boosters next to carseats

Cori

New member
How do the children buckle themselves in with the car seats right next to them? Do you have to get boosters that don't have arm rests or that are close to the seat? I was also wondering if there is anything that can hold up the stalk part of the seat belt to make it stiff?
Thanks to all of you!!!
 
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joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
It's usually a matter of finding the booster that happens to fit best next to the installed carseat so you can reach in there easiest...some seats definitely 'puzzle' together better than some others! What age and weight kiddos and what seats do you have in what car? Someone should be able to help you find just the right combination :thumbsup:
 

singingpond

New member
Sometimes, if the booster is right next to another seat (as in a tight 3-across situation), the child really can't buckle the seatbelt him/herself, no matter what. An adult may have to tilt or slide the booster out a bit, temporarily, to get their hands in enough to fasten the seatbelt, and then shift the booster back into position. My 6 1/2 y.o. can snake his hand down to release his seatbelt, but there is no way he can fasten it himself. For reference, he's in a Parkway booster (which has no armrests, and is one of the easier ones to buckle), right next to his little sister's RF Radian. I have to get both my hands down between the seats in order to buckle; it was difficult at first, but I've gotten pretty quick at it with practice.

Just saying, there may be no solution that allows the child to do their own buckling... but you get used to that pretty quickly, and it's not so terrible.

Katrin
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Really, it just depends on how everything fits together. I have a Radian installed ffing center in a Toyota Corrola for my 6 yo, and a booster outboard for my 8yo. I started out using the Evenflo Confidence there since it has no armrests. DS can buckle it, but it involved quite a bit of maneuvering for him. I tried the Britax Bodyguard in the same spot, which has armrests that clamp down on the seatbelt and really tend to get in the way next to another seat, DS can buckle that quite easily. The only way to know what works well next to what is to try.


You can also avoid the issue altogether by keeping everyone harnessed as long as possible.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
To answer your second question - I've never seen anything like you described, but I wouldn't use it or recommend it because it could affect the way the seat belt performed in a crash.

When I had two boosters on either side of a Marathon, I had to flip both of the front seats up so I could climb in the back and kneel/squat in front of them ("STOP KICKING!") Then I had to snake one hand between the booster and carseat from the front, to hold the buckle, while I snaked my other hand between the booster and carseat from the top to buckle the seat belt. My own personal version of yoga. ;)

My son Sam eventually got to the point where he could buckle himself if given a couple of minutes (he always liked to try while I was buckling the other two kids); his hand was smaller so he could squeeze in there with the seat belt and kind of use the latchplate to tilt the buckle so that it leaned against his booster so he could buckle it. He was around 8 at that point. Fighter never did manage it.

Sometimes you have to do this; this picture is looking down from behind the vehicle seat; the blue is the kid's shirt. The booster is pulled forward from the bight so it can be buckled; after you buckle, you push the booster with the kid in it back against the vehicle seat and tighten the seat belt:
IMG_1681.jpg
 

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