Can someone help me ? about EH

I have to write a paper for a class I am taking about something I believe in. I was going to write it on ERF and EH. I have some general knowledge but I also have been trying to resarch it and put the paper together.
My question is, what exactly is extended harnessing? Its obivious ERF is happening but what about EH? Even on these boards people are booster training at weights of 40lbs. and even below on some older children. Is EH just not catching on? Or is EH not that important. Obiviously I am not an expert but I would think harnessing a young child would be safer than a adult belt. Even to just spread out the forces in a crash. Would a 45lb. 6yo not be better off in a harness than a belt?
Any input would be appreciated, I was ready to include EH as part of my paper but now I am not sure it is that encouraged.

britfish said:

I have to write a paper for a class I am taking about something I believe in. I was going to write it on ERF and EH. I have some general knowledge but I also have been trying to resarch it and put the paper together.
My question is, what exactly is extended harnessing? Its obivious ERF is happening but what about EH? Even on these boards people are booster training at weights of 40lbs. and even below on some older children. Is EH just not catching on? Or is EH not that important. Obiviously I am not an expert but I would think harnessing a young child would be safer than a adult belt. Even to just spread out the forces in a crash. Would a 45lb. 6yo not be better off in a harness than a belt?
Any input would be appreciated, I was ready to include EH as part of my paper but now I am not sure it is that encouraged.

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Ideally yes it would be better, but there is just no statistical data to say one way or another right now. For a child that is over 4 and 40lbs and is mature enough to sit properly the entire ride, as far as we know to date there is no proven benefits, except for kids who are either to little or to immature to sit properly the entire ride. I completely agree and plan on doing EH with my kids but data wise to prove it one way or another it is just not there yet.
You could try this site ran by the Kyle David Miller foundation they have some info that might help http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/ Good luck on your paper!

We don't have data showing that it's better to harness after five and 40 (I say five rather than four because of this study, http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv19/05-0330-O.pdf, which shows an increase in head injury for kids under five). Beyond that we have nothing.

If you find something, let us know.

Wendy

Thank you Wendy I did not know about that study either.

great info., thanks so much. I guess I just can't come to terms with the fact that people advocate rear facing to 30plus pounds now but no one blinks an eye at putting a 40lb. child in a booster.
I have seen bruising, broken bones and soreness caused by an adult wearing a seat belt. I would think that would just be compounded on a child so wearing a 5pt. would be safer. Even if there arent extensive studies, it just seems like comamon sense to me but apparently not. Did ERF start out as a hunch and then take off w/ testing?

I think people would blink an eye about putting a 40 lb child in a booster, depending on how old that child is. If a 3 year old, 40 lb child was in a booster, I believe (not a tech, just been reading these boards and researching obsessively for the past couple months...lol) most, if not all, techs would want to see that child in a harnessed seat. Now, my 5.5 year old is only 36-37 lbs right now. She'll likely be 7 before she reaches 40 lbs and at that point I'll feel perfectly comfortable with putting her in a booster. She will likely have outgrown (or be close to outgrowing) the harnessed seat she is in right now at that point anyway).

As for research, I did a series of papers and a presentation on the need for car seat laws to be more strict. It was an argument based research class and my argument was that car seat laws need to require children to remain rear facing until at least 2, remain harnessed until at least 4 years/40 lbs, and remain in a booster until at least 10 years (I emphasized remaining in a booster until they fit in an adult seat belt properly). I was able to find quite a bit of research to back up ERF and using a booster past the current 8 year/80 lbs minimum (which is the law here, in NC) but I couldn't find as much research to back up extended harnessing, so I didn't write as much about that and instead focused on ERFing and remaining in a booster since there was evidence to back up my beliefs about those two things.

In both cases -- RFing and harnessing -- age matters more than size. I wouldn't want to see a 40# 2.5yo in a booster, but I wouldn't blink at a 40# 6.5yo. As a matter of fact, I'd MUCH rather see a 32# 6.5yo in a booster than that 40# 2.5yo.

There is definitely some controversy about EH, as you can tell. Of course, we have Sweden, who goes straight from ERF (to about age 4-5) right into a booster, and they do not FF harness at all.
With erf, we have studies showing definite benefit through age 4 years. With eh...we do have the one study showing benefit to age 5, but nothing after that. And yes, the info we have definitely seems to indicate age means more than weight when moving to a booster. Liekj chickabiddy said, i think most, if not all, of us would be way happier with a 32# 6.5 yo in a booster than a 40# 2.5 year old.
Alos, with eh..I'm not sure there is a real definition....is it weight, or age? If "40 lbs" is the standard, then is a 42 pound 2 year old technically being "extended harnessed"???
Or is the standard age? And if it is, what is the age? 4? 5?
For clarity and ease, I'd probably focus the paper on ERF. You can continue to research the eh issue on yor own, but I think you'll cause yourself a lot of unecesary trouble trying to include it in your paper.

bobandjess99 said:

There is definitely some controversy about EH, as you can tell. Of course, we have Sweden, who goes straight from ERF (to about age 4-5) right into a booster, and they do not FF harness at all.

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I have talked to family over there and they are starting to get into the FF harness deal. Kind of like ERFing was unheard of here 5 years ago to the general public. There is research being done over there apparently about FF harnessed seats, not sure where info would be on that. Family not know much more either.

I definitely think that it can be appropriate for a child to rear-face to the limits of one of the tall-shelled 40-45 lb. RFing seats, and go into a booster. My almost-6 year old will probably do it.

But in this country we have MANY MANY kids who hit 40 lbs. (and/or outgrow the short harnesses on many seats "officially" rated to 40 lbs.) before they are developmentally ready for a booster. Proper positioning and fit in a booster is KEY. Absolutely essential to proper function.

I'd say there's a sliding scale of readiness. A few kids are ready right at four, developmentally. Some kids by 4.5. Many kids hit it between 5 and 5.5. Most kids by 6. Almost all kids by 6.5. By 7 I would not even question readiness, as long as the child is neurotypical and meets the manufacturer's minimum weight.

thank you all so much for your time an comments on this topic. It is so interseting, especially to hear it is more age than weight. I do however find it hard to believe there have been no studies on injuries sustained in a crash on a 5 yo harnessed vs. 5 yo belted. It seems like there is a chunk of time missing from studies.

Studies cost a lot of money, and it's not something that's on most people's radar. I think the biggest problem is non-use of restraints in many of these age groups (though for 5 year olds that is improving.) Since many 5 year olds have been fine in boosters, I think it is percieved as "other more important things first." Also, there is not a lot of real-world data on EH. It's still a "significant minority" of children (I believe it's in the 30% range for 5 year olds, and 5%-ish for 6-8 year olds) that are harnessed past 4 years old. So the real-world data is just not enough yet to do much with.