Struggling with a decision?

A few days a go our Oobr that we have been waiting for finally arrived. DS's stats are 6.8 yrs (7 in February) and about 42-43lbs and until the Oobr arrived he was happily harnessed in his Frontier. He has been riding in the Oobr now for 3 days. I am not sure how I feel about it.

The belt seems to fit him well. The lap portion does sit nice and low and the shoulder portion does sit square in the middle of his shoulder for the most part I notice it riding up closer to his neck slightly on occasion.
He fell asleep in it tonight and didn't slouch. He is sitting straight and makes sure the belt is positioned properly he is taking the whole riding in a booster fairly responsibly as we have been talking about it a lot leading up to the Oobr's arrival. The seat itself seems to fit smaller kids well.

I guess after the crash videos and things I want to make sure I am making the right decision by letting him use the booster. Have I downgraded his safety?

If he was your child what would you do?

When you switched your child to a booster how long did it take you to get use to the idea?

I know he is happy using it but he also wasn't complaining about his Frontier either.
Should I.....

keep him in the Oobr, he is safe (just as safe as the Frontier harnessed at his age and weight being that we don't have stats on it)

or

move him back into the Frontier for traveling with me but be glad he now knows how to ride safely in a booster when required

What is the magic age or weight that makes riding in a booster full time safe and ok.

I am looking for some reassurance to leave him in the booster or if I should really put him back in the harness I totally will in a heart beat.

Also , I have been locking the belt. I don't know if that is a good idea or not but it makes me feel like he is safer. Should I lock it or not. I know he doesn't need it locked to sit properly.

Thanks for listening.... I am really struggling here.

Hi Jasmyne. This is a tough one, isn't it? My 7 yr old/47 lbs. was just fine in her Frontier last summer, but it was taking her so long to get buckled up that it was frustrating all of us. I switched her to a booster in my van knowing that we just couldn't afford the extra minutes in the morning before school waiting for her.

Seems like a weak reason, but she's old enough and weighs enough to be in a booster. I do wish she were bigger--she seems so small. But she needs that independence of getting into her seat by herself and *I* need her to do that as well (heh, neither she nor I are morning people ).

At a minimum, over 4 and 40 lbs. is when I can handle seeing kids in boosters. Age 4 is when kids seem to get that maturity needed to sit properly in a seat belt. Age 5 is when I start to feel really OK with it. I don't like to see kids in backless boosters full-time until much later--around age 8, unless they're super tall and have outgrown the back on their highback booster.

HTH!

I'll only add that I'd be glad the belt is riding closer toward his neck... from the videos I've seen, it seems that the kiddo's body wraps around the belt better, versus if it's closer to the shoulder the whole body seems to roll forward and out of the belt altogether.
If he's comfy in the Oobr, then I'd keep using it :thumbsup:

Well, we just made a similar switch and (thankfully) I'm comfortable with it.

My dd#1 will be 7yo in January. She is 50" and 50lbs. She was riding in a Britax Regent that she still fit in, but was getting close on the shoulder slots. Also dd#2 was beginning to outgrow her Britax Marathon, so moving dd#1 into the Oobr booster allowed us to move dd#2 into the Regent as well.

I'm comfortable with the switch for a few reasons:
It seems to 'fit' dd#1 very well. Lap belt placement is so much better than with the TurboBooster she'd used on occasion previously (a handful of times in cars other than mine). Shoulder belt also seems well placed; I suppose I'd say it encroaches on her neck more than her shoulder, but like pp that would be my preference as well (and it's tough, because she's just a narrow kid!). It's never been enough to bother her at all, and I'm confident she'd speak up, lol. I'm also made far more comfortable with it because of how secure the seat itself feels - it doesn't fall apart like the TurboBooster used to (the back detached all the time), it's so much more solid in how it fits in to the car as well. Then there's the headrest, it just feels more substantial because of the attachment (like my own headrest) and the wraparound.

As for locking the belt . . .. I *thought* I would be before we got the seat. It just sounded more like using the harnessed seat. But, truthfully, we haven't found the need. She sits in it properly w/o doing so, and doing it is actually rather a pain for us. To do so, we have to unthread and rethread the belt through the shoulder harness each time (otherwise it doesn't feed enough back in to 'unlock'). Since she rides fine it in w/o doing so, we just haven't seen the need to go through the work to do it. Besides, she's able to buckle and unbuckle herself when we don't lock it and she's quite happy with that. I still spot check her (she's always had it right) and always ask to make sure she's done it properly too (is it low on your hips? is it pulled snug across you? are you sitting up straight? bottom against the back of the seat? etc).

We're happy and comfortable with the decision. Moreso than I thought I'd be, since I was always a bit nervous when she rode in her TurboBooster.

It also works out well for us in terms of timing:
Regent will expire in 3y. At that time, dd#2 will be 6yo and we'll likely move her into the Oobr and buy dd#1 an Olli - OR - buy dd#2 whatever new/improved version is out then, and convert dd#1's Oobr to backless.

So - the short version - in a similar situation, I'm comfortable with the Oobr. HTH!

J is the same age as your DD, he'll be 7 in March. Last spring I let him ride in a booster, he did great for awhile. After the newness wore off, he kept forgetting to sit properly. After several threats of returning to his Nautilus, I switched him back. As long as he doesn't have a torso spurt, he'll get to try the booster again when he's 7. But J is a bit immature.

If the booster fits DS well, and he sits properly, I'd let him continue using it.