dh forgot booster--what to do for school pick up?

lpperry

Active member
DH just called. He doesn't have my stepdaughter's NBB booster in his car.

He needs to pick 9 1/2 year old up from school today. School is right by his work and is 25 minutes from our house. I am very proud of him that he realized there was no booster AND he called me to ask what he should do.

My thought is come home and get booster and then go back and get her, but that is going to take nearly an extra hour before dh is home.

Let 9 1/2 year old ride without a booster for one ride? or have DH come home and then go back?

She rides with no booster with her mom. This doesn't really matter to me because I know that she does need a booster. However, then I think it does matter, because I think that she rides with no booster most of the time, so why should dh go an hour out of his way?

She does not 5 step, but it isn't awful. The shoulder belt is a good fit, but the lap belt is higher than I am comfortable with.
 
ADS

Brianna

New member
If he works near a store where a cheap backless booster is sold I'd have him pick one up, both for the ride home and to keep in the trunk as a just in case for her or if he ever needs to give her friend a ride that would need a booster.
 

aept

New member
I'm proud of your DH too!
If I didn't think it would cause a big battle with her about "that one time" she got to ride with dad without a booster, I think I would let her go without. It's not like she is 5. She is close to 5 stepping and doesn't use a booster most of the time.
If she will be stubborn about never wanting a booster again it might be worth the trouble to go get her booster.
Or is there a Walmart or target closer than home? I would rather save time but spend $15ish and just have a spare booster.
If she rides without a booster try all seats to see which had the best belt fit without. Maybe the center back seat?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

EmmasMom

Member
I've been in a similar situation, sending my dad to pick up my daughter while I was at work forgetting I had taken her seat out of his car. Parent pickup line takes a half hour anyways, so he went the the Walmart next to her school and grabbed a turbo booster. She was the last one picked up, but safe. They sat together in the parking lot to put the screws in and were on their way. Unexpected expense, but worthwhile investment.
 

aeormsby

New member
I'm proud of your DH too!
If I didn't think it would cause a big battle with her about "that one time" she got to ride with dad without a booster, I think I would let her go without. It's not like she is 5. She is close to 5 stepping and doesn't use a booster most of the time.
If she will be stubborn about never wanting a booster again it might be worth the trouble to go get her booster.
Or is there a Walmart or target closer than home? I would rather save time but spend $15ish and just have a spare booster.
If she rides without a booster try all seats to see which had the best belt fit without. Maybe the center back seat?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

:yeahthat:
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
Yeah, I would grab a backless to keep in the car if there's a store nearby. The school might have a spare you could borrow (boosters are just positioners so I wouldn't worry so much about an unknown one). Or just have her sit really tall with her bum all the way back and have her hold the lap belt in position on her hips. Not to shove it so there's slack, but just put her palms on it at her hips to keep it from riding up. With someone her size, it's really just pre-crash positioning.
 

lpperry

Active member
I would rather him come home and waste an hour than go buy another booster. We have a spare booster, plus we have 9 carseats, plus 3 we bought for my parents. We don't have a shortage of carseats here!

I am not worried about her not wanting to use a booster again. She already doesn't want to use it because she doesn't in her mom's car, but she understands why she has to use it with us and doesn't complain. Her jaw dropped recently when I told her she probably had to use the booster until 10 or 11!

Her booster, plus Oliver and Claudia's seats are always dh's car. The situation that left him with no booster is that we have had a rental car for 2 weeks while our car was getting worked on. The seats were in the rental. Yesterday, our car was ready and DH had to return rental car and pick up our car. We took all the seats out of the rental and DH asked me if I wanted to put the seats back in last night. I was only thinking about my little ones who were not going to school today, so I told him I would install them this weekend. Neither of us thought about him picking stepdaughter up today, so it was both of our faults. I can't believe I didn't think of that.
 

christineka

New member
I'd go buy a cheap booster. I bet it's cheaper than the gas to drive home and back, plus time = money. If you don't need another booster, donate the new one afterward.
 

