Would you put a 4yo in a booster?

Laurelz

New member
Long story short I bought a hbb (parkway sgl) for a friends dd. She's turning 4 and in a LBB now. I am planning on giving it to her, but every time I look at it and think of her age I just can't do it.. I think "no I should sell it, why did I even buy it".


WWYD? I mean technically 4/40lbs is legal for a booster, but I have a 3.5yo in a Frontier and I'm not so sure when he turns 4 this fall that I would feel ok with him in a booster, kwim? I guess it's better than what she's in..

help me stop fighting myself in my head! :cool:
 
ADS

leighi123

Active member
I'd rather have a 4yr old in a HBB vs a backless.

My ds is 4.5, he is not always 30lbs yet (depends on if he eats that day!), but even though he is mature for his age and VERY good about safety, I don't plan on putting him in a booster any time soon even if he did meet the weight limits. I don't even think I'll turn him FF any time soon!
 

jnamommy

New member
Would you rather see her harnessed? YES

But is she safer in the hbb booster than what she has now? YES


So you are clearly improving her current situation. And that may be all you can do. Parents may not even use a harnessed seat if they had one. So you ARE helping. Good job to you!
 

Laurelz

New member
I'd rather have a 4yr old in a HBB vs a backless.

My ds is 4.5, he is not always 30lbs yet (depends on if he eats that day!), but even though he is mature for his age and VERY good about safety, I don't plan on putting him in a booster any time soon even if he did meet the weight limits. I don't even think I'll turn him FF any time soon!

I know! My ods is more mature for his age (depending on the day :p) but I just am struggling with this.
 

Laurelz

New member
Would you rather see her harnessed? YES

But is she safer in the hbb booster than what she has now? YES


So you are clearly improving her current situation. And that may be all you can do. Parents may not even use a harnessed seat if they had one. So you ARE helping. Good job to you!

Thank you. :eek:
 

noahsmom24

Active member
If it were a close friend I could talk to, I'd invite her over or something and say have you seen these videos? Of course she hasn't but show her some crash test videos and see what kind of reaction you get. Just saying wow, That is really scary! etc,...I'm really happy I decided to keep my ds/dd? harnessed, You can add something like yea it's a pain sometimes but at least I know he/she's safe. You can make up your own words to talk to this friend, but it's worth a shot!
If you feel that wouldn't work if your friend just generally isn't a receptive person to car seat safety then YES, in that situation I would think the PWSGL would be a good solution, especially if her current situation is worse.

But no, ds won't be in a booster in my vehicle for another 2-3 years at least. We are doing booster training now because his dad has him in a booster :(..
 

tarynsmum

Senior Community Member
Would you rather see her harnessed? YES

But is she safer in the hbb booster than what she has now? YES
QUOTE]

Yes, this. I recently gave a spare Turbo to the mom of a 4.5 year old in an outgrown-by-height Dorel 3-in-1 with horrible mis-use. Did I have a harness seat that I could have given her? Probably, but I KNOW it wouldn't be used properly (think, only chest clip buckled, nothing else) and the odds of a HBB used correctly are much better.
 

mama2girls

New member
Would you rather see her harnessed? YES

But is she safer in the hbb booster than what she has now? YES


So you are clearly improving her current situation. And that may be all you can do. Parents may not even use a harnessed seat if they had one. So you ARE helping. Good job to you!


:yeahthatlove: You're doing a great thing getting her in a safer seat. And she's better off in a booster that fit her and is being used properly than a harnessed seat that might not be used correctly. I say thumbs up for you!
 

Mags462

New member
Would you rather see her harnessed? YES

But is she safer in the hbb booster than what she has now? YES


So you are clearly improving her current situation. And that may be all you can do. Parents may not even use a harnessed seat if they had one. So you ARE helping. Good job to you!

This is my thought exactly! I would do the same in your shoes OP....
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I just got done doing a private seat check and I took a 4.5 year old 44 lb child out of a harness and put him into a booster (he arrived riding in a 40 lb limit Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 but she had a SK Monterey in the trunk). We discussed options for harnessing him longer, but she also has a younger child to buy an ERF seat for, and given the options and the economics of the situation I really don't feel bad at all about a good HBB for a child that age.
 

kdkm

Member
I'm in a similar situation with my mom and little sis and posted about it a week or so ago. She is in a harness that isn't being used correctly despite my best efforts to explain to them how its supposed to be used and why its supposed to be used that way.

