Florida Law regarding car seats/booster

[evie308]

Please help my confusion.

I have a 6 and 8 year old that weight over 40 pounds. Do I need a car seat/booster in Florida?

 

[beachbratt]

Please help my confusion.

I have a 6 and 8 year old that weight over 40 pounds. Do I need a car seat/booster in Florida?

Florida Car Seat Laws
In the State of Florida all children under the age of five (5) years old must be properly restrained regardless of where they are sitting in the vehicle. Just seat belts for yours

 

[evie308]

Thanks!

I wish we had the same laws. Only kids over 8 yrs old can be booster free in Toronto.

 

[braysmommy]

When traveling with my DS who is 6 we use a bubble bum an inflatable booster that brings him up enough to use shoulder belt. I also use it at home since getting 3 boosters across back of my Subaru is impossible.

 

[jfahome]

Booster Seat Requirements

Booster seats may also be used after the child outgrows the forward-facing child safety seats.

Typically a child riding in a booster seat will weigh from forty (40) to eighty (80) pounds and be less than four (4) feet nine (9) inches (4’9”) in height.

This may not read as "law" but I personally can't imagine not having my 5, 6, or 7 year old in at least a booster seat. Just me personally, obviously everyone can choose for themselves.

Have a great trip!

 

[evie308]

not available in Canada

Is it easy to buy in the USA? Toys r us? Walmart?

 

[braysmommy]

not available in Canada

Is it easy to buy in the USA? Toys r us? Walmart?

Not sure I bought mine online?

 

[disneybeachprincess]

not available in Canada

Is it easy to buy in the USA? Toys r us? Walmart?

Yes Walmart or Target for sure

 

[peachygreen]

Very cool - thanks for the suggestion to look into Bubblebum. I think I might have to buy one. We travel enough and by the time my oldest outgrows it, it will be time for my youngest to move into it. So we'll be using it for a while.

 

[jenf22]

Yes Walmart or Target for sure

We bought a booster seat specifically for travel. We got ours on Amazon, it was around $20, and had great reviews. Walmart and Target have them as well. I think the one we bought is Graco. It is also proving useful as a second seat now that our son is in Kindergarten - we can pick up our neighbor's son as well as our own.

I believe the previous poster was correct - it is not required by law in FL. It appears FL is making a "suggestion" that you still use a booster seat. I, for one, was uncomfortable having my child just in a seat belt with no booster. I plan to keep him in the biggest car seat as long as possible!

 

[jlwhitney]

Booster Seat Requirements

Booster seats may also be used after the child outgrows the forward-facing child safety seats.

Typically a child riding in a booster seat will weigh from forty (40) to eighty (80) pounds and be less than four (4) feet nine (9) inches (4’9”) in height.

This may not read as "law" but I personally can't imagine not having my 5, 6, or 7 year old in at least a booster seat. Just me personally, obviously everyone can choose for themselves.

Have a great trip!

I live in FL and love FL car seat laws since it leaves the decision in the hands of the parents who are the ones responsible for raising a kid and not the government telling us what to do.

 

[texasgirl73]

I live in FL and love FL car seat laws since it leaves the decision in the hands of the parents who are the ones responsible for raising a kid and not the government telling us what to do.

Which in theory would be great but as you see from the many "what does the law say" questions here on the board regarding carseats, parents often will place their children in safety seats only when it is required by law- no matter what crash studies have shown. I have read many a post about whether or not it is legal to not use a carseat in the back of a cab with an infant.

My 9 year old daughter still uses a booster. She hates it but the seatbelt doesn't fit right on her without it. I have to explain to her that if we ever got in a crash that she would want to be as safe as possible. When I explain it to her that way she stops complaining because she doesn't want to get hurt.

I admit I am a little more of a stickler on saftey seats than most because I work in a career that deals with fatal/serious crashes and I have seen a lot of injured or deceased children who were not properly secured.

 

[evie308]

Thank you for the Bubble Bum suggestion. I just spent 1 hr trying to figure out how to get a hold of one..... I finally purchased one on Ebay from the UK. Shipping from the US is over $30!!! I just hope I get it in time for my Aug 22 trip.

