Booster Seat on a Small bus?

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #1

My DD is 6 year old (7 in October), in 1st grade, and 50 pounds. Not sure of her height but a little short for her age so definitely under 4' 9". She is riding on a small daycare bus this year after school and they said she doesn't have to have a booster since it is a bus. She was in a van last year and we used an older Britax Parkway but the foam in it broke in 2 and fell apart! I don't think I should be using that one anymore, correct? Anyway, they said they could put a booster in the bus if I wanted to. Would this be a good option for a small bus after school each day? Or would it be better to do a high back booster? I was looking at the Lite Rider.

Thanks!

 

monica-m

CPST Instructor

• Aug 22, 2011

• #2

Are there lap/shoulder belts?

 

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KaiLing

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #3

First of all, does the small bus have shoulder belts? I think there's lots of bus drivers and people in charge who don't know no boosters with lap belts only. It bears repeating: NO boosters with lap only belts!

 

Pixels

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #4

Echoing the PPs: no booster if it's a lap only belt.

Many small buses have lap/shoulder belts. Bus belts often fit properly long before car/van belts do. She might five-step, particularly if the shoulder belt is adjustable.

The Parkway is usable if you tape (not glue) the foam back in place.

 

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #5

Thanks! They do have lap/shoulder belts. Unfortunately, when we picked up the carseat from her old daycare we found out that they threw the foam away! Crazy! I assume I should trash this carseat? Now since she is short/small, whcih kind of booster would be good if I choose to use one on the bus?

 

Pixels

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #6

You can try to get replacement foam from Britax for the Parkway.

Would the booster stay on the bus all the time, or would she have to carry it with her?

 

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #7

Hmmm... I might try to get the foam but for now I need a seat tomorrow! They said they would leave it on the bus. I haven't really read up on boosters too much except that 5 point harness is safer with smaller kids so we have a Nautilus in my car. Hubby has a Turbobooster in his car as her backup and she does well with that, but it didn't work for daycare because it always fell apart since they moved it between vehicles. It fits her well. I need to find an easy seat for daycare. Even if they leave it, I would prefer something that doesn't come apart easily in case they do need to move it. Should it have a back or is backless okay at this point?

 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor

• Aug 22, 2011

• #8

pinkgirlmommy said:

Thanks! They do have lap/shoulder belts. Unfortunately, when we picked up the carseat from her old daycare we found out that they threw the foam away! Crazy! I assume I should trash this carseat? Now since she is short/small, whcih kind of booster would be good if I choose to use one on the bus?

Click to expand...

FYI - you cannot use any type of booster on a school bus seat even if it has lap/shoulder belts. Now if it's a van then that's a different story but if it's a true school bus then it's prohibited.

http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/injury/LapShoulderBeltsinSchoolBuses.pdf

I have a handout from a school bus workshop session that I attended at the Lifesavers Conference in Philly that mirrors the info above.

At 7 years old and 50 lbs, I wouldn't worry about it. She should fit fine in the bus seat with the lap and shoulder belt. :thumbsup:

 

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #9

Wow! Thanks! I have not been able to find anything about this. Is this different for each state? I have read other posts where parents are using carseats on buses. It looks like you can use a harnessed seat, just not a booster? I never knew that! She is small and it is a small bus so it concerns me that she won't fit!

 

monica-m

CPST Instructor

• Aug 22, 2011

• #10

It all depends on the kind of bus. If it's the kind of bus that school districts use for special needs kids then what she needs will be completely different if it was a 15 passenger van that they're calling a bus.

 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor

• Aug 22, 2011

• #11

pinkgirlmommy said:

Wow! Thanks! I have not been able to find anything about this. Is this different for each state? I have read other posts where parents are using carseats on buses. It looks like you can use a harnessed seat, just not a booster? I never knew that! She is small and it is a small bus so it concerns me that she won't fit!

Click to expand...

Yes, this goes for all states. I just googled "lap shoulder belt school bus fact sheet" which is the handout I have from Lifesavers and it brought up what I was looking for on that particular website.

You are correct that you can use a harnessed CR on a school bus but not a belt positioning booster. I know it may seem less than ideal but at her size and age, she'll be well protected by the restraint system in the school bus.

 

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #12

Well it is not a van. It looks kind of like one of the short buses that schools have, but it is a little older. They told me that it is a 30 ton bus and therefore is not required to have seatbelts and she is not required to have a booster of course if there are no seatbelts. However, I just found out htat they added lap belts only, so there are no shoulder belts. I guess that means I just have to let her use the seatbelt and pray if fits!

 

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flipper68

Senior Community Member

• Aug 22, 2011

• #13

Another thing to keep in mind when using van/bus transportation for kids: is there head support?

It makes me cringe every summer to see kids getting on the Y day camp vans clutching their NBB. There are not head rests in the van. Maybe a few of the kids are short enough to still fit (tops of ears below seat back), but not many.

 

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pinkgirlmommy

New member

• Aug 23, 2011

• #14

Well the daycare thought they were doing good apparently by installing lap belts on the bus. They said that because of the size of the bus they don't even have to have those, so they feel like they are meeting regulations. However, they did not know that you could not use a booster seat w/ only a lap belt and let parents bring their own if they want to use them. I don't think anyone else is at this point so it hasn't come up that this is a problem until me. Since I never have dealt w'/ lap belt only I didn't realize that you couldn't use them with lap belts until I came here and started researching and asking questions so I am really glad I did! I actually went to my hubby's car and looked at our booster and saw that it said very clearly DO NOT USE W/ LAP BELT ONLY, so I would have caught it when I got it to put in the bus. However, it concerns me that the daycare does not know this and would allow parents to do this. The manager that I talked to has 2 kids of her own and one is in second grade so she should know this too. She said she didn't and that she thought all of the other daycares around are using boosters in their buses w/ lap belts and I told her that it was dangerous. She said she was going to check and see what they were doing. I told her that maybe they are using regular harnessed carseats and that is what I am going to try to do. Now to find a good inexpensive option!