Would you reharness a 7yr old?

Ok, so DD2 is 7yrs old and has been in a booster for about a year now but for the past month has been asking for a new seat. Ever since I got her brother his Regent she asks me "when is my new seat coming" "I want a seat like that with the buckles".
DS is 6 and will be harness for a while he is very squirmy and doesn't like to sit still but he's also small for his age at just 42lbs and has a ton of growing room in the Regent.
DD on the other hand sits very well in her Monterey, I never have to remind her to sit back or stop moving. Then she saw the new Frontier and that's all she wants now. With the higher weight limit and height she would fit, in fact she fits in the Regent with room to grow also.

So am I crazy for thinking about giving in and harnessing her again?

Well, she doesn't need it from a maturity and size standpoint, but it isn't the biggest waste of your money with a 9 year expiration and two younger children to pass it down to. :shrug-shoulders:

I'll not get into the harness vs booster debate.

I wouldn't :shrug-shoulders:

My kids often want things that we're not going to spend the money on, or are, for one reason or another developmentally appropriate.

It's not a 'bad' thing to put her in a harness, but you haven't said anything that would make me justify it to myself as a reasonable decision.

I agree with others that I wouldn't. UNLESS.... I had the money to burn and wanted a new seat. Would you have to sell things and scrimp and save to get the seat? Then I wouldn't buy it. Do you have $300 sitting under the bed to spend however you please? Sure, go for it. Like others said, it can always be passed down.

You're right, she doesn't need it especially when she's perfectly fine in the Monterey. I've actually been thinking about selling DS's Regent and getting the Frontier 85 for him so he can use it now and as a booster later. Plus on the occasions where I happen to have DD and not DS I can let her ride in the Frontier if she wants.

If she rides appropriately in the booster seat she has, and you said she does then, no, I would not buy a new carseat just to buy one. Especially not one that expensive. IMO she is old enough to learn that there are times when, out of necessity, one sibling will get something when the other(s) are not in need of anything. Sometimes it will be her turn, sometimes it will be someone else's turn. It is a good lesson to learn young. :twocents:

kidnurse said:

If she rides appropriately in the booster seat she has, and you said she does then, no, I would not buy a new carseat just to buy one. Especially not one that expensive. IMO she is old enough to learn that there are times when, out of necessity, one sibling will get something when the other(s) are not in need of anything. Sometimes it will be her turn, sometimes it will be someone else's turn. It is a good lesson to learn young. :twocents:

Click to expand...

I have to say the only reason I was even contemplating it was because of me not her. I just like the security of the 5-point but because she sits so well I need to get past that and just let her be. If she asks again I'll tell her that she can ride occasionally in the Regent or the Frontier (if we get it) but that her booster fits her so well that she really needs to stay in that. She's not whiny or complaining about it but she does keep asking!

Does she just want a new seat? (Not necessarily a harness?) Could you promise her that when your 6yo is ready for a booster, you'll pass him her booster and get her a new seat?

Certainly, you could reharness her, there would be nothing wrong with that, but I'm not sure I would do it. Although I did last summer, lol. (More as an artifact of me finding the board and understanding best practice to be "HARNESS FOREVER!" I thought 'booster ready' meant college, lol.)

Carrie_R said:

Does she just want a new seat? (Not necessarily a harness?) Could you promise her that when your 6yo is ready for a booster, you'll pass him her booster and get her a new seat?

Click to expand...

She has specifically asked for a harness, when we got DS's regent she sat in it and strapped herself in and asked if it could be hers. She liked the way the harness felt.
Sara does have sensory issues though so the harness might make her feel more secure. Buying it won't break the bank so I'm not worried about the cost plus I can sell her Monterey to help off set the cost if I needed.

I think at this point I'll just wait and see.

Ah, okay. When I had to rebuy all of my seats last month, I had a seat that would work for the oldest, so he had to wait while everyone else got theirs... by the end of the buying spree he didn't care *what* he got, he just wanted a new seat, lol.

If it's sensory, and you can afford it, then yeah, I might consider reharnessing.

I personally wouldn't. Just "wanting" one isn't a reason (in my book) to buy something. Yes, her sibling has one, but her sibling "needs" one.

I remember being little and BEGGING my mom for a car seat. I was probably 5 or 6. I was out of my regular car seat at 3 or 4. I was at an age where I just wanted to act like a baby and wanted a seat like my cousin had. There was no reason to have one. I just wanted one, "just because".

If you have the money, I guess it doesn't hurt. But to me, I wouldn't. What happens the next time she "wants" something. Or her brother has something age appropriate and she wants one as well. If she needed one, or there was any question, it'd be a non issue. She should get one. Just wanting one? I guess if you have the money, but I'd use that circumstance to reiterate the fact that there are age appropriate things younger children have that we don't need because we are older and just because we want something, doesn't mean we will get it. Also you could twist it around, "I know you have a booster and want a seat like X's. But look at X. He has a seat with buckles but doesn't get a booster like a big girl like you. Sometimes we can't have things we want because of our age. Right now X needs a seat like that but someday he'll be big enough to have a seat like you" so instead of "X" gets something I don't have, maybe she'll see X DOESN'T have something she has. Sometimes works for peer pressure

ETA: I think it's so funny how sensory issues affect kids differently. Kids like yours love the feel of a harness. Sensory kids like mine LOATHE it to the point that I avoid the car at most opportunities and am just holding out till she can be boostered (she does perfectly fine in a booster and doesn't fuss at all). If she needs it for sensory issues (i missed that the first time reading) then I'd probably go ahead. If not, I'd probably skip it, but like others said, it can be handed down

See even with sensory issues, if she has been boostered fine for a year now, I would not go backwards. She won't fit a 5 point harness forever and to me to go backwards now just means you have to readjust her to a booster a 2nd time. :twocents:

Ah, sensory issues. I feel for her, I really do. I have Sensory Processing Disorder/Sensory Integration Dysfunction myself.

I like to lock my seatbelt, I like the way it feels. If I could have 2 harness straps so that I could have even pressure on both sides, that would be awesome! However, it's safer not to mess with my car's factory-installed seatbelts. Plus cheaper.

I probably would not buy her a harnessed seat unless you were going to get another harnessed seat for some other purpose (flying with for the 6 year old or something) and she could fit in it, then I'd probalby let her use it. But unfortunately part of life is learning that we can't always have everything that we want, and learning to cope with disappointment. And part of living with a sensory disorder or sensory issues, is learning strategies to cope with things that don't feel the way they ideally would. I'd say some kind of special priviledge or distraction might be in order for the sake of your sanity and to help her cope/reward her, though. Like, she gets first choice of what CD to listen to sometimes, because she is doing so well not complaining about her booster or pestering for a harness. Something like that.

I don't see why not?

My DD will be 7 in a few short months and is still harnessed... with no plans to change that any time soon. If she wants it, I'd go for it! If you think it's not just a "try it for a bit and then be done with it" type of thing, kwim?