Struggle to Booster/Harness Small 8yr Old

I pick up my nephew 2x a week from school. He will be 8yrs old at Thanksgiving and he is tiny - last official stats I heard a few months ago were 42lbs and 45". His parents have him 5 stepping in their vehicle and have had him doing that for the last year or so (which I am pretty sure is illegal here in CA but that's another story...)

When I pick him up I have been harnessing him in our Frontier 90 since his stats are almost identical to my (huge) 3yr old. This works the best for me because I don't have to move any seats around or try to get 3 across in my Malibu (I have the Frontier & a RF Boulevard permanently installed in my vehicle so I'm not even sure I could get 3 across) As the school year has gone on he has protested sitting in the Frontier more and more. Monday was the tipping point because he flat out refused to get into the car! I spoke to his parents about the situation and they are no help - they don't think he needs any sort of booster or car seat. I ended the conversation with them by basically saying, my car, my rules and they are fine with that but how do I get my nephew to cooperate a bit more? I am considering a low back booster but frankly it's a hassle to have to switch out the Frontier and I'm not sure a LBB is even appropriate given my nephew's size? The only other option I can think of is using DH's F150 with the Super Crew cab & trying to get a 3rd seat installed for my nephew between the Marathon & Nautilus.

Any ideas? I feel like I see other kids my nephew's age in HBBs in the pick up line at school so I wonder if he's getting teased for being in a harnessed seat? Is a LBB even an option for a child this small?

I would absolutely use a LBB for him. I would try a Bubblebum. It should work in your Malibu but you might have to install the harnessed seats via belts not LATCH. I'm assuming your centre position has a seatbelt and headrest.

You should be able to get any 3 across in the truck.

bubbaray said:

I would absolutely use a LBB for him. I would try a Bubblebum. It should work in your Malibu but you might have to install the harnessed seats via belts not LATCH. I'm assuming your centre position has a seatbelt and headrest.

You should be able to get any 3 across in the truck.

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This. An 8 year old, while similar in height and weight to your 3 yr old, has 8 year old bones and 8 yr old proportions (head size to body) so the need for a harness is just not there for most physically-typical kids. The bubble bum should work in tight spaces. It's a good compromise. The harmony no back that is $12 at walmart is also narrow. He basically the same size as my almost 6.5 yr old. The evenflo no back is a little taller if he needed more height to get the seatbelt on correctly, though it's wider too.

bubbaray said:

I would absolutely use a LBB for him. I would try a Bubblebum. It should work in your Malibu but you might have to install the harnessed seats via belts not LATCH. I'm assuming your centre position has a seatbelt and headrest.

You should be able to get any 3 across in the truck.

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No headrest in the center seat on my 2010 Malibu, so a HBB is my only option there, right? Can he ride in the front seat in a LBB if I move the seat all the way back? (I cannot turn off the air bags)

Correct if no headrest there no one (other than a harnessed seat) should ride in that position.

You could move one of the harnessed seats centre and put him outboard or put him in the front seat.

Personally I would just take the truck but I like driving my DHs F150.

I just googled and it looks like some 2010 Malibus do have center headrests by they look different than the outboard ones. Like here:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=2010...6%2Fgiving-my-money-honda-101935%2F;2100;1386

If I'm not mistaking, the Frontier 90 can be used as a booster with the harness behind the child. If the fit is good, that could be an easy option?

Mary_Ann said:

If I'm not mistaking, the Frontier 90 can be used as a booster with the harness behind the child. If the fit is good, that could be an easy option?

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Unfortunately, based in her 3 year old size, the seat is likely installed with seatbelt and having to uninstall to use as a booster, then reinstall to use as a harness may be a pain.

While I agree that a booster is appropriate, of their is no room and this child fits, I might make him use it. Right now I have 3 harnessed seats installed in my car and 2 boosters. To get a 3rd booster rider in, I'd have to either uninstall and store a harness seat or have a kid in the front seat. Depending on time constraints and road conditions and such, I just might make my 8 year old sit in our harnesses frontier while my 11 year old ds and 8 year old niece get the boosters. Thankfully, the frontier is so easy to remove and reinstall, I haven't had to make that decision but I could see it happening.

If you can fit a booster in your backseat without having to uninstall a seat I would use one. Otherwise I'd tell your nephew that he gets what fits in the car even if that's a harnessed seat.

If you can squeeze the Harmony youth booster in, it should give a good fit on him. I have a tiny 9.5 yr old (she's about 48lbs and 48") and although I didn't let her ride in it at that point, she's fit nicely in the Harmony since she was about 4 and not much over the 30lb minimum.

My Malibu doesn't have even the smaller headrest in the center seat so 3 across isn't going to work. I've tried the Boulevard & Frontier next to each other and it doesn't work.

Yes, I do have the Frontier installed with the seat belt since DS is harnessed so using it in booster mode would be difficult.

I will look into the harmony booster for DH's truck and hope I can steal it on pick up days.

AllieK said:

My Malibu doesn't have even the smaller headrest in the center seat so 3 across isn't going to work. I've tried the Boulevard & Frontier next to each other and it doesn't work. Yes, I do have the Frontier installed with the seat belt since DS is harnessed so using it in booster mode would be difficult. I will look into the harmony booster for DH's truck and hope I can steal it on pick up days.

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He is short enough that maybe his eyes and the tips of his ears will still be below the top of the center seatback when he is using the bubblebum. Might as well check before ruling it out.
It's ok if he has head support. I know my 8 year old would not have head support in a booster without an actual headrest but he is 10 inches taller!

aept said:

He is short enough that maybe his eyes and the tips of his ears will still be below the top of the center seatback when he is using the bubblebum. Might as well check before ruling it out.
It's ok if he has head support. I know my 8 year old would not have head support in a booster without an actual headrest but he is 10 inches taller!

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This exactly!!! You don't actually know if the lack of a headrest is an issue for him yet or not. I really doubt that it is at his height. He's pretty short. That back seat is not super tiny. In a lower profile backless booster, like the Harmony, he may fit perfectly fine and the tops of his ears may be below the seat back.