Harnessing vs Booster and full-time booster use maturity?

DS will be five in January. Is in the top position of his Frontier. I thought I would be ok with him in a boooster full-time at five but now....I am not so sure.

He is getting entirely too smart and we have been having some outbursts in the car when I do turn where he thinks I need to turn. Usually once a week, rarely twice. (He has a dx of ASD/PDDNOS, dx depends on the day and the doctor.)

I have been booster training him since he turned 4. He has never had an outburst in the booster so I am not sure how physical he would get. In the frontier, he slings his feet up and down and hits the side of the seat with his hands and at it worse there is some mild bucking. Could that much movement put a child out of place in a booster with a locked seatbelt?

Now he has been perfect in a booster but except for 5 days in July has never been in a booster full-time or for a trip longer than 30 mins.

I have the chance now to trade either a radian for a Regent or a Frontier for a Nautilus (both from a trusted source) at no cost to me. Really those are my only options at this point: Nautilus or Regent for harnessing. (ETA: this would be a preadvisory regent)

I don't know what to do.

He seems ready and likes his booster alot but these outbursts have me rethinking.

I don't think the Nauti will give you much extra harnessing time -- maybe a quarter-inch tops. I would consider a Regent, because I do think bucking in a booster could be dangerous.

I would consider the regent too. I locked the belt once on my 6 yo because he kept leaning over. He just leaned sideways out of the belt, the belt tightened, then he didn't fit under the belt and we were on a long drive and on the freeway. A locked belt is not like a harness that a kid can't get out of. My ds can get wild in the van and out of position in a booster. He's fine in the booster driving around town usually, though.

If you had a snug-fitting, deep sided booster with the belt locked, the sides of the shell should encompass him enough that he shouldn't be able to get too far out of position.

Can you try him in the booster (Frontier in booster mode if necessary) for a bit and see? Maybe purposely turn at the "wrong" intersection (or not turn at the right one) to try to trigger an outburst, preferably with another adult along to monitor his behavior while you drive (or vice versa). I'd hate to see you commit to a booster full-time and find that it doesn't work, but I would also hate to see you commit to a Regent if it's not necessary.

Pixels said:

If you had a snug-fitting, deep sided booster with the belt locked, the sides of the shell should encompass him enough that he shouldn't be able to get too far out of position.

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That's what I thought too, but my ds could still move sideways in the vivo.

christineka said:

I locked the belt once on my 6 yo because he kept leaning over. He just leaned sideways out of the belt, the belt tightened, then he didn't fit under the belt and we were on a long drive and on the freeway. A locked belt is not like a harness that a kid can't get out of. My ds can get wild in the van and out of position in a booster.

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chickabiddy said:

I would consider a Regent, because I do think bucking in a booster could be dangerous.

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Thats what I was trying to figure out and one of the things I was worried about.

Pixels said:

If you had a snug-fitting, deep sided booster with the belt locked, the sides of the shell should encompass him enough that he shouldn't be able to get too far out of position.

Can you try him in the booster (Frontier in booster mode if necessary) for a bit and see? Maybe purposely turn at the "wrong" intersection (or not turn at the right one) to try to trigger an outburst, preferably with another adult along to monitor his behavior while you drive (or vice versa). I'd hate to see you commit to a booster full-time and find that it doesn't work, but I would also hate to see you commit to a Regent if it's not necessary.

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I have a vivo and I don't think he could get too far out of postion but its never been tested. Good idea on the trial run, I think I could manage that and just see what happens.

christineka said:

That's what I thought too, but my ds could still move sideways in the vivo.

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Thats what I have and its seems to be the most combining booster I can find. So I guess he could get out of position then.

If he has PDD-NOS/an ASD, is this behavior likely to improve long-term, or are you looking at the possibility of a SN seat?

ketchupqueen said:

If he has PDD-NOS/an ASD, is this behavior likely to improve long-term, or are you looking at the possibility of a SN seat?

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So far he has developed at a steady pace in every area but communication. Receptive communication is ok but expressive language was estimated to be equal to the average 16 month old. I have been told that he will probably continue to improve at the same pace. In the early January he had sopped stimming or having outbursts in the car about 99% of the time. It started in the last 1.5-2 months and only when I deviate from my normal routes. I really don't think he will need a SN seat. Impulse control is continuing to improve. I am working on the outbursts and they do seem to be getting better now that I am telling him where we are going/turning.

ketchupqueen said:

If he has PDD-NOS/an ASD, is this behavior likely to improve long-term, or are you looking at the possibility of a SN seat?

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see... that's the thing... kids with pdd/nos/Aspergers/ASD (and it's hard to know specifically what type when they are really really high functioning... my son is the same way... his "official" diagnosis depends on the person diagnosing, if he's on his bipolar and adhd meds, and just on his day in general)... none are identically the same... you just never know what they're going to act like and be like and how much capacity they have for improvement (and even then, once you do know for THAT child, you don't know how much or how little you'll GET).

When you know one kid with a pervasive developmental delay (which is what pdd stands for and covers the whole range of autism, aspergers, and the kids who have the tendancies and symptoms, but not enough to put them under autism or aspergers), you know ONE kid with it.

None of them are exactly alike.

My oldest never pitched fits in the car... ever... and yet his sister is another story (it is only now that she's stopped that that we can move to a booster in March when she turns 6)... and she doesn't have pdd-nos or any of the others... she's just an emotionally charged stubborn diva child whose speech issues are in communicating, not in pronunciation or enunciation or the like.

Honestly, this is the point where, assuming the OP is in the US, I would trade the Radian for the Regent, but then also start deciding what booster will work best with an 86-Y IF (big if... he could turn around tomorrow and stop that behavior that causes her to worry, or it could keep on for the rest of his life, or anywhere in between) you need to keep him harnessed even longer.


Now, as for the fits (and Damian has had way more than his share... even with the meds he is currently on...) tomorrow we are discussing a new med (Zoloft failed miserably) to treat his anxiety and anger... he's also in talk therapy, though.

I would make sure to start your son in therapy to help with social, communication, stress, and anger issues.

And if you don't see progress, well, know that there are medicines for the stress and anxiety and they may or may not work...