low weight DC and boosters

[Peony]

I'm just up for starting a discussion, not because we are here yet. :p I see over and over again, 4y AND 40lbs min for booster use, that is fine and dandy for most DC, but what do you do about those children who will be 6, 7, 8+ years old and not 40 lbs?



DD1 is 5y and 33 lbs, it will be years before she hits 40. I know that when I was a child, I was 8+ years old before I hit 40lbs. I could see that being DD1. Of course DD1's main seat for years to come, will be a Regent, but I'm also thinking ahead, what happens when she is older and we could really use the convenience of a booster for Grandma's car, etc... Do you still say no because she is 37, 38 lbs? When do you say, ok, the child is 7 years old, even if they aren't 40 lbs, the booster seat is ok? What is your comfort level? ;)

[scatterbunny]

A minimum of 4 years old and 40 pounds is the bare minimum IMO to use a booster safely full-time, but a child who will be 6+ when they finally reach 40 pounds, I'm fine with a booster being used at 30-something pounds occasionally.

[amy919]

I wish I could offer some insight here, but I'm in the exact same boat. I'm anxious to see what my 5 year old weighs in next week at her well check. I imagine she's about the same as your DD.

I've thought about this a lot and I just don't know. Like your DD, mine is also in a Regent. She is very conscious of car seat safety and if she weighed more, I 'd probably be comfortable with her riding in a good HBB for short trips. I completely trust her to sit correctly in one. She's definitely mature enough.

Almost all booster are rated for 30+ pounds, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable with a 30 pound child in a booster at any age. Frankly, I can't see any reason for it.

For me personally, I'm just going to play it by ear. That's why the Nautilus is so appealing to me for a secondary seat. I imagine she'll outgrow it by height as a harnessed seat before 40 pounds. If she's 38 or 39 pounds by that point, I will probably be OK with letting her ride in it in booster mode for short trips, but iIreserve the right to change my mind on that when the time actually comes :p.

[azgirl71]

I agree with Scatterbunny that if a child is 6+ they should be mature enough to sit properly in a booster. I wouls not have a problem with that if I saw it.

Actually, I would be very happy to see a child older than 5 yo in a booster fulltime instead of a seatbelt. You don't see it often around here.

[Susan in MI]

I agree with scatterbunny. Middle dd was about 38# when she started riding occasionally in dh's car in a lowback booster. A highback couldn't go in the backseat because the stupid headrests pushed it forward. Most of the time, she rode harnessed in the van, but if dh had to pick her up at school for some reason, she was in a Cosco Ambassador. It was rare, I would have been more comfortable with highback, but that wasn't an option in his car at the time.

Youngest dd is harnessed and will be most of the time until 40#, which will probably be when she is 7+. She does very occasionally ride in our Parkway now. She is so tiny at 35# that I won't let her ride in anything else. The Turbo has way too much wiggle room for her, but the Parkway wraps around her enough I'm OK with a rare, short trips in it.

[mominabigtruck]

IMHO I would rather see an older underweight child in a booster then I would a heavy younger child. Dallas was 40lbs way before he was 4 so I put him a booster because I didn't know there was other seats available. I spent a good portion of the time we were driving turned around yelling at him the backseat to sit up right and leave the seatbelt alone. As long as an older child meets the criteria for a booster and is able to sit properly then I don't see anything wrong with it.:twocents:

[joolsplus3]

I think the 40 is a vestige of convertible seats commonly going to 40 pounds (and in Canada, that's the lowest weight for a booster seat! Lots of boosters start at 30 in the US). Ideally, based on head injury statistics, kids should be harnessed to at least 5, but weight doesn't really have anything to do with booster readiness or skeletal development, so if your 5 or 6 yo is still well under 40 pounds but too tall for a harnessed seat (preferably a seat with ~17" top slots like the Marathon or Graco Platinum Cargo), then there's nothing wrong with going into a booster as long as it is labled for their age/weight/height :)

[DaniCPST]

I agree with Scatterbunny as well! I think once she is that old and can handle being in a booster the weight part doesn't matter as much as it does for a 3 or 4 year old.

