Kids in booster seat rule.

[Poohforyou]

My dd was is the booster until she started middle school. I don't even remember if she was within the legal guidelines to be out of one but the seatbelt fit her correctly at that point so I wasn't going to make her have to continue in one.

 

[sookie]

No it really doesn't. Watch some videos that show forward facing vs rear facing. It's quite clear rear facing is much safer. I don't wonder at all.

To me it is about what I know..I know what is safest..there is no doubt and plenty of evidence to support rear facing, to support 5 pt harnesses and to support booster seats to a certain height and weight. Knowing this I could never ever live with myself if I ignored that and something happened. I don't care how small the chance is..car accidents are not something you can plan or predict. They have nothing to do with how safe a driver you are as you are at the mercy of everyone else on the road. We were doing nothing wrong driving home from dinner when a 21 year old lost control of his car at 81 mph (in a 40mph zone right outside his apartment building). My Mom was driving within the speed limit and safely when another driver crossed into our lane of traffic (going the wrong way) and slammed into the side of our car. I was doing nothing wrong and driving safely and appropriately when I drove through a solid green light right up the street from my house and was hit by a red light runner. I was hit so hard my car spun in almost a complete circle. I look at every one of the accidents I managed to walk away from and think about each and every one of those when I put my kids in the car..any one of those scenarios or something new could happen when we go out on the road. There is tons of data that indicates their survival and safety is greatest when properly restrained based on height and weight..including being in a booster seat at 10 or 12 years old (as my kids are petite height and weight wise and likely to be older than average when they meet the recommended height/weight). I feel I am doing the best thing for them by restraining them. If someone else looks at that data and makes a different choice they have to live with that choice.

Backwards facing, 5 point harness is the way to be. I took care of a baby that had been in a vehicle that had literally been sucked up by a tornado. The parents in the vehicle had serious injuries, as did a passenger in the back. The baby came out to free of any serious injuries - except for contusions and lacerations from flying debris. How scary is that? And a tornado throws a vehicle in many different directions - the family that came to collect the baby (parents were in ICU) showed me a picture of the car, and it was a crumpled heap. Looked just as bad as any serious car wreck I had seen and was a total loss. Looked like a smooshed pop can. New recommendations are to backwards face until age 2, and if we have another baby, I'll follow it (even if state laws still say 1).

 

[descovy]

Not every difference of opinion can be reduced to laziness or ignorance. I'm aware that a booster is safer. But I'm also aware that it is reducing an already small risk, and I'm willing to take other factors into consideration.

The social aspect might not be relevant if your child doesn't have friends in the car and doesn't ride in other cars, but that's not the case in our lives and I absolutely do care about how my daughter feels. And the fact is, she'd be mortified to be the only kid toting a booster seat along on Girl Scout trips, or to be seen getting out of a booster seat when I drop her off at the middle school activity night (as close to a school dance as kids get around here before high school - a BIG DEAL in the tween social world). That stage is littered with enough social and emotional pitfalls without my insisting on her being the only kid in her grade riding around in a car seat for the sake of a relatively slim chance of any benefit from that decision.

Along those lines, dd has a friend who is still in a booster (almost 12). She is super tiny for her age. As we are good family friends and carpool for girl scouts a lot, we have come up with a deal that she rides in the one seat in my van (third row middle) that has a lap belt. She just calls out dibs first thing, and it seems that no one is the wiser and we've been doing this for a couple of years now.

You can't pair a booster with a lap belt. It can only be used with a shoulder belt. So theoretically a small person can use a lap belt safely without the embarrassment of a booster.

Just to add, my kids stayed in boosters until about age 7-8. I didn't keep track of exact height, but rather that their legs could bend at the end of the seat and the shoulder strap came at a comfortable normal position.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

My daughter would probably be in a booster until she was 18 if I followed the 4'9" rule. Fortunately, she has a longer torso and really short legs, so even though she is not the correct height, the seat belt does hit her correctly.

 

[Coconut36]

r.

Just to add, my kids stayed in boosters until about age 7-8. I didn't keep track of exact height, but rather that their legs could bend at the end of the seat and the shoulder strap came at a comfortable normal position.

Exactly..the bold is what is suggested parents do to determine if their child can safely use a seatbelt without a booster. If they an do that then the seatbelt will work to keep them safely restrained. At this point my 8 year old doesn't fit without a booster..we check periodically to see and will take him out when appropriate.

