Question Is there an average 5 step size?

armyfam

New member
Is there an average size you would say a kid would most likely 5 step in all vehicles?
Dd is 4.9" and about 87 pounds. She is going on a long field trip with parent drivers. I am wondering if I need to send her light rider to school. She is one of the biggest kids in her class and probably the only one to have a booster. So I know she will be embarrassed but I don't want to compromise her safety.
She fits well in my van but I have no idea what vehicle she will be riding in.
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
How old is she? 4'9" is about the average, but unless she's in puberty and has an adult skeleton, the booster would still benefit her. Unless she's all torso, in which case if she's in a car without headrests she may be too high with a booster (no whiplash protection).

Wendy
 

armyfam

New member
She is 10 and does have a long torso. She is in a LB Monterey in my van with the headrest all the way up and her head sticks up about 1.5 above the headrest.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
When my kids are about that age and in the gray area of 'ideal fit' versus 'good enough' fit, I tend to let them go without a booster, and just stress to them that they must sit properly with the belt on their shoulder and lap and sit still the whole trip. (1, because the risk of being in a crash in a single trip are basically zero, 2, so they can start learning to make decisions in an imperfect world and feel confident in their choices 3, yeah, way, way embarrassing and 4, it's really little kids that fly out of seatbelts and suffer abdominal/head injuries, often because the shoulderbelt is tucked behind their back).
Justification? Probably. Kids still safe? Statistically, extremely.

:twocents:
 

Baylor

New member
What freaks me out is that in some cars my son who is 8 almost makes it. It depends on the seat. I still however will not let him go without a booster of some sort til I feel he is really ready.
 

lorismurph

Senior Community Member
My ds is 10 and still rides in his literider every time. That is, until I post pics of him here and everyone tells me he 5-steps. Now that said, he does fit pretty good in my captain's chair but NOT in the 3rd row of my van so I'd probably send it just in case.
 

Kegracin

Active member
When my kids are about that age and in the gray area of 'ideal fit' versus 'good enough' fit, I tend to let them go without a booster, and just stress to them that they must sit properly with the belt on their shoulder and lap and sit still the whole trip. (1, because the risk of being in a crash in a single trip are basically zero, 2, so they can start learning to make decisions in an imperfect world and feel confident in their choices 3, yeah, way, way embarrassing and 4, it's really little kids that fly out of seatbelts and suffer abdominal/head injuries, often because the shoulderbelt is tucked behind their back).
Justification? Probably. Kids still safe? Statistically, extremely.

:twocents:

I agree with every thing Jools wrote. My DS1 is 9 and 4ft 9 there are very few cars he does not five step in....I would remind him about where the belts need to be on his body and how his butt needs to be against the back of the seat.... (I would also remind him about how if his friends are not sitting properly not to copy them and be his own person.) Then I would then ask him if he wanted the booster just in case. I'm confident in his ability to sit properly in the car.
 

tiggercat

New member
Greg started 5 stepping in most vehicles at around 10 and 90lbs.
I would focus more on making sure she knows how to sit correctly without the booster, buckle and pull snug low on the hips, make sure she gets a seating position with a headrest and lap/shoulder belt etc.
And, what Jools said :)

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
it's so hard for me to say... in cars with typical seats/seatbelts, probably about 4'9 - 4'11

but in cars like my dh's 2-door cobalt where the seats are super super buckety (the seat portion angling down so the lapbelt rides high until at least 5' tall), obviously the booster is essential until the shoulderbelt is too far to the edge or the kid is too tall to use a backless at all (tops of ears over top of headrest)... then the seatbelt still fits better in the front seat, but it's low enough to be a GOOD fit, not an OKAY fit... it's just not a GREAT lapbelt fit.

That said, my best suggestion is first to see how your child fits in the van... weigh that with the maturity... then think about what vehicles the parents have... aka... would fit be about the same? if so, and the kid is mature (this is assuming he passes the 5-step in the van) enough to stay that way the whole time, even with friends and all that, then I'd let him go without... my main reason being... head support. I guarantee you that most people do not bother raising their adjustable headrests the way we here on this board do. And unless your child both knows how to easily do this on most vehicles and will do it for himself with his booster, he's more likely to have good head protection without it... IF the seatbelt fits properly.
 

armyfam

New member
Thanks! I decided to let her go without the booster today. She knows how to properly sit in an adult belt. We even talked about it again on the way to school today and she knows what to do. I'm just such a stinking worry wort :) I would feel better if she were in a school bus.
 

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