Car Seats for kids over 4 yrs old

[Hawkeyewife]

I volunteered to drive for a recent school field trip and was shocked at the number of kids that were given booster seats (as opposed to 5-point car seats) for the trip. I know that all of these kids have loving parents and I am assuming they do not have the information about the safety of these kinds of seats. I would not drive a child in my car if they had a booster seat in lieu of a 5-point strap.

A YouTube video about the importance of 5-point straps for kids between 40 and 80 pounds was widely circulated several months ago. There is also a website related to the video with information about the use of these kinds of seats for our kids Kyle David Miller Foundation. Get your tissues out if you haven't been to this site yet.

Anyway, I guess I am a little discouraged that there are only a couple of car seats on the market (Britax Regent and Sunshine Kids Radian 80, both over $200) that allow parents to keep their children safe in case of a collision. With parents and children spending more time in the car these days, you would think that other manufacturers (Graco, Evenflo, Cosco, Safety 1st etc) would step up to the plate and make car seats that accommodate older children.

Any thoughts? After looking at the information about the safety of booster seats, would you feel comfortable putting your kids in one? Are the manufacturers and/or retailers to blame? Wal-Mart does not carry the Britax or Sunshine Kids models and I think Target only sells the Britax Marathon which is safe for a child up to 65 pounds.

 

[sockgirl77]

My son is 3 and his height/weight requires him to be in a high back booster seat. :shrug:

 

[Hawkeyewife]

My son is 3 and his height/weight requires him to be in a high back booster seat.

That is EXACTLY my point. Car Seat manufacturers sell booster seats (and high back boosters) that accommodate children as small as 30 pounds, so as parents we think we are doing the right thing by placing our kids in them. Unfortunately, most children do not position the belt correctly and even at slow speeds can be crushed by the seat belt. Even if the belt is positioned correctly, in rollovers, it is not uncommon for seat belts to fail.

As parents, why is it so hard to find out this information? Please take a look at the website listed above for more information and personal accounts of children in boosters who lost their lives in simple collisions due to crush injuries.

 

[sockgirl77]

That is EXACTLY my point. Car Seat manufacturers sell booster seats (and high back boosters) that accommodate children as small as 30 pounds, so as parents we think we are doing the right thing by placing our kids in them. Unfortunately, most children do not position the belt correctly and even at slow speeds can be crushed by the seat belt. Even if the belt is positioned correctly, in rollovers, it is not uncommon for seat belts to fail.

As parents, why is it so hard to find out this information? Please take a look at the website listed above for more information and personal accounts of children in boosters who lost their lives in simple collisions due to crush injuries.

My son's torso is really long so the belt fits him just right.

 

[Cowgirl]

We have a belt positioning booster seat (the backless kind) for our 4 year old. As long as the belt is positioned properly (which it is), and the kid's head isn't over the back of the seat or headrest, then that is just fine. We made sure he fit the height/weight requirements, and we buckle him in every time.

I've looked at several sites, and none of them say a 5 point harness is required. :shrug:

Car safety for your 4 to 8-year-old: belt-positioning booster seats : Partners for Child Passenger Safety - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Belt Positioning Booster Seats

http://www.mdsp.org/downloads/boosterseats.pdf

 

[MMDad]

I don't ever let my kids out of their bubble. If they don't get into a car, they can't be injured, right?

 

[Tinkerbell]

I don't ever let my kids out of their bubble. If they don't get into a car, they can't be injured, right?

My kids just bring their bubbles with them. It's like super powered bubble wrap, so they don't even need seats. I put them in the SUV cargo area and let them bounce around in their bubbles.






For those who get easily: This post was purely for comical purposes. I do not actually put my kids in the cargo area, and they do use seat belts and car seats as necessary. Thank you.

 

[Cowgirl]

My kids just bring their bubbles with them. It's like super powered bubble wrap, so they don't even need seats. I put them in the SUV cargo area and let them bounce around in their bubbles.






For those who get easily: This post was purely for comical purposes. I do not actually put my kids in the cargo area, and they do use seat belts and car seats as necessary. Thank you.

It's sad that you had to put that disclaimer on your post.

 

[Dymphna]

No safety organization out there says there is anything wrong with a belt positioning booster for a child who is 4 and 40+ pounds. But like any safety device, including car seats, it must be used correctly. I see lots of parents that don't tighten the belts properly and/or allow their children to reposition the seatbelt incorrectly.

My 42 lb, 4 year old is in a low backed booster and my 9-yo was also in a booster until recently when we checked to confirm that he can sit properly with his back against the seat back and his feet flat on the floor. Despite the fact that all the safety groups say he could be done with it at age 8 and Maryland State law says they don't need them after age 6.

