Another Child no longer needing a booster seat.... I'm sad

Kat_Momof3

New member
Today, after we got back from the dentist, I noticed that Jeffrey was looking tons bigger in his booster. Since he'd asked me earlier in the week about when he'd outgrow it (because I've told him it'd be when he was close to 10yrs old... around 9.5yrs according to the cdc charts), and when he sat up straighter than he is in this picture, he had only 1" above the tops of his ears/eye level

Lasttime.jpg
(here it looks like he has almost 2")

I decided to try him without his booster... and... :crying: he passes the 5-step test.

FirstTime.jpg


I had him go run and get my camera so we could commerate this bittersweet day of my 2nd baby growing up... I promised him tomorrow I'll check him in his dad's car... with his longer torso, I bet he fits there, too.

I let him try out the third row (notoriously harder) because of his long torso... and... he fits there, too. He kept talking about how cool it was that now he was so tall that he could see everything out the windows even without his booster.

I'm just looking at the dakota... sitting on top of my dresser... waiting to go into the closet until Ruthie will use it... and feeling like my little boy is all grown up.

I measured him... he grew 3.5" (mostly leg) and is 4'9"... he's 95lbs... and I'm wondering where the time has gone.
 
ADS

christineka

New member
I say "Yay"! It means he can ride in other people's vehicles without needing to tote along a seat. That's great! I am awaiting the day that I don't have to be super protective, car seat obsessed mom, and allow my kids to ride in vehicles without seats like all their peers.
 

Gypsy

Senior Community Member
If my newly 10 year old daughter grows this -->[......]<-- much in her femurs she will pass the 5 step test in my captains chair in my minivan - which basically means she will pass in almost any seat she would ride in.

I'm betting by the end of the school year (or sooner) she will be boosterless.

ETA: her stats in my signature are correct
 

krasota

Well-known member
Tell him I love his sweatshirt! And what a sweet, sweet smile. :love:

As for the growing up, I'm positive that only happens to other peoples' kids. Mine will stay tiny and 3.5 forever. Right? Right?!
 

ginny4

New member
look at that! WOW! as you probably have already experienced with your first but i found its really weird at first & then its oh good its nice not to worry about seats too.

Congratulations!

oh oh i gotta tell you.....when my 2nd son went to just a seatbelt he said it was SO UNCOMFORTABLE & asked for his monterey back. LOL of course he outgrew that. then my 1st son also admitted that secretly he wanted the monterey back too. LOL sorry boys
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
Tell him I love his sweatshirt! And what a sweet, sweet smile. :love:

As for the growing up, I'm positive that only happens to other peoples' kids. Mine will stay tiny and 3.5 forever. Right? Right?!

Thanks! The sweatshirt we managed to SCORE (I have to say that cause it had TAGS on it and I know what they retail for) for 50c (goodwill outlet clothes by the pound) and it was his brothers, now it's his... and if it keeps holding up like it has (we've had it 3 years and it looks new), it may be his sister's if she wants it.

I hope yours stay small... I feel like I blinked and he went from my cuddly chubby baby who wanted nothing more than to sit and snuggle while we watched blues clues and shrek to this preteen who is too old to call us Mommy and Daddy (it's now Mom and Dad), too old to kiss me on the lips (though that one I was ALMOST ready for) and now too old to need a booster in my van. I am almost certain (even though Damian was 4'11" before he could sit on the outboard seats, Jeffrey couldn't sit in the middle with the hump because he's not leggy like his brother since he was 4'6") he's gonna pass in his dad's car's outboard seats tomorrow.

look at that! WOW! as you probably have already experienced with your first but i found its really weird at first & then its oh good its nice not to worry about seats too.

Congratulations!

oh oh i gotta tell you.....when my 2nd son went to just a seatbelt he said it was SO UNCOMFORTABLE & asked for his monterey back. LOL of course he outgrew that. then my 1st son also admitted that secretly he wanted the monterey back too. LOL sorry boys

YES... I can't believe he's so big! With Damian, I was so much more nervous... he seemed so YOUNG... so SMALL (being my largest child)... With Jeffrey, I'm not thinking he's so young, or so small (even though he's almost a foot shorter than his brother), I'm just thinking that while the time has gone by so fast, I am glad that I enjoyed it all I could.... just would still have loved more of it (could we get kids to grow as much in a year as they normally would in only a week? Could we stretch out to a decade what happens in a year??

I here people talking about not being able to wait till their kids are grown... I admit looking forward to potty training and sleeping at night, but other than that, I have loved all these milestones and am really enjoying my kids at their current (if still challenging so often, but rewarding so often, too) ages.

It just feels strange to only have ONE child seat in my car now.
 

TerisBoys

Well-known member
I totally sympathize with you Kat. I've only got Ryan in a booster now, and the back seats of the van seem a bit sparse.
 

TerisBoys

Well-known member
His is Midnight Sand, but yeah.

More ironic is that he sits in the same spot as Ruthie in a similar van (I drive a 2000 Grand Caravan).
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Aw, I hear ya, it's almost as sad as turning a toddler FF...

I took the Recaro Start out of the third row back at Thanksgiving, and Bitsy doesn't need a booster in the middle captain's chair at all, and somehow that booster's just been sitting in the garage for 2 months now :eek:
At least Leah's still harnessed, it helps make up for the pain of having only one seat in the car, for now, but I know my days are numbered :(

((((HUGS))) to you and high-5 to your great big boy :thumbsup:
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
I am so with you on that - I had to change my siggie not long ago because it's been a couple of months since Fighter's ridden in a booster. He outgrew his Start by height so I got a Harmony, and he just didn't fit right... I finally realized it's because he fits better with just the seat belt.

Kids growing up is so bittersweet. :( :)
 

hrice

New member
My oldest passes the 5 step test in the 3rd row of my Yukon. With the booster his head is too far above the headrest. I keep his Harmony booster in the second row for when I need him to ride there and... Well...because I can't bare to take it out yet. So it just rides around. Buckled and unoccupied...sigh.
 

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