Would you booster even with a harnessed seat that fits?

glockchick

New member
DD is almost 6 years old and 45-50 lbs. She currently rides in a tethered FR 85 in my suburban that she will fit in harnessed forever. This child still fits in a BLVD 70 to give you an idea of torso height.

She's been asking to booster. Would you consider it even though you have a perfectly good seat that will harness her forever? If I go by NHTSA's recs I leave her harnessed until she outgrows it, but she could be 12 by then. :p She'll be harnessed for our trip this summer, but I'm considering letting her be boostered after that.

I think she'll sit ok. She already rides in a booster every other week at her dads. Of course I can't know how she rides in a booster, but I'd be watching her in my car and I could reharness if I needed to. I did try a booster about a year ago with her and she couldn't sit still, but it's been a long time that she's ridden in one with me other than for short trips.

What say you CS.O? ;)
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Sure. At her age and size there's no reason not to if she sits properly. She'd be safe either way.

Wendy
 

christineka

New member
You can try it out. Don't get rid of the frontier in the meantime. I would continue harnessing- not till 12 years, but until age 6 and even maybe 7.
 

Mingie

CPST Instructor
We did. My oldest dd had been asking for a while. She started boostering full time around the age of 6 despite having plenty of room in her Nautilus.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

jessi f

New member
We are. DS' seat for the second car is a TF (which he has plenty of room in)and everyone but me acts like it's impossible to figure out the continuous harness :rolleyes: So I'm putting the GN in the second car for a while while I get him used to the booster with me. Then I'll decide if which seat will stay in which car. DS will be 6 in October.

ETA: He had also been asling for a booster ;)
 

momtotwogirls

New member
Yes I would let her. I plan to booster my oldest around 6 even if she still fits in her frontier. I will put her back in the frontier for long trips until she is 7 probably and since my youngest has a short torso she will fit in our other harness seats.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I'd keep the harness around until I knew she could sit properly in a booster even when asleep with no slumping (for my oldest, she was "most of the time" by age 6 1/2, but still got a harness for long/nighttime rides, because she tended to slump until 7 1/2. At 7 1/2 she finally stopped slumping when asleep so that's when she moved to a booster full-time. She still, at over 8, fits in several harnessed seats, but there's no need to harness her and there are a lot of good reasons for us to booster her.)
 

VoodooChile

New member
I did too. My dd also probably would have fit harnessed in the Frontier (80) until middle school. She's been a great booster rider since age 5, and I had no problems boostering her. I always had the option of putting the harness back in of I had needed to.
 

bnsnyde

New member
Me, personally? I'd harness forever once I get the Frontier. But my kids are tall, too. I'd easily harness to 9 if they fit... Maybe he'll only fit until 7, who knows. They are just going to still use the Frontier as a booster anyway someday, so the seat won't change unless we need to tweak the set up. So I know they won't harness until 12 because they won't fit. But if they were short I'd probably booster at 9. I'm just a little harness happy.

But in your case I'd do what you want! You'll use the booster properly and teach her, so you're in a good spot.
 

EmmaGrace'sMom

New member
My DD is still in the FR85 and RNXTSL, but mainly because in the main cars she rides in a harness is easier than a booster. A year ago she was NOT ready for a booster, even short rides she needed reminders, she would be okay now. She won't likely move to a booster until she outgrows the seats we have, I need to check and see how much room the has in the XTSL but she has several years left in the FR85.
 

Mommy2Marcus

New member
I did. Marcus still fit in the harness of the Maestro & GN Elite, but I swapped him to a booster. He sits properly & the belt fits him well so I feel perfectly safe with him in the booster.
 

glockchick

New member
I tried the FR in booster mode. The seat belt won't retract in that location. I also have PWs that do the same thing. :( So I'll have to get her a new seat. My friend has a Probooster and the belt slides nicely through that so that's what she's getting.

In the mean time, I have a TB that works if I want to booster her for short trips. I'm thinking she'd slump right out of it if she fell asleep. She did stay in position in the PW the one time she rode in it and fell asleep so I think she'll be ok with a supportive booster.
 

glockchick

New member
So maybe she doesn't have quite as much room as I thought she had. I just checked her seat and she is 3 settings from the top. I know that's still at least a couple of years, but when did she grow? And I thought there was more room between the top slot on the BLVD and the FR. She fits the BLVD on the top slot with just a smidge of room left to grow.
 

VoodooChile

New member
My kids are both like that with shoes. One day their shoes fit fine; the next morning they wake up and their toes are hanging off the edges. Usually it's both of them at the same time :D
 

mamakc

Active member
My DD has a short torso and will fit in a harness for years to come. But I feel perfectly fine/safe letting her use a booster. I will keep a harnessed seat around as long as she still fits for long trips though. Sometimes it is easier to have her in a booster, like when she is the only kid in the third row, she can get herself into and out of a booster with no help. The harnessed seat gives her more trouble depending on what she is wearing. But in our current 3-across a harness would be MUCH easier. After a certain point (5.5-6ish maybe?) the decision of whether to booster or not is more about what works best in your circumstances than about age/size.

-Krista
DD~5 Monterey /youth booster
DS~3~ Maestro / radian
DN~1~ Radian xtsl
 

Pixels

New member
She's been asking to booster. Would you consider it even though you have a perfectly good seat that will harness her forever? If I go by NHTSA's recs I leave her harnessed until she outgrows it, but she could be 12 by then. :p She'll be harnessed for our trip this summer, but I'm considering letting her be boostered after that.

NHTSA's recommendations only have her harnessed until her 8th birthday.

Using the harness gains her the benefit of the tether and reduced head excursion.
 

Chely7425

New member
My 4 year old is in a booster everywhere but our van... I'd have no problem boostering her after your trip
 

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