Booster vs. 5-pt video? Kids fighting extended harnessing?

momtoM&D

New member
My 6-year-old has been pushing to be in a booster lately, though she's only 45 lbs and has room to grow in her Britax Frontier and Graco Nautilus. I showed her this video to explain why the rule in our family is that she needs to stay in a 5-pt-harness for now, but it's not great footage. Can anyone link a better one? This was all I could find.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKbrM&feature=related"]5 point harness vs. booster seat crash test - YouTube[/ame]

For those of you extended harnessing, what do you say to children who are fighting you on it? It's getting harder now that she's seeing that most of her peers are in backless boosters, or even nothing at all (we're in CA, the law is 6 yrs *or* 60lbs, so legally she doesn't have to be in anything).
 
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carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Actually, most of us here are fine with 6yos in boosters. Is there a reason you don't want your child boostered?

But to answer the question, there are some things in our house that kids get a vote on and some that they don't. Car safety is something that they don't get a vote on.
 

bnsnyde

New member
We are not there yet b/c my 5-year-old has never brought it up. But I imagine I'll show him crash videos at some point. We'll use the harness for years, so I'd better plan ahead. :)

He thinks it's "race car driver cool" though! :)
 

Baylor

New member
I think that I would explain to her why you are more comfortable with her in a harness and that there are rules for a Booster. That she will be responsible for sitting in the right place and staying there for the whole ride. I would find a booster that fits her great and start letting her use it on short trips and see how she does.

Something that fits her well.
My son is now 7 and I fought the booster tooth and nail. I was going to buy him a FR85 to keep him harnessed but I realized that he was old enough, Mature enough and I had taught him well enough to be able to be in a booster and ride safely. It is hard to move to that step but at 6, unless the child has difficulties or disabilities, They should be fine.

I think you need to give her some say at 6. Not final say, but some.
 

momtoM&D

New member
I am uncomfortable with her being boostered at this point just because I feel that a harness is safer, and if she still fits, why give that up? I regret that I turned my kids FF as early as I did (shortly before they were two), and don't want to look back and regret this as well. She is fairly mature and probably would be ok in a booster, but if we got in an accident and something happened, I don't want to question whether she would have been better off in a harness. I have showed her this video and explained the rule, but she still complains nearly every time we get in the car.
 

Baylor

New member
It is not safer, per se, but more controlled. I get that feeling and if you read a lot of my early posts, you will see the same feeling.

There is nothing wrong with keeping your child harnessed til they out grow the seat. However at 6 yrs old boostering is no less safe.

I understand how you feel really I do. But I would start with the booster on little trips and have her learn the correct way to use it. Start teaching her and let her earn it. even if you stretch it a while. It is appropriate for her and in an emergency or riding with someone else, She will have more options.
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
Well, in Sweden, they usually go from rear facing to age 4 or 5, and straight to a belt positioning booster. There is a school of thought out there that seems to think that when an older, larger child is harnessed forward facing, it can increase neck loads? on that child. Having a child of the appropriate size and age to booster in a booster lets the spine and neck move a little more together in a crash, rather than an abrupt stop at the shoulders and the head/neck keep going.

Now, this is only what they do there. There is no proof that a harness is safer than a booster, or vice versa for a child that is old enough, mature enough, and big enough for one. Actually, there isn't even any proof that a high back booster is safER than a no back booster. Personally, I think a high back is safer, especially in a side impact crash, but that would be my personal opinion, with no study to really back it up.

I had come across a study on the neck loads a few years ago, but have since lost that link, and have not been able to find it again:(
 

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