI]

I went to a professional car seat person (I'm unsure of her official title!). They've been specifically trained to tell if your seats are installed correctly and if your older kids still need seats. Our local police have them as does our local Children's Hospital.

My 7 yo 55 pound child is still in one. I agree with Abbey - he's in one if he's in my car. I don't necessarily insist that he use one if he's getting a ride with a friend though. We use one of the Britax boosters that has the wings (and goes to 80 pounds!! My 11 yo still doesn't weigh that much! LOL). He likes it when we're on long trips especially because he has a place to rest his head when he goes to sleep.

[momofkhm]

The average height to go without one safely is 4'8". They should be able to sit in a seat with their back against the back of the seat and be able to bend their knees at a 90 angle (with their feet touching the floor I think).

Keep in mind that if you have a mini-van, the seats in the way back are not as long as the seats in the middle row. (I would assume this is correct with SUVs as well.) So your child may be tall enough to sit in the back row but not tall enough to sit in the middle row. Also, my oldest was tall enough to go without a booster in my minivan (Honda) middle row well before she could do the same in my mom's minivan (Toyota) middle row.

DS could probably pass these requirements in the second row of dh's truck, but he's not 8 yet so he stays in the booster.

I just found this on-line:

The 5-Step Test
1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, your child needs a booster seat to ride safely in the car. Kids like boosters because they are more comfortable, too!

[Ottakee]

They suggest them to 4'9" tall and 80 pounds. Well, 11dd is 4'4" and 12dd is 4"5" tall. Neither of them weighs 80 pounds yet either. Right now they don't balk at all so I keep them in them. We have a Britax booster and the Graco Turbo Boosters (with and without backs). I think we have 4 or 5 boosters as we have 4 vehicles.

I do on rare occ. allow them to ride wihtout them but it makes me nervous. I also make them sit in the back seat all of the time as well. Maybe at 13 I will let them out of the boosters.

Given that we are praying for them to reach 4'9"-4'10" tall as adults, they could well require boosters their entire life---which I don't think would make them happy.

One thing on our side is that my sister requires boosters of her kids, my brother's kids are younger, and my kids don't get out with many other kids in vehicles so they don't really realize that other kids DON"T use boosters.

[GothicGyrl]

According to the standards posted, I should be in a booster seat, I'm only 5.2 barefoot :)

My 11DD, is only 75 lbs, but she almost as tall as I am, with VERY long legs, which means she can touch the floor. I haven't had either of them in car seats since they were around 5, and they have never been in booster seats. I just couldn't see putting a 12 year old in one.

But even my 16DD still sits in the back seat. Neither of them ride in the front and never really have.

[~Tara~]

Woohoo! Cheryl found the 5-step test :)

4'9" is the 'magic number' from boosterseat.org
But as with everything else car seat related, it's a a'guideline'. It still comes down to the individual child and their fit in EACH vehicle. They may pass the 5-step test in one vehicle but not in another.

My nearly 11 yr old is still in a high back booster. Around 80#, I forget his present height, but he just doesn't *quite* pass the test. My 8 yr old is also in a booster and will be for at least as long as his brother..he's a little guy who *just* hit 50#.

Anyway, it's all my kids have ever known, so we've not had issues with it. They have known from the start that what mom says concerning car safety GOES..period. The only say they have is which seat from MY given options...which is why none of our seats match haha

[gandpsmommy]

My oldest will be 8 in two weeks, he's still in a Graco Turbo Booster with back because he's only 46 lbs and 49". At this rate he'll be in a booster seat when he learns to drive. His younger siblings are of similar build as well. So how do you determine when to move them to a regular seat, by age? weight? height? or all of the above? Is age, weight, or height more important when deciding?

Dh and I have often joked that our dc will have to take their booster seats with them when they go to take their :auto:driving tests! They are on the small side and won't be getting out of boosters any time soon. Our criterion for moving to a regular seat is height. They must be tall enough for the seatbelt to come across the shoulder at the right place to safely restrain them.

Ds4 is only 34 pounds, so he still uses a child safety seat with 5 point harness, but dd is in a regular booster with seatbelt. The booster isn't such an issue for her, but she was having a difficult time with still having to ride in a 5 point harness when she turned five and wasn't quite forty pounds yet. In Ohio, a child must be at least 4 yo and at least 40 lbs to no longer require a child safety seat. She passed the 40 pound mark shortly after turning five, and she was very excited to get a booster seat.