 

[Tiger926]

I bolded. I disagree. Age, height , weight, are subjective. They do not take into account body type. If you have a child with a long torso and their head is almost touching the ceiling of the car with the booster it is not safe. Also, if you have a broad shouldered child then the high back on the boosters are very uncomfortable. I am not saying you ( a general you) should just throw caution to the wind but not every size fits all. IMO each situation is unique. We use Britax seats etc. and eventually move up to boosters when they are the correct size and an age where we feel is appropriate within the law (varies by child) Each one of my children are built differently. We do an immense amount of research etc. I see you mentioned the Frontier and I believe that goes up to 100lbs. Now I do think they can be great seats but they are huge. Most cars cannot accomodate a couple of them. That doesn't make a lazy parent. Although I will agree that some people are very lax with the carseating but that is their decisions and it is not my place to tell them how to parent. Even if I don't agree.

Sorry I was speaking as minimum requirements.

So, it should state certain height and weight requirements, with a minimum of age 8.

The problem is that parents just throw out their boosters at age 8, as they take the age as being the most important thing, whereas the weight and height restrictions are more important in that respect. Just because the child has turned 8, does not mean he/she has met the physical requirements (shoulder strap issues are so important here), and that is what I see as being a big issue.

By the way, our Frontiers are to 120 lbs (I am in Canada).

Sorry for the confusion, Tiger

 

[Talking Hands]

Have you thought of using something like this



http://www.seatbeltmasters.com/

I had something similar but it was plastic and broke very quickly. I will check into this one.

 

[nchulka]

Nope, don't follow the recomendations, and the only people I know who do are on these boards. In real life I have never seen a 5 year old still in a 5 point harness or a child over 7 in a booster! My kids are 10 & 8 and the 10 year old along with all of her friends ride in the front. All the kids her age were out of boosters between K-1st grade. Same with DS8, he was out of the booster in 1st and so were all his friends. Around here, suburban St. Louis, you would be looked at very funny if you had a 9 year old in a booster.

 

[morethananyonex]

See, I think it's sad that proper usage is so uncommon that it's looked at as strange. If everyone did what was safest no one would be the odd man out.

 

[Coconut36]

See, I think it's sad that proper usage is so uncommon that it's looked at as strange. If everyone did what was safest no one would be the odd man out.

I was thinking this too. I don't care if someone thinks it's odd or not. It's too bad so many lack education regarding car seat/booster seat safety. On the extreme side our Ped gives out a sheet at each year well visit and starting at 1 year they remind parents they still need carseats for their children (I asked once and was told there were a lot of parents that would toss carseats at 1 year and just put the kid in a seatbelt!) and the recommendations for rear facing. As they get older they emphasize the use of boosters and how long (height/weight/age) they should remain in the booster.

 

[nmmom95]

THe law in NJ is 8 or 80. Both of my kids came out of the booster at 8. I let DS14 sit in the front seat when he was 10 or 11. At that point, he was as tall as I am. Like PP, I have honestly never seen a child in a booster after 2nd grade.

 

[LoserMomma]

My son will be 8 in three weeks and we're counting the days until we can ditch the booster. My kids are big for their age and his head almost hits the ceiling, but the law says 8. He was also rear facing to 1....with his knees up around his ears. I work in healthcare and fully understand the why (having worked cases where kids aren't properly restrained) but the law gets silly sometimes in both directions.

 

[Bungle]

I find it odd the parents that sacrifice safety in fear of their kids being seen in a booster seat by their peers.

Safety is not negotiable with us. My oldest was in a booster until he was 9. I lost a 9 year old nephew in a car accident and the entire thing was avoidable. Please people 12 and under in the back and boosters as long as they need them. You might think that it will never happen to you but it can.

 

[mad madam mim78]

Remember back in the day when you would ride in the back windshield of the car or ride in the back of the truck. Lol. Those were the days.

 

[mad madam mim78]

I find it odd the parents that sacrifice safety in fear of their kids being seen in a booster seat by their peers.

Safety is not negotiable with us. My oldest was in a booster until he was 9. I lost a 9 year old nephew in a car accident and the entire thing was avoidable. Please people 12 and under in the back and boosters as long as they need them. You might think that it will never happen to you but it can.

