No back vs. high back?

ILoveMy3Boys

New member
Boosters are completely new to me, DS1 & DS2 have ridden in a hbb back and forth from school (.5 mile each way) maybe 6 times. What is the safety difference in the boosters though and at what point do you switch from hbb to nbb? I'm just asking out of curiosity, time to start educating myself on the next step, even if it's years away!
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
There are no studies that show high back versus backless. In a frontal crash when the car has head support there may be zero difference. In a side impact there may be a ton of difference, but without side impact standards and testing the only way to know is to go through accident data post crash and see who was in what. Which hasn't happened.

Generally for daily rides I'd leave a child in a high back booster until either they didn't fit, or until at least eight or nine and then they ask. Piper asked at 8.5 years if she could move to a backless in my car when I got a new car with side curtain airbags. I had no argument to say no. In my husband's car, for the next four days anyway, she rides in a high back booster (the seat expires on 11/5). I suspect she'll be going to a backless booster in there shortly. She's 10. I have no problem with that.

Wendy
 

mlohry

New member
My boys are in low back boosters now at 8 and 10, but stayed in HB until they were close to 8. We also have side airbags in our van and if we didn't I would be funding higher backed boosters to accommodate them. Now that we just have the LB boosters they no longer ride in our car with no side air bags and only a lap belt in the middle.
 

Holly

New member
My girls are 7 and turning 6 next week. They are both in Turbo boosters and they fit well and are not on the highest setting yet. I am pretty sure they will just use the turbos until they outgrow the backs and then go backless. I suspect they might be 8 and 9 by then.
 

christineka

New member
There was a European study done that showed high back boosters were safer, but their seats may be completely different from ours. I feel that a backless cannot be safer than a high back, and so I err on the side of caution and keep my kids in high back boosters as long as they fit.
 

kam1011

New member
There was a European study done that showed high back boosters were safer, but their seats may be completely different from ours. I feel that a backless cannot be safer than a high back, and so I err on the side of caution and keep my kids in high back boosters as long as they fit.

Assuming proper fit in each...
 

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