 

[braysmommy]

Thank you for the Bubble Bum suggestion. I just spent 1 hr trying to figure out how to get a hold of one..... I finally purchased one on Ebay from the UK. Shipping from the US is over $30!!! I just hope I get it in time for my Aug 22 trip.

Yikes! First I hope it gets to you in time and secondly I really hope you like it.

 

[braysmommy]

Which in theory would be great but as you see from the many "what does the law say" questions here on the board regarding carseats, parents often will place their children in safety seats only when it is required by law- no matter what crash studies have shown. I have read many a post about whether or not it is legal to not use a carseat in the back of a cab with an infant.

My 9 year old daughter still uses a booster. She hates it but the seatbelt doesn't fit right on her without it. I have to explain to her that if we ever got in a crash that she would want to be as safe as possible. When I explain it to her that way she stops complaining because she doesn't want to get hurt.

I admit I am a little more of a stickler on saftey seats than most because I work in a career that deals with fatal/serious crashes and I have seen a lot of injured or deceased children who were not properly secured.

I agree...my DS is 6 and just got out of his 5 point car seat.

 

[Danibelle]

I live in FL and love FL car seat laws since it leaves the decision in the hands of the parents who are the ones responsible for raising a kid and not the government telling us what to do.

: I think it should be up to the parents. That being said, I would probably use a booster seat if the child was small in stature.

 

[socababy]

I agree...my DS is 6 and just got out of his 5 point car seat.

My 7 year old is still in his 5 point Regent! LOL Ds9 still uses a booster when he is in my car. When we go to Fl in a couple weeks, ds9 will just be in a seat belt, ds7 will use a booster and dd will have a 5 point. Traveling does get complicated when car seats are involved!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks!

I wish we had the same laws. Only kids over 8 yrs old can be booster free in Toronto.

Do you really? Huh. I don't. It's all about making the child fit in the seat, and fit in the seatbelt, so the seatbelt can actually do its job and not hurt or even kill the person.

I went to college with a woman with a form of dwarfism, and SHE had a booster seat, so she was safe (and could see over her Cabrio's steering wheel). Watching the Olympics, I realize that some of the gymnasts actually would need to use a booster to be safe in their seatbelts in some states/countries! Until they make seatbelts adjustable for smaller people, it's all about the boosters.

When traveling with my DS who is 6 we use a bubble bum an inflatable booster that brings him up enough to use shoulder belt. I also use it at home since getting 3 boosters across back of my Subaru is impossible.

Love the bubblebum.

I admit I am a little more of a stickler on saftey seats than most because I work in a career that deals with fatal/serious crashes and I have seen a lot of injured or deceased children who were not properly secured.

My mom's second husband worked for his dad's towing company in a coastal California town. Getting to help clean up (literally) after those seatbelt-free crashes, while still a teen, changed him forever. When my mom bought a seatbelt-free classic car, the first thing he did was to add seatbelts. Lap belts, sure, but it was better than nothing, and had a chance at keeping us from being sent through the windshield.

I'm sure that as a probable grandfather now, he's big into carseats and boosters.

 

[leahmichl]

I admit I am a little more of a stickler on saftey seats than most because I work in a career that deals with fatal/serious crashes and I have seen a lot of injured or deceased children who were not properly secured.

Another stickler here! My 4 & 5 YO's are in 5 point harnesses - we just bought them new ones that they'll be in for years to come. To try them out for comfort *I* sampled them - at 5' tall and 100 lbs, they would accomodate me. Don't really care what the law is or what my kids "like", I care that they will live in a car crash when a child in a booster or nothing may not. When traveling we either bring the seats (on the plane or gate check, depending on a number of factors) or rent from a reputable rental company (NEVER a car rental company) at our destination.

 

[mmouse37]

Ok...thread being closed now....as it no longer has anything to do with planning a Disney Cruise. Feel free to continue this discussion over on the community board if you want.

MJ