Moving into a backless booster

U

Unregistered

Guest
So I guess I'm just looking for reassurance (or a reality check!) from the pros on this.

The Radian is expiring at the end of this year (it's seen continuous use for the last 6 years!). So today I pulled it out of the car, and put the Frontier with ClickTight back into harness mode for my 4.5-yr-old. And I have finally pulled the backless Graco Affix from its box for my about-to-turn-8-yr-old. I'm having a sudden wave of guilt, going to the backless booster! Is it okay? Will she be SAFE?! I'm freaking out a little. My almost-8-yr-old is probably around 47 lbs and 47" tall...maybe a bit more on both. I mean, she fits within the posted ranges for the Affix but still...I have really tried to get educated, be car-seat savvy, and I have been pretty conservative (eldest rear-faced until 3.5 and her sister was closer to 4 before I faced her forward). Both of my girls are petite. Is this cool, what I'm doing? Or should I be looking at some other high-back booster for my almost 8-yr-old? I'm driving a Subaru Outback if that matters at all.

Thanks!
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
She'll be safe. :) If you like, you could buy another high back booster, she'd fit into most. But she'd also be safe in the backless. You'd just want to watch out for sleeping and slumping, mostly. If she is more comfortable with a place to rest her head, a high back would be ideal.

Wendy
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
She'll be safe. :) If you like, you could buy another high back booster, she'd fit into most. But she'd also be safe in the backless. You'd just want to watch out for sleeping and slumping, mostly. If she is more comfortable with a place to rest her head, a high back would be ideal.

Wendy


Thank you so much! Tomorrow we will take our inaugural spin and I will look to see how she fits in the backless Affix. Usually we don't go far and she isn't apt to sleep, but what high-back booster would you recommend? She probably won't want to go back into one, after being in a backless, but we'll see. Thanks!
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
I'd look at the Nuna Aace, Evenflo Spectrum, Graco Turbobooster LX (basically, your Affix with a back), Clek Oobr, Britax Highpoint/Skyline, Diono Monterey.

Wendy
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
Just echoing Wendy here. As long as the seatbelt fits well, she should be fine in a backless. My just-turned-9YO moved to a backless recently. I was a little worried because she frequently falls asleep on the way to or from school. But surprise! She sleeps completely upright and it hasn’t been an issue at all.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Thanks to you, both!

So when I first had her in the backless yesterday I felt like it was okay. But we actually had a 30-min ride, and on the way home in the evening she wasn’t feeling well and I felt like she looked so SMALL back there! And she was a bit slumpy. It made me want to order a high back booster STAT! I don’t know if I’m just having an emotional reaction...feeling overprotective or something. She is saying she was totally comfortable in the backless and she’s singing the song about how all her friends are in backless boosters, so there’s that peer pressure thing (but she knows I am a self proclaimed car seat fanatic, and I always tell my kids the only thing I care about with respect to car seats is their safety. Her father has had her in a backless booster for awhile, but she isn’t with him often and I try not to think about her flapping in the breeze like that in his car). She is smaller than a lot of her peers...she comes from a long line of petite people.

I started looking at the Britax Skyline or Highpoint (and not sure if the extra $50 for the Highpoint is worth it), but she’s resisting, and wants to stay in the backless. Not quite sure what to do here. Hmmmm...
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Keep in mind, she's got a nearly eight year old skeleton. Her weight and height have nothing to do with that (it's why at 5'1" I'm safe in the front, but a 5'4" 11 year old is not. Skeletal differences).

Wendy
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I'd be frank with her- if she slumps she's going to need a high back. See if that fixes the slumping, willpower can be powerful...
 

jjordan

Moderator
I'd be frank with her- if she slumps she's going to need a high back. See if that fixes the slumping, willpower can be powerful...

I agree. Tell her exactly what you expect of her when riding in a backless, and tell her that if she can't comply, she's into a hbb. And then try to relax, knowing that if she is riding properly then she is safe! I know it is hard to move a child "up a level" in car seats, but remember that our feelings are just that - feelings - and they don't always mean that something is dangerous.
 

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