[nukeswife]

My kids are also in boosters (well the oldest 2 anyway) They love their boosters though. They are almost 9 years old and 6 years old and weigh 54lbs and 40lbs respectively. My oldest is about 4'4 and his sister is about 2 inches behind despite the age difference. She's really tall for her age, he's always been but is slowing down a bit and not growing as fast.
They are in Compass B510 boosters which are really easy to move from my van to dh's car so they take them where ever they go, as I said they love being in them and once on a short trip my oldest almost had a meltdown when dad wouldn't take his seat as he was afraid he wouldn't be safe. He's known nothing else so I can't blame him on that one.

My youngest however is our "pip squeak" and is going to be 4 in July and weighs a whopping 24lbs. He's also still drowning in 2T size clothes. He's just a little guy that takes after my side of the family. He's in his britax Decathalon seat and will be there for a long time I'm sure.:001_smile:

[Gretchen in NJ]

Safety First makes a great product that attaches to the seat belt. It pulls the belt down and keeps it away from the neck. We use it for our children. I also have an adult friend who use it since she is on the short side.

Gretchen

[hpymomof3]

We went by height because 2 of my 3 children are small for their age. When they moved out of the booster we used one of those seatbelt adjusters. That way the belt wouldn't go across their neck. My oldest dd didn't weigh 80 pounds last year when she started high school so she still would have been in a booster seat according to that rule. My ds is 10 and weighs 65 pounds but he has been tall enough for the past two years to wear a seatbelt comfortably.

[Book Crazy]

I always thought that my son was a bit tall for his age, but reading how tall your kids are my son is really big for his age.

He will be 8 in June. He weighs 75 pounds and is 4 foot 9. (57 inches).

WOW! I never realised he was so big. That might expalin why here wears size 12-14 clothes.

[Tap, tap, tap]

http://www.iihs.org/laws/ChildRestraint.aspx

[susie in tx]

My 12 yo dd passes the 5 step test in our van, but that may change when we get a new vehicle. She's aware of this. She also knows that she is small for her age. My 9 yo is still in a booster, and does not quite pass the 5 step test. Her legs are longer than her torso. My 7 yo is in a booster and I just had to buy her a new one because the old one is ripping and I cannot get a new cover. It's a Britax Cruiser and I love it. My 4 yo is in a Marathon and could still be rear facing. LOL

[Jennifer in MI]

My 12 yo dd passes the 5 step test in our van, but that may change when we get a new vehicle. She's aware of this. She also knows that she is small for her age. My 9 yo is still in a booster, and does not quite pass the 5 step test. Her legs are longer than her torso. My 7 yo is in a booster and I just had to buy her a new one because the old one is ripping and I cannot get a new cover. It's a Britax Cruiser and I love it. My 4 yo is in a Marathon and could still be rear facing. LOL

My dd is 2 yo and barely 20 pounds. We still have her rear facing and will continue until she hits the limit (is it 35 pounds?). Anyway, we have the Decathalon.

[~Tara~]

My dd is 2 yo and barely 20 pounds. We still have her rear facing and will continue until she hits the limit (is it 35 pounds?). Anyway, we have the Decathalon.

33# rf limit on the Decathalon (unless it's BRAND spankin' new it *might* have a 35# limit)

I have a 2yr old still RF too. He was 28# last I checked. My dd was rf at 3+ yr :)

[susie in tx]

My dd is 2 yo and barely 20 pounds. We still have her rear facing and will continue until she hits the limit (is it 35 pounds?). Anyway, we have the Decathalon.

At four, she won't go rear facing anymore. In fact, she's been forward facing since she was three because she didn't want to miss anything. Plus, she, like at least one of my others, gets queasy rear facing at fast speeds. It's best to keep them rear facing as long as possible, I agree. :)

[Gretchen in NJ]

http://www.iihs.org/laws/ChildRestraint.aspx

Thank you for the link. :driving: Great information. You have rep coming your way.

Gretchen

[Alice]

Definitely check the laws for your state. The standard rec by most safety people is 4'9". It used to say 8 yrs old or 80 lbs. but height is probably the more important thing to go by.

However, law may not match the recs. For example, here in VA the law now says they must be in a booster until age 8 regardless of height or weight. It is a primary offense, meaning you can be stopped for it alone.

[Ravin]

DD is less than 30 lbs. and only 37 inches tall at 4 1/2. She's still in a 5-point harness, and will be until she hits 40 lbs. or the height limit for the straps. Then she'll be in her same seat as a booster until she's can pass the 5-point test.

She started forward facing before 20 lb. (well after age 1) because the seat we had after our car w/ the marathon in it was stolen didn't secure well rear-facing. I figured forward-facing with a good installation was better than rear-facing with a loose installation.