Question Seat belts vs 5 point harness

I was looking at crash test videos online and see that a 5 point harness is safer then the adult seatbelt with booster seat even for older children. I nanny for 2 children, ages 5 (46.5 pounds) and 8 (56.5 pounds). THey both are in a graco backless booster. THeir Mom wanted me to find out, if the same safety rule applies to using the seatbelt and with auto-retractor (pulling it all the way out and letting it go back in, so the belt is tight, not loose). She is willing to do whatever is safest for her children.

If the 5 point harness really is better, should we go with a 65 pound seat or an 80?

Under the age of five kids are proven to be safer in a harness. The loads on their necks before that is just too great to be allowed to move so much in a collision. After five, there is no data. It seems to make sense that putting the crash forces over five points, rather than three, would help anyone. You wouldn't move forward as much. And again, with a five year old, many of them do not sit properly enough to be safe 100% of the time in their boosters.

I would put the back on, at least, for the five year old, and if the eight year old fit with the back I'd do that too. The eight year old is likely not UNsafe in a backless booster at that age and size, but a high back would help a bit as well. And locking the retractor is fine. If you want a little extra assurance without a lot of extra money that works really well. If you need to lock the retractor to keep a kid in place, then you need a harnessed seat.

If you go harnessed, the five year old would have a full range of options open for weight and size. The eight year old, though, even being only 56 pounds, may be too tall in the torso for many harnessed seats. A harness is outgrown when the shoulder goes over the top slot. The Regent is the longest lasting harness out there, so put the eight year old in that (you can find it at BRU) and if there's room then ok, if not then you're out of harnesses. The five year old would have a ton of room in it, unless there's a remarkably long torso involved. Plus there would be other options for the five year old from $150-$450, depending on seat.

HTH

Wendy

Wendy made some great points. Yes a 5pt harness is most likely safer at any age, although like she said, there is not a lot of data to support that over age 5. Look at racecar drivers. They are in 5 point harnesses because it is so much safer for them in a crash.

I would definitely look into putting the 5 year old back into a harnessed seat. Let us know if that is the route you want to go, as well as his torso measurement (sit him against a wall and mark where the top of his shoulder is. Then measure from the mark to the floor and you'll get a number in the teens). Then we can help you choose a seat.

As for a 65lb vs 80lb seat, we typically look more at the height of the top harness slots on seats since the majority of kids will outgrow the seat by height rather than weight. Some 80lb seats are outgrown before some 65lb seats, and some 80lb seats have the exact same top harness slot height as their 65lb counterparts!

Hope that helps, let us know if we can help more.

Yes, it's ok to lock the seatbelt. Kids don't really like that, so I usually use it as a minor threat to my kids (Sit back up properly or I'll lock your belt!--it's the sitting properly that's most important ).

I'd use highback boosters if it were me, like the Sunshine Kids Monterey or Recaro Vivo Lite.... Highbacks protect against head injury much better than no-backs (In fact, my almost 11 and almost 9 year olds are still in highback boosters mostly just for the head protection in a possible side impact crash). Backless boosters do nothing to protect the head in a side impact (and aren't very comfy for a napping kiddo, either!).

Echo the pp about using a booster for side impact protection enhancement, and also that we would all be safer in 5 point harnesses
If you can manage to get them into higher harness weight seats that would be great, but if you get the boosters with head protection then that is also not a bad choice. Using a booster is all about fit and the child's ability to also be seated correctly in it so the fit of the belt properly protects them.

Locking the belt on the kids is like something I would rather avoid if I could...:twocents:

I took the kids to Babies R Us today. I really like the Britax Regent. 5 year old J I think could use the slot 2nd from top. 8 year old A needed the top slot I think (with a tiny bit of room to grow). They did not have the Britax Fronteir there yet. Can someone tell me about the harness slots on there? Are they at the same heights as the Regent? For J, I also like the Graco turbo booster (w/ back). Though, that is the only booster seat we looked at. I did see 1 Radian 80, I don't remember how that fit them (too many carseats!), so we'll take a second trip.

Mom is totally on board with doing whatever is safest. Dad is another story. We recently had fights with him about not using a booster with 8 year old A (I explained about knees bedning, and butts sliding and where the lap belt hits and I think he got it). Any words from "experts" I can print out and give him (sorry, you're all not "expert" enough for him). I'm sure he'll think it's absurd when I insist their new baby RF until 35 pounds (even if that's 4-5 years old).

Mom's great. She trusts me as a professional (nanny) and says she'll do whatever I suggest

Also...... are there any inft seats/ car seats/ booster seats that will fit the middle seat (of middle row) in a Honda Odyssey (it's a skinny seat)?

Thank you!
K

joolsplus3 said:

Yes, it's ok to lock the seatbelt. Kids don't really like that, so I usually use it as a minor threat to my kids (Sit back up properly or I'll lock your belt!--it's the sitting properly that's most important ).

Click to expand...

I always lock the seatbelt when DS rides in a booster (although he prefers it anyway), and this conversation from tonight illustrates why. And keep in mind that he knows why he uses a car seat/booster, etc.

DS: Mom, on our field trip today, I had a seat belt that didn't lock!
Me: But it had a shoulder part, right? (Paranoid that he's going to get a lap belt)
DS: Yep! And I leaned way over and turned to look behind us to see our other car! We always do that because we like to pretend we're racing.