When do you switch your kids to backless boosters?

Holly

New member
My girls are 7 1/2 and 6 and both in high back Turbo Elite boosters.
At what point should they switch to backless? By a certain age? Just once they outgrow the back? I'm ok with them riding in one now, and they have a few times, but I mean for full time use.
 
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Baylor

New member
I let ds1 switch to backless for 1st grade drop off and pick up. Hbb for other trips. About 7.5 he went lbb full time with exception of long night trips when he used Monterey.

auto correct hates me
 
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mommyfrog

Active member
In theory I think kids should use the back until they outgrow it, since the sides of the back helps with side impact protection. In real life my kids use no back boosters in my oldest dd's car. She needs to be able to easily move them out of the way and put them in the trunk area a lot, so backless it is. In my van with no headrests, they will use high backs until they are out of boosters. We have one Monterey and two Frontier 80s for booster use, some of the tallest boosters available.
 

luckyclov

New member
Well, generally, I would say when they outgrow the back on their HBB. Why have a "feature" you're not going to use to its fullest? But DS1 (10) had a bit of room left to grow in his HBB (PWSG) when I moved him to a backless (a few weeks ago) because his HBB wouldn't fit in the 3rd row of my new vehicle and he wasn't willing to move to the 2nd row.
 

Phineasmama

New member
I want to use a high back as long as they fit and are comfy. DD1 is just about to turn 6 and she is using a low back in the middle of my CRV because I am having trouble with 3 across there. But I think in another week or so I will have a solution to get her back in a HBB. She still falls asleep in the car so a low back wouldn't be comfy for her for more than short trips. Usually if she rides in the CRV though it's just down the street to school.
 

mlohry

New member
We switched when my boys outgrew the back on the HBTB. I tried REALLY hard to find a booster that was taller to keep DS2 in a HB in the 3rd row of our van, but at the time there was just nothing that would work well with the seat belts back there, so he went into an Amp which he loves this last Summer. Both our boys ride in Amps.
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
I would have let my 9 year old switch any time this year if he wanted to. But he likes the back, so he keeps using it. I almost had him talked into using a backless in our new car but then the probooster we won showed up and he wants to use that instead. I wouldn't buy him a new high back to replace his if we had to replace his seat for any reason at this point. But we have it, he likes it, so he uses it.

My 6.5 year old has a hard time sitting in any booster, so he's still primarily harnessed. He'll have a few years in a high back one he's out of the harness before moving to a no back. I bet by 9 or 10 though, most kids are fine in a no back, even if they sleep a lot.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I'm ok with it after the kid turns 8. That's the age where all their friends are out of boosters (we're 8yrs or 4'9). I consider it a good compromise
 

VoodooChile

New member
My dd is 7.5 and uses them for carpooling and in grandparents' and aunts'/uncles' cars now, but still uses hbb in our cars. I told her she could get nbb when she's 8. She loves the Cruz we got for my mom's car, so we'll probably get one of those for dh's car, and a Santa Fe for mine, since it looks like they have similar seat depth. Who would have thought my super-long-torso baby would end up with such long legs?
 

christineka

New member
For the main vehicle I go with- when the high back is outgrown. I would especially do that for shorter high back boosters, like the turbo. For the second vehicle I've become more lenient. I used to say age 8, but my skinny minny child has been riding backless (for around town drives) in the car since 7 and 40 pounds. I'd let my almost 6 year old ride backless too, but usually when he's in the car, I'll bring out a hbb for him. (This is big since my youngest 4 all ride harnessed in the van.) The main reason I'm more lenient now is that my oldest two are in seatbelts only, so I have to have headrests and hbbs don't work with headrests in the car.
 

Baylor

New member
I have let my almost 5 yr old ride in one too around the neighborhood. He is a big guy. 63 lbs 48 inches. My mom has a lbb in her car for true emergencies and I wanted to see how he did in one. He actually was great. He does not ride in it on the main roads but I have driven him around the neighborhood to look at lights or to the play ground just to see how he did.
 

daniele_ut

New member
DS turned 8 in October and I let him start riding in a backless booster in my van and in the carpool (Honda Pilot) coming home from school. He still rides in a HBB in dh's Subaru, though, because it doesn't have rear headrests. I'm hoping we replace that car before he outgrows his HBB by height.
 

bubbaray

New member
DD1 switched to a LBB at age 8 in my vehicle (ETA due to Monterey headrest issue). She still rides in a HBB (her choice) in DHs truck. She was using a LBB for travel and carpooling at about age 6. She started riding in a HBB at 5/40.

DD2 uses a HBB in DHs truck. I will let her use a LBB for travel this year (turning 6 soon).
 

Ali

New member
DD just mved to FT booster in August. She is now boostered in a GN and FR80. She'll stay in those until she outgrows them. Then we'll go backless. She does use backless in FILs single cab truck and when traveling. Dd will be 8 in two weeks.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
My kids have very short torsos and very long legs.

They were harnessed mainly until about age 8. At 4 they started booster training for short rides (DS was actually still rfing mainly at this point) but strictly for booster training in case of an emergency. The point was to booster train, not actually accomplish going anywhere. At 6 I stopped moving their harnessed seats to other cars unless my parents were taking them for a long trip. They had HBB that lived in the grandparents cars and a NBB for easy carrying for carpool. By the time they outgrew harnesses they 5 stepped most cars (except mine of course. I always seem to pick the vehicles with giant seats) so the HBBs moved to my cars, NBB went into any other cars they didn't 5 step in, or they 5 stepped. We continued with HBB for sleep support while they slept until they outgrew them (Frontier, Monterrey, Start, Bodyguard)
 

bnsnyde

New member
Until they outgrow by height. Maybe they'd never need a backless. Some boosters are pretty tall these days.
 

scoutingbear

New member
A started using a backless in dh's car at age 8.

C uses a backless in the carpool car and if my car is full of kids that need harnessed seats unless I think he will be sleeping. He is 6 1/2 and harnessed in my car and uses a HBB in dh's car.

A uses a HBB in my car most of the time, but I'm not opposed to him going backless. I do not have side curtain air bags in my car so I prefer him to use the HBB there. When we get a new vehicle this year, I will leave it up to him. If we are traveling late or long and he might fall asleep he prefers to have headwings.
 

monstah

New member
My DS is 7, weighs 68 pounds and is just about at the limit of his Oobr. The headrest is actually kind of pushing on the ceiling of our SUV so I don't have many options. I've been trying to decide what I want him in as a LBB. I'd prefer he be 8 before switching FT but I can't cut a hole in the roof for him. :p

FWIW, he's been using a LBB as "backup" since he was 5. (IIRC, he was also over 50 pounds by then.)
 

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