Harness vs belt in high-back booster

Unregistered (Heidi) · Jan 11, 2008

I have a 4 yo who has been riding rear-facing until recently (yes, I know that is not common but I´m from Sweden and there children are facing the rear until about 3-4 years).

He weighs about 35lbs and as we turned him around I would have wanted him to sit with the vehicle belt in his high-back-booster but noticed this was not recommended until at least 40lbs.

Have not gotten any answer why this recommendation exists. All I know is that it contradicts what I know from Sweden where children, when they are forward-facing, are recommended to be restrained with the belt (in fact, in Sweden only a few forward-facing seats have a harness).

Would love to get some answer why the US recommendation is 40lbs.

Jewels · Jan 11, 2008

That is great you kept your son rf until 4yrs old :thumbsup:

Often a step up in seat progession is a step down in safety. Going from rf to harnessed ff, harnessed ff to a booster, booster to a seatbelt, back seat to front seat.

It is recommended to keep children in a harness as long as they fit the seat because a harnessed (5pt) is safer then the 3pts of a seatbelt. The reason it isn't recommended to put such a young child in a booster is because they aren't mature enough to sit properly in their seat, it usually doesn't happen until they are closer to 5-6yrs old. Here is a great thread that talks about and explains what makes a child mature enough for a booster.

HEVY · Jan 11, 2008

Yeah I noticed about the maturity and booster. I just took my daughter out of the harness due to exceeding weight limit, as some of you may have already read. Now she's leaning forward and turning. The belt only has restriction only on impact. Last I heard I was 15 on the KDM waiting list and it should be fairly quick. I knew a booster would be a huuuge mistake, this only verifies it for me and makes me even more anxious.

Jewels · Jan 11, 2008

HEVY said:
Now she's leaning forward and turning. The belt only has restriction only on impact.

If your seatbelts lock when you pull them out all the way you can lock the belt using a booster. That should help keep her from moving some while you are waiting to get a HWH seat for her.

keri1292 · Jan 11, 2008

Unregistered (Heidi) said:
I have a 4 yo who has been riding rear-facing until recently (yes, I know that is not common but I´m from Sweden and there children are facing the rear until about 3-4 years).

He weighs about 35lbs and as we turned him around I would have wanted him to sit with the vehicle belt in his high-back-booster but noticed this was not recommended until at least 40lbs.

Have not gotten any answer why this recommendation exists. All I know is that it contradicts what I know from Sweden where children, when they are forward-facing, are recommended to be restrained with the belt (in fact, in Sweden only a few forward-facing seats have a harness).

Would love to get some answer why the US recommendation is 40lbs.

Welcome! Rear facing until 4 isn't terribly unusual on this board. My dd is 7 and still harnessed because she likes to sleep in the car and couldn't do that safely in a booster. I'm sure she'd flop out of position with all the curvy, up and down mountain driving we do.

HEVY · Jan 11, 2008

I don't understand Jewels, she is in a booster and the belt (shoulder belt) can be pulled in and out without locking, it only locks if you jerk it.

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

HEVY said:
I don't understand Jewels, she is in a booster and the belt (shoulder belt) can be pulled in and out without locking, it only locks if you jerk it.

It doesn't lock if you pull it all the way out and then retract it?

HEVY · Jan 11, 2008

Nope it only locks if you jerk it, then when you put it back in its free. Only my front passenger side does what your talking about.

joolsplus3 · Jan 11, 2008

Unregistered (Heidi) said:
I have a 4 yo who has been riding rear-facing until recently (yes, I know that is not common but I´m from Sweden and there children are facing the rear until about 3-4 years).

He weighs about 35lbs and as we turned him around I would have wanted him to sit with the vehicle belt in his high-back-booster but noticed this was not recommended until at least 40lbs.

Have not gotten any answer why this recommendation exists. All I know is that it contradicts what I know from Sweden where children, when they are forward-facing, are recommended to be restrained with the belt (in fact, in Sweden only a few forward-facing seats have a harness).

Would love to get some answer why the US recommendation is 40lbs.

Welcome Heidi!
Yup, we are a rare little island of 'extended rearfacing advocates' here (most of the us turns kids forward at age 1, but mama's on this board go as long as our carseats allow... 35 pounds is the highest rearfacing weight seat we can get, unfortunately).

The US has a tradition of harnessing up till age 4 or 40 pounds (40 because that's what most seats harness up till... this has been true in most of Europe, Australia, and Canada). Countries with children harnessed forward facing have a fairly good record of child safety (not as good as rearfacing...). There's some debate between those of us who feel harnessing forward facing is an extremely safe and desirable option (for as long as the seat allows.. up to even age 10 and 80 pounds), and a few posters we have from Norway and Sweden who do not believe it's necessary.

Regardless of the debate, even Volvo has found that head injuries for children younger than age 5 are higher for kids in boosters (I need to find the link to the study... )...so most of us prefer to keep our kids harnessed at least to that age.

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

So what are the RF weight limits in Sweden? I am assuming it is less than 40 lbs if you are concerned about the US recommendations being 40 lb min for hbb's. I'm totally curious now if there is research to support that a ff harnessed seat is just as safe as a hbb.

Kimberly

joolsplus3 · Jan 11, 2008

Here's the study I was thinking of. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv19/05-0330-O.pdf

It does not compare harnessed forward facing to boostered forward facing, but page 5 does show that younger kids in boosters are still more at risk for head injury.

Harness vs belt in high-back booster

Unregistered (Heidi)

Guest

Jewels

Senior Community Member

HEVY

New member

Jewels

Senior Community Member

keri1292

Well-known member

HEVY

New member

mamaofthree

New member

HEVY

New member

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician

mamaofthree

New member

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics