Buses and Small children

Jan06twinmom · Aug 26, 2010

From previous discussions, my understanding is that a typical 5 or 6 year old is extremely safe on a school bus with compartilization. I also understand that smaller children and younger children need to be harnessed on the bus.

So what does that mean for a very petite 5 year old? We went to parent's night and the teacher mentioned a possible field trip in October. My DD will be 5y10m at the time of the trip. However, she is about 41in tall and only weighs 36lbs right now. Based on her growth rate, she'll probably only be 36 or 37lbs at the time of the trip.

Would she be safe on the bus even though she is so little? Or would she need to be in a harnessed car seat on the bus? Or would it be safest to drive her ourselves?

(I'm not sure if they have seatbelts on the school district busses, but my DH works in the district and it's going to be his job to find out about the seatbelt situation.)

Melanie

zactayaus · Aug 26, 2010

I feel your pain. My middle two are both tiny. When they started going to school they actually both weighed 38lbs and were 42" tall. I hated the idea of them riding in nothing, but using a harnessed seat was not an option. They also could not attend a trip unless they were on the bus. If you wanted to drive your child you would have to sign them out of school and then they would not be permitted to attend the trip because they would no longer be considered the schools responsibility or something like that. In the long run I did get over my apprehentions and they both did fine. I do think that school buses in general are very safe.

swtgi1982 · Aug 26, 2010

i think at that age I would be ok with it so long as she sits fine the entire time, talk to the child about sitting proper before the trip.

Buses and Small children

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