[thepeach80]

This is why I generally tell people 4 and preferrably 40#, but 6 is better. Evan is slated to hit 33# at 5.5yo, 40# should come around 8? :)

[wendytthomas]

Piper is 5.5 and 34 pounds. Normally she rides in a Wizard. She rode to school this morning (2.8 miles) in her Parkway (rated from 30 pounds). She rides beautifully in it. But I wouldn't use it for long trips, or every day. The longest she's been in it is about 45 minutes at once.

We also have low back boosters here for spares that rate from 30 pounds. I used one of them for her for our four cab and car rides in NYC last month. She thought it was the bomb and didn't move an inch in the car. I had her in the middle and didn't like it, but given that we had taken a train (no seatbelts) I thought for her for such short rides a LBB would be just fine. And it was. I wouldn't do that again in a long time, though.

Piper probably *could* be trusted with a booster, but I'm not willing to. We'll see what happens when she outgrows her Wizards. For now, though, for quick rides with friends she takes her Parkway. Partly because of ease, but mostly because I don't trust them to use a harnessed seat properly. I've inspected their carseats. They were lousy users. I know they can't mess the Parkway up, and Piper knows to lock her own belt. So she's safer for sure in that than in a harness with them.

Wendy

[Defrost]

My dd is 7 and just hit 40lbs. She has a booster for her back-up seat, and I'm perfectly comfortable with her using that. I do prefer her to be harnessed most of the time, particularly if she'll be going on the highway, but the booster makes a good back-up.

Aside from maturity, even though she's small for her age, her bones are more developed than a younger child who is the same size as she is.

[amy919]

Thanks for all of your input on this subject! It's something that's been on my mind. One of the reasons we've held off getting the car seats replaced for DH's car is because we can't afford to spend the money on another Britax seat for occassional use and until the Nautilus came out, there really weren't any good options for her. Matt was pushing for the Parkway (and so was Kaylie, provided she could get the Cowmoo one :rolleyes:), but I just can't bring myself to put a *just* 5 year old in a booster, even for short trips if there are other options out there. The GN really seems like a good fit for our situation and I'm anxiously awaiting seeing it in person.

I now feel much better about the possibility of moving her to a booster before she hits 40 pounds. Assuming I find the GN every bit as wonderful as it sounds, we'll go with that and use it until she outgrows it as a harnessed seat by height. The only downside is that I *really* wanted a booster with LATCH. But since there aren't many out there, I'll have to wait for that until she's ready for a booster as a primary seat.

[natysr]

It is a long way off, but I know we will be in that situation. I plan to buy a safeguard child seat in the next few months. I also have a Marathon. In a few years, I may buy a Nautilus, or something similar (if there is anything similar on the market). Once Jordan outgrows the harness in those seats by height, then I will switch him to a booster. I don't plan to buy a regent.

I'm not exactly sure what our future holds as far as transportation to/from school and after school care etc....but as of now, I don't like the idea of my child riding in a seat that is not as safe as his primary seat when being driven by someone else. (i.e. he being in a 5pt harness in our car, but a booster in a carpool situation).

[skipspin]

:p All you lucky-ducks with little bitty kiddos!

I guess I get to buy more seats, but still, Rfing at 3 is dreaming for my kids, and RFing at 4 is unimagineable! I'm hoping DS slows down and makes it to 2 RFing at this point.

[flipper68]

IMHO I would rather see an older underweight child in a booster then I would a heavy younger child. As long as an older child meets the criteria for a booster and is able to sit properly then I don't see anything wrong with it.:twocents:

My thoughts exactly! And a booster for a 30-40 lb. child age 5+ is significantly better than the usual alternative, which is seat belt only.

There are many long/lean kids who are too tall for the run of the mill (Graco/Dorel/Evenflo) harnessed seats.

While internet access and increased publicity/research on CPS has significantly increased awareness of / demand for HWH seats, I have seen only 2-3 kids harnessed past age 5 (not counting my friends with special needs) in 4 years as a tech.

Many parents are still not aware HWH choices exist and if they DO know they exist, they don't see the need/value of a $300 seat for their preK-school age child.

(It also helps that Target, TRU, et. al. carrying them in the brick/mortar stores.)

[Jordynsmama]

The kid I nanny for is almost 10 and he is only 47lbs and not even 4 feet tall, plus he is very scrawny. I have him a backless booster but he would be better in a hbb. He doesnt use anything in his mom/dad's car and I hope they never get in an accident b/c he fits worse in the seatbelt than my 5 yr old and I dont think it could work on him at all.