No offense but if you're insisting on taking safety to its highest level you should insist on helmets and knee pads in the car as well. I think it gets rediculous to a point. I still think it is safe to put children in a decent car (air bags more safety features etc) with just a safety belt and feel like we can get across town ok.

 

[LoserMomma]

Remember back in the day when you would ride in the back windshield of the car or ride in the back of the truck. Lol. Those were the days.

Heck, as a kid I rode from DC to Chicago in the "way back" of a Volkswagen Bug (the little hole behind the back seat). Put some blankets and pillows in there and I was set. I must have been about 4-5 at the time.

 

[Colleen27]

I find it odd the parents that sacrifice safety in fear of their kids being seen in a booster seat by their peers.

Our culture is obsessed with risk reduction, to the point of an "at any cost" attitude about it, and we very seldom stop to look at the real facts about the risk we're reducing. Heck, there was a thread on the theme parks board a few days ago about taking an 11yo boy into the ladies room for fear something would happen to him using the men's room or waiting for his mother outside.

According to the NHTSA only 19% of children that should be in a booster seat actually use one. Still, for 2009 - the most recent stats I have on hand - car accidents accounted for fewer than 400 deaths of 5-9yos (nearly all of whom should be in boosters) and fewer than 500 of 10-14yos (the age group under discussion by many of us who "sacrifice safety" due to social/peer concerns). Boosters reduce risk, but at the older/bigger end of the recommended age/weight/height range it is a small reduction, not the huge difference you see in the statistics for babies and toddlers.

 

[S. C.]

Of course we follow the rules, which by the way, are the bare minimun for safety. need to do away with ages actually, and go by height and weight requirements as around here we have parents take their kids out of boosters at age 8, yet they are way under the requirements.

I agree so much with that statement!

 

[Planogirl]

I hated rear-facing! I did it but I hated not being able to see DS.

DS was pretty tall so he didn't spend much time using a booster seat. I don't recall whether others used them or not but my brother still uses one for his DD who is 6. She is small though.

 

[Coconut36]

Our culture is obsessed with risk reduction, to the point of an "at any cost" attitude about it, and we very seldom stop to look at the real facts about the risk we're reducing. Heck, there was a thread on the theme parks board a few days ago about taking an 11yo boy into the ladies room for fear something would happen to him using the men's room or waiting for his mother outside.

According to the NHTSA only 19% of children that should be in a booster seat actually use one. Still, for 2009 - the most recent stats I have on hand - car accidents accounted for fewer than 400 deaths of 5-9yos (nearly all of whom should be in boosters) and fewer than 500 of 10-14yos (the age group under discussion by many of us who "sacrifice safety" due to social/peer concerns). Boosters reduce risk, but at the older/bigger end of the recommended age/weight/height range it is a small reduction, not the huge difference you see in the statistics for babies and toddlers.

The stats I am seeing list motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional deaths to children.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children of every age from 2 to 14 years old (based on 2001 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics)

In the United States, an average of 6 children 0-14 years old were killed and 694 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes during 2003.

If 100 percent of motor vehicle occupants under 5 years old were protected by child safety seats, an estimated 550 lives (that is, an additional 106) could have been saved in 2003.

The really sad statistic is that a lot of these deaths could have been prevented. Studies show that when children are placed in age and size-appropriate car seats or booster seats, serious and fatal
injuries are reduced by more than half. Beside the deaths associated with vehicle accidents, the
National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), estimates that nearly 250,000 children are injured each year. This means that on any given day nearly 700 children are harmed due to accidents on our roadways.

Every state requires the use of approved child safety seats for children under the age of 5. According to NCSA there is only a 90% compliance rate with respect to using approved safety
seats for children under this age. Notably, a recent study found that a key factor influencing the increased risk of harm to children in accidents is when the child is prematurely moved from a child restraint system up to an adult seat and then allowed to sit in the front seat too soon.

Are you trying to argue that booster and child restraints do not make a child safer in the event of a car accident? Of course it does..I fail to see where any arguments can be had on this topic. There is ample data supporting the life saving and injury preventing features of car seats and booster seats. There is ample data that shows more severe injuries and fatalities for children not restrained in the proper system for their height weight..it's very clear and IMO not really a questionable or debatable fact. Restraints (and position of the system) reduce injury and prevent death.