 

[vraiblonde]

What are the bubble Mommies going to do when Jr. starts school and rides unrestricted on the bus?

 

[Dymphna]

What are the bubble Mommies going to do when Jr. starts school and rides unrestricted on the bus?

Drive them to school.... Lots of them already do, just for that reason

 

[MMDad]

What are the bubble Mommies going to do when Jr. starts school and rides unrestricted on the bus?

We tie the bubble to the back of the bus. It's kind of a rough ride, bouncing into things, but the kids think it's fun. Sometimes the ride is a bit too rough though. That's when it's fun to feed each kid a different flavor of yogurt, so one has a blue bubble and one has red.

 

[vegmom]

I ditched my daughters shield-type booster for a high back booster after seeing reports of kids sliding out from them (and my girl's a tall, lanky Scandinavian stringbean).

She hasn't needed a booster seat in over 2 years. She was still under the weight requirements but her head was well above the back of the booster, which would have made it nothing but a fulcrum in a rear end crash.

 

[kwillia]

What are the bubble Mommies going to do when Jr. starts school and rides unrestricted on the bus?

My daughter was 8 when she was tripped while walking from one class to another in her public school hallway. She broke her arm. I haven't let her go back since and she's 12 now...

 

[Dymphna]

I ditched my daughters shield-type booster for a high back booster after seeing reports of kids sliding out from them (and my girl's a tall, lanky Scandinavian stringbean).

She hasn't needed a booster seat in over 2 years. She was still under the weight requirements but her head was well above the back of the booster, which would have made it nothing but a fulcrum in a rear end crash.

I believe all the shield type boosters were recalled. Hopefully no one is using them anymore.

 

[Tinkerbell]

My daughter was 8 when she was tripped while walking from one class to another in her public school hallway. She broke her arm. I haven't let her go back since and she's 12 now...

You really should get her a bubble. The other kids bounce right off your kid and if your kid trips -- they bounce right back up!




Of course, fitting the desks can be a challenge....

 

[vegmom]

Dear Bubble Parents,

Please don't register your child for Little League.

They may actually get hit by the ball!

 

[LordStanley]

I dont think kids should be allowed in cars anyway. All they do is spill drinks, drop food, slobber and smear up the windows. The market value of my van sucks since my kid ruined the seat fabric when I found a half eaten lollypop stuck between the cushions.

 

[Hawkeyewife]

I was at work all day so I've missed out on the discussion... fortunately dinner won't be ready for 10 more minutes so I thought I would chime in.

I started this thread so parents could be better informed about the fact that there are other options other than placing a 3 or 4 yr old in a booster. Many parents prematurely place their kids in boosters but feel they are as safe as a seat with a 5-point harness. They simply are not as safe and their are alternatives to boosters.

My kids will be in seats with 5-point harnesses until they reach the 80 pound weight limit or height limit of the seat. After that, a booster will most likely be the next step. By then, our children will be at least 7 or 8 years old (if not older).

I don't think my parents ever put me or my siblings in car seats, but we were lucky and never got in a car accident either. I never plan on being in a car accident but if I am and my children happen to be in the car I want to be sure they are as protected as they possibly can be.

My husband has a cousin who is a NC State Trooper, when my oldest was 6 months old and I was considering options for her convertible seat, he gave me one piece of advice and that was to keep my child in a 5-point harness as long as I could. I wonder if there are any other State Troopers out there (or other emergency personnel) that will comment on the topic.

 

[LordStanley]

I was at work all day so I've missed out on the discussion... fortunately dinner won't be ready for 10 more minutes so I thought I would chime in.

I started this thread so parents could be better informed about the fact that there are other options other than placing a 3 or 4 yr old in a booster. Many parents prematurely place their kids in boosters but feel they are as safe as a seat with a 5-point harness. They simply are not as safe and their are alternatives to boosters.

My kids will be in seats with 5-point harnesses until they reach the 80 pound weight limit or height limit of the seat. After that, a booster will most likely be the next step. By then, our children will be at least 7 or 8 years old (if not older).

I don't think my parents ever put me or my siblings in car seats, but we were lucky and never got in a car accident either. I never plan on being in a car accident but if I am and my children happen to be in the car I want to be sure they are as protected as they possibly can be.

My husband has a cousin who is a NC State Trooper, when my oldest was 6 months old and I was considering options for her convertible seat, he gave me one piece of advice and that was to keep my child in a 5-point harness as long as I could. I wonder if there are any other State Troopers out there (or other emergency personnel) that will comment on the topic.

You can quote facts and expert advice all you want. But not every parent no matter how loving they are to thier children can afford a $250 car seat.