In California, what's the law on kids having to ride in child seats in a car?

Question

My son is turning 4 this week and he's a big guy weighing in at 54 pounds. Can I legally and safely put him in a booster seat instead of his child seat? He's getting pretty big for the darn thing.

Answer 1

Yes, car seats usually  go up to a weight of 40 pounds. It would be safer and more comfortable for your boy to put him in a booster seat. 4 years is a fine age for this. The law in CA says a child most be in a car/booster seat to age six or sixty pounds. Though it is recommened by most safty experts that a child be 80 pounds  and 4'9 before they stop using a booster seat.

Answer 2

Legally - yes

Safely - not really

The bare minimum for safe booster use is in fact 4 years and 40lbs, which he almost meets. However - like most things that are 'bare minimum' its not the safest practice, not the best thing to do. Experts recommend keeping kidsin a 5 point harness as long as possibly, preferably to at least age 5 or 6. But that does mean you definitely need to make sure he still fits in his current harnessed seat. Most harnessed seats on the market currently only go to 40lbs, but some (Britax Marathon/Decathalon/Boulevard, Britax Regent, Britax Frontier, Sunshine Kids Radian65/Radian80, Compass TrueFit, Evenflo Triumph Advance, Graco Nautilus) harness to a higher 50, 65, even 80lbs.

To keep him safest is to keep him in a harness as long as possible, and with a big kid that likely means getting a Britax Regent. At 2 years old, my son outgrew all the 40lbs convertibles by height, and was a few lbs away from outgrowing them by weight, too, but I knew there was no way I was putting him in a booster. The Regent was the only seat on the market that was going to hold him to 4-5 years old. He's almost 4 now, and still has a good 3-4 inches before its outgrown. The Regent will keep your child harnessed longer than any other seat.

The Graco Nautilus isn't bad - would probably get him some more time in a harness with 19" top slots (the Regents are 20") and a 65lbs harness. Then it becomes a booster. (the Regent doens't become a booster). The Britax Frontier harnesses to 80lbs, but has shorter slots than either the Regent or the Nautilus, I'd definitely try him in it before buying one.

Regardless of what's legal - you want to go with what's safe. Remember that lots of things are legal that aren't safe. Where I live its legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but that doesn't make it a safe thing to do. Its 'legal' to have unprotected s*x with a stranger, but that doesn't make it safe. Its 'legal' for a pregnant woman to smoke...etc. The list is endless of legal stuff that isn't safe.

WHY KEEP THEM HARNESSED:

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...

Answer 3

Try these sites................

http://www.infant-car-seats.com/states/c...

http://www.childseatcenter.com/article10...