Lemonade

New member
I would rather him come home and waste an hour than go buy another booster. We have a spare booster, plus we have 9 carseats, plus 3 we bought for my parents. We don't have a shortage of carseats here!

Seems like it would be worthwhile to just pick up a $15-$20 booster vs driving 50 minutes and the gas and expense associated with that. The federal reimbursement for milage is around $.54 or something so assuming it's at least 25 miles total, that's $13.50 wasted, not counting the time cost. Especially since you have younger kids and will need multiple boosters in the future. Keep the new one in the trunk for emergencies.
 

lpperry

Active member
I was going to take the suggestion and have him go buy one and I'd return it, but I looked up Walmart and Target and there are none close to there. He would have to come to the Target or Walmart right by our house!

There is a Kohls, but all of their boosters say online only.
 

lpperry

Active member
I am glad he told me. If the consensus is that she should ride in the booster, I am going to have dh come home and I will go back and get her. I am just so happy he realized it before she got in the car and that once he realized it, he called me. There was a time that he would have never even realized that she didn't have anything until they got home and I found the seat in the garage.
 

1mommy

New member
I'm not a tech and my son is nowhere near booster ready but id say for just one trip I'd be ok with her going without a booster if it meant over an hour drive for your DH.

P.S. Try calling up the kohls and asking them directly if they have any boosters in the store.
 

YinzerMama

New member
I would probably not buy a booster or drive an hour out of the way to get one for a 9 1/2 yo for one trip unless he/she was unusually tiny. I would put him/her in the spot with the best belt fit and call it good.
 

tiggercat

New member
It would depend how bad the fit was. My big 8yo I would do everything to get a booster for her in her father's car as the belt fit is atrocious. In my van? She is actually fairly close to 5 stepping, not that I am telling her that, lol. I'd put her in the capt chair where her feet touch the ground, buckle her in myself (so I can position the lap belt low and snug), and have her sit up straight.
 

lpperry

Active member
Should have looked at these responses at 4:00 before my dh left work. Probably would have just had him get her.

I decided I'd go get her after he gets home, which should be in about 10 minutes. I decided that I don't feel right having her out of a booster if my rule is that she needs a booster. Kind of the same as I won't let my under 4 year olds ride ff even for one trip. My thinking for that is if I don't think it is safe enough for every day, then why would I let them do it once.

I think the booster thing is a little different and probably would have been ok with the one ride, but too late now. Oh well, it is raining here anyway and today was the first day back to school after 4 snow days in a row. Probably not worth the risk today.

Also, as someone pointed out, if I allow it once, dh might be more lenient about booster use or question why she needs one at all. I don't want that.
 

sparkygirl

New member
Should have looked at these responses at 4:00 before my dh left work. Probably would have just had him get her. I decided I'd go get her after he gets home, which should be in about 10 minutes. I decided that I don't feel right having her out of a booster if my rule is that she needs a booster. Kind of the same as I won't let my under 4 year olds ride ff even for one trip. My thinking for that is if I don't think it is safe enough for every day, then why would I let them do it once. I think the booster thing is a little different and probably would have been ok with the one ride, but too late now. Oh well, it is raining here anyway and today was the first day back to school after 4 snow days in a row. Probably not worth the risk today. Also, as someone pointed out, if I allow it once, dh might be more lenient about booster use or question why she needs one at all. I don't want that.

In the same situation we have done the same thing. Blended families and different rules between homes are difficult. To make an exception to a rule opens a world of problems particularly at her age.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Yeah, given the whole story I don't think I'd make an exception. The short term inconvenience of retrieving the booster is not worth the long term hassle of, "Can I go without today? What about today? What about today? What about today?" and who knows how long that would last.

It's a shame there isn't a Walmart close by. That would have been the easiest and fastest solution.
 

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