[mimieliza]

For a small/thin child, isn't there a risk of ejection from a booster that doesn't exist with a five point?

[Susan in MI]

For a small/thin child, isn't there a risk of ejection from a booster that doesn't exist with a five point?


I would think it depends on how the booster fits. Even though my 5 1/2 yo is well within the height/weight requirements for the HBTB, I won't let her ride in it. I just don't like how it fits her. The Parkway fits her fine and I'm OK with occasional short trips in it. I don't trust her to sit properly for long periods yet or I might even be OK with more frequent use.

[joolsplus3]

I don't think there's documented cases of that happening... they test them with the 34 pound/37 inch dummy and they stay in... obviously wiggly kids can put the belt in the wrong place and may be ejected, but properly used, I don't think it's a risk. (Dorel and Evenflo are putting themselves at huge liability danger if this IS a problem...some of their boosters are labeled for "age 1 and 30 pounds" :(

[Susan in MI]

The thing I don't get is that there are documented cases of young children in boosters who have been crushed by the adult seatbelt. I wonder why companies still say from age 1 and up? It seems to be a danger for children under age 4 or 5. My dd may be tiny, but she is 5 1/2 so her bones are stronger and better able to handle crash forces. A 2 or 3 yo her same size would be at much higher risk.

[joolsplus3]

Probably because there's no NHTSA regulation about what kind of seat a child of any given age or height should be in, companies can label them any way they want to :( (Some states may have it in the law what seat a child should be in, but I bet if the parent is not technically misusing the seat according to it's labels, they'd win in court)

[CTPDMom]

Wow...all these itty bitty kids! My nieces are the same way...the younger one is 3.5 now and just hit 25lbs. I tell my sister if they move to CT (where they must be in a booster until their 7th birthday AND 60lbs) that her little one will be bringing a booster to her driver's ed lessons at 16! LOL

Both my nieces are currently in MAs and I hadn't thought about the fact that they will probably continue in them until they expire...and still won't have outgrown them!

[MumtotinyM]

I am in the same situation with my dd. At 6 years old Makenzy weights about 32lbs. Dh and I have been talking a lot about booster's recently. Dd has been asked to many after school play dates, carpools ,ect. But with her primary seats being a regent, and safeguard, they are not practical to be moving around, and installing in others vehicles. I love the looks of the nautilus, but because of its weight I'm not sure it would make such a great spare seat. I also love the recaro vivo, it appears to have good head and side protection. I would love to wait until Kenzy weights 40lbs to put her in a booster, however the way she gains weight I'll be lucky if she weights 40lbs at 10. M turns 7 in June so I think we will probably wait until then to buy her a booster. Maybe she will have gained a few pounds by then. By the way thanks to all for the great replies, you have made me more comfortable with putting my low weight child in a booster. :thumbsup::)

[bethng]

When do you say, ok, the child is 7 years old, even if they aren't 40 lbs, the booster seat is ok? What is your comfort level? ;)


My dd is 6.5 years old (7 the end of June) and we have a booster for a back up and its used only if its not possible to transfer her DC or if its a short ride in dads truck down the street to the store. I dont trust her full time in a booster but for a short trip once in a while I do. She is about 42lbs give or take.

[musicmaj]

I am going to be in the same boat with my little one. He is only 22 lbs at 28 months old. I don't think he will hit 40lbs until age 7. But, I don't have to think about booster with him for a very, very long time.

[CDNTech]

Aiden is still 36lbs and will be 6 at the end of March. Since we live in Canada, he's required to be in a harnessed seat until 40lbs or 6 years old. Factor in proper use law and he's not allowed to use a booster until he's 40lbs here.

He's got 1 - 1.5 inches of torso growing room before he's out of the Radian. I will not be buying a Nautilus to gain him an extra inch of torso growing room (already did that with the Chase, then Marathon, then Radian ;)). If he hits the top slots of the Radian and still has not reached 40lbs, he'll be using our Parkway (or I'll buy the new Monterey).

The 30lbs limits were made for kids like mine. Lightweight and tall and at a developmentally appropriate age. :)