Every time I go to buy her booster, I just freeze! I know she would be safer in a correctly used booster then an incorrectly used harness but it is still hard. I feel you but she is much safer in HBB than a lbb even though a harness would be ideal.

So yes, I would put a 4 year old in a booster in that situation.
 

christineka

New member
Yes. At car seat checks, we regularly put 3 and 4 year olds in boosters because they are safer than the way they arrived. I let my 4 yo ride in boosters in the second vehicle and I'm comfortable with it since he behaves better in a booster than my 8 year old.
 

cookie123

New member
Have you given thought to how your friend may react to your gift? Will she be happy and use what you have given her? Is it possible she will feel judged and resentful? If she takes it and never uses it, how will you feel about it? Not trying to be the bad guy, just wondering about the situation.
 

cookie123

New member
About your question, I think I would. I'm thinking of suggesting to dd#1that she give boosters to her mil for the kids when they go there overnite this weekend. They probably won't go anywhere, but it's nice to have options in an emergency.
 

Laurelz

New member
cookie123 said:
Have you given thought to how your friend may react to your gift? Will she be happy and use what you have given her? Is it possible she will feel judged and resentful? If she takes it and never uses it, how will you feel about it? Not trying to be the bad guy, just wondering about the situation.

I totally have wondered this myself. She knows I'm a "car seat freak" as she says so I'm not worried there. I did ask her in a round about manner prior to buying it. I told her I "won an awesome seat that we aren't ready to use for Crew yet but I'd be happy to give it to her dd as a gift!" so she sort of knows about it.
 

Heather86

Member
I just passed my frontier on to a two year old who is 30 pounds. Would I rather see him rear facing ? Yes. Is it going to happen ? No way. But my frontier got him out of a forward facing expired t shield.

I think if you can improve the situation any at all then go for it. She's safer in a hbb than a nbb at her age imho. It may not be an ideal fix but it's better than the current situation.
 

Laurelz

New member
I'm in a similar situation with my mom and little sis and posted about it a week or so ago. She is in a harness that isn't being used correctly despite my best efforts to explain to them how its supposed to be used and why its supposed to be used that way.

Every time I go to buy her booster, I just freeze! I know she would be safer in a correctly used booster then an incorrectly used harness but it is still hard. I feel you but she is much safer in HBB than a lbb even though a harness would be ideal.

So yes, I would put a 4 year old in a booster in that situation.

Yep! That's me too. I'm finding out it's more common around here than I would like to think. I saw a JUST turned 2yo in a Graco Turbo today. :eek: She's actually about 6mo older than my youngest who was 2 in Dec so ok, maybe she's like 2.5, but still! I couldn't imagine... and the type of child she is I KNOW she doesn't sit still!

Yes. At car seat checks, we regularly put 3 and 4 year olds in boosters because they are safer than the way they arrived. I let my 4 yo ride in boosters in the second vehicle and I'm comfortable with it since he behaves better in a booster than my 8 year old.

Really?! wow. I certainly understand it, it's just scary!

I just passed my frontier on to a two year old who is 30 pounds. Would I rather see him rear facing ? Yes. Is it going to happen ? No way. But my frontier got him out of a forward facing expired t shield.

I think if you can improve the situation any at all then go for it. She's safer in a hbb than a nbb at her age imho. It may not be an ideal fix but it's better than the current situation.

I put my yds in my ods's Frontier when I was rearraging seats the other day (we were in the driveway) and it just swallowed him up!!! He looks like an average child in his Radian but those Frontiers make him look like the size of a newborn! :p
 

Pixels

New member
Would I put MY 4yo in a booster? Unless some major maturing happens in the next four months, no way, no how. I turned her forward facing once and she was crazier than a rabid squirrel on speed. The novelty made her crazy, like bouncing all around, shaking her head, just overall crazy. Thankfully she was safely harnessed so she could be crazy all she wanted. She is also a big car sleeper and she turns into a limp rag doll when she's asleep so I have no doubt she would fall out of position. She just isn't ready.

If I'm transporting another person's child, I will use the seat the parent provides or upgrade the child's safety by providing a more protective seat. Unless the child is grossly out of position or something, they are at least as safe with me as they are with their parents.

At a check, the first step is always proper use. If the child comes in an outgrown seat and we don't have giveaways big enough, then yes they may leave in a backless. I always tell the parent this is what we have to work with, this is what I recommend, there are seats in the $X range that will do what I recommend. They leave safer than they came in, and I've done what I can to empower the parents to make further improvements.
 

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