Booster seats

[notyetretired]

Thanks for the great info and links, everyone. I now feel like a certifiable expert on child safety restraints! It's amazing how many useful things you can learn on the DIS without even trying!

 

[laurie31]

Originally posted by bubba's mom
seat belts (for kids or adults) should NOT go across your waist....they should go over your hips. if it goes across your waist, you can risk internal injury...across the hips, the bone will stop the belt and your major organs will be above the belt. if you are unsure, you can always go to your local police station and ask them for help. there should be someone there trained to assist you.

This is the whole reason for a booster seat - so the lap belt will be across the hips and not the waist, and so the shoulder belt will come across the shoulder properly (and not the neck). Lap belts being across the waist can cause liver lacerations even in minor accidents. In worse ones, they sever the spinal cord. I know of at least 5 children who are paralysed for this very reason.

The lap belt should be acroos the hip bones, resting on the tops of the thighs. NO ONE - child or adult -should have the lap belt across their waist. It's incredibly dangerous!

Laurie

 

[Alice28]

Good info...I have been thinking about my DS's booster (he doesn't have the high back kind, but it does the job)...he is almost 7 and weighs 56 pounds, and is 49" tall. In Oregon he is almost within the range of not having to use it anymore (I believe it's 60 pounds). My only problem (and don't flame me) is that by the time #3 comes around, I am going to have to fit all three in the back seat and I'm not sure a booster, the infant seat, AND my 3 year old's car seat will all fit!!!!!!! And I can't afford a bigger car payment right now for a van or SUV. He will legally be okay to not have the booster anymore by then (he's having a growth spurt right now), but I still worry a little bit. 3 months after baby is born #2 can graduate to a booster, so I don't think those take up as much room as a carseat (the ones without the back). Next summer we should probably be able to trade in the Subaru (oh how I wish Subaru would come out with a 7 passenger vehicle! I love my Outback so!) for something bigger, but in that 4-5 month period they are going to be SQUISHED in the back!!!

 

[decker96]

I know some people have said they don't like the age thing, that it should be by weight, but I like having both an age and weight guideline, in fact I think there should be a height guideline too. The reason I say this is because I didn't weigh 80 pounds until I was in 8th grade!!! I was more than tall enough, just very skinny. Even though there were no car seat laws then, I can't imagine sitting in a booster until I was 14!
So far, my DS who is 4, has a very similar body type to what I did. I highly doubt he will be in a booster until he's 80 pounds. Right now he's still using the 5-pt. harness in a high back booster because he's only around 30 pounds.
My oldest DD is 7 and weighs close to 50 pounds. She's still in a booster, without the back, but is getting very close to being tall enough to sit in the seat with a seatbelt positioned correctly. Once she is, I have no problem taking her out of the booster and just letting her use the seatbelt. As long as the she can sit comfortably in the seat with the seatbelt where it is supposed to be, why the concern that she's not 80 pounds? If they're tall enough, wouldn't it be more dangerous to remain in the booster if it made the seatbelt go down too far across their body?