Car seat vs. Booster seat? What age to make the change?

Question

I have a 3 year old daughter who weighs 35 pounds and is 35-36 inches tall. At what age/weight is it suggested to switch them to a booster seat?

The reason I ask is my husband had a carseat installed in his car recently and the firemen who did the installation asked why we weren't going ahead and putting in a booster seat instead? My daughter wasn't there so they couldn't see her size, etc AND my husband can't remember any other details so I thought I would ask the Yahoo community.

Answer 1

I'm wondering if the fireman was just trying to be helpful by installing the seat or if he was an actual currently certified CPST? B/c a certified CPST would not tell him that. The bare minimum for booster use is 4 years and 40lbs, but experts urge people to wait until a child is 5 or 6 years old before using a booster. The official recommendation is to keep them harnessed as long as possible. Its a lot safer, for many reasons.

Compare the following crash tests for your self and see the major difference a harness makes.

Forward facing harness vs. booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

A lateral test (the third view in) of a harnessed seat: http://www.oeamtc.at/videobox/index.php?...

A deep winged high back booster like a Parkway: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

A shallow winged high back booster like the Turbobooster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

And a no back booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite...

Crash test video showing a 5-point harnessed seat next to a belt positioning booster

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=NxfIuhL3cX...

VIEDOES OF KIDS WHOSE PARENTS DESPERATELY WISH THEY'D KEPT THEM HARNESSED:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcq...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKb...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPBSEQ4xb...

We also now know the spine is not solid until age 6.

So to sit in a booster and use just the seatbelt like an adult (basically a booster just fits the belt to the child,so it's essentially the same), they need to be able to not have the lapbelt cause those injuries, have the head proportionate like an adult, and have a solid spine like an adult. kids under age 5 have higher rates of head injury if they are riding in boosters than kids over age 5 (presumably because younger kids have heavier/larger heads in proportion to their bodies, so they fly forward farther or with greater force, thus incurring greater injury if/when they come in contact with vehicle interior or intrusion?).

"Another type of misuse is a child not using the restraint designed for its size and age. The

study of Isaksson-Hellman et al. (1997) showed

that the maximum effect of a restraint system is

not attained if the child is not using the optimal

CRS for its age. Also, a tendency of higher

injury risk was identified when the growing

child switches from one restraint to another, i.e.

when the child is at the youngest age

recommended for the restraint. " -SAFETY FOR THE GROWING CHILD – EXPERIENCES FROM SWEDISH ACCIDENT DATA

Lotta Jakobsson

Irene Isaksson-Hellman

Björn Lundell

Volvo Car Corporation

Sweden

http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm

http://www.boosterseat.gov/

http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/Booster...

So absolutely keep her in a harnessed seat - if she's outgrowing her current one, check out a higher weight harness (HWH) seat like Graco Nautilus to keep her harnessed longer.

Answer 2

You need to check the laws where you are.  Some places require the child to be a certain age, usually around 5 for the booster seat, and some require a certain weight.  Make a quick call to your police station.  My sisters child is 3 1/2 and is not allowed to be in a booster seat yet.

Answer 3

I suppose it depends on what state you reside in??

In Texas, the law states any child under the age of 5 and/or falling short of 36" on growth chart must be in a federally-approved car seat, properly installed, and children weighing 20 lbs. or less require a rear-facing car seat!!

Answer 4

Children should not be moved to a booster until they are 40 lbs, despite the fact that some boosters have a minimum weight of 30 lbs.  Keep her harnessed for as long as possible. If she grows too tall for her current car seat, buy a convertible seat (that switches to a booster later) until she reaches 40lbs.

Answer 5

Forward facing harnessed seats are outgrown when a child reaches the weight limit, or more commonly when the child's shoulders are above the top harness slots.

If the child is 4 years AND 40lbs, then he may move to a booster with vehicle lap shoulder belt seatbelt.  If not, then the child needs a larger FF harnessed seat.  There are many seats that harness to 55-80lbs.  Some are the Britax Marathon, Decathalon, Boulevard, Frontier and Regent; the Sunshine Kids Radian; the Evenflo Triumph ADVANCE; the Graco Nautilus and the Cosco/Safety First Apex.

Stay away from: The Alpha Omega 3-in-1 seats only harness to 40lbs and most 40lb weight limit seats are outgrown before a child is mature enough for a booster seat.  They also have very low top harness slots, so are outgrown by height at around 2 or 3 years old.  The Graco Comfortsport also has very low top slots.

A child should ride in a booster with vehicle lap/shoulder belt until he or she reaches approximately 4'9" (around age 12) and then can move to just the adult seatbelt if he passes the 5 step test and the seatbelt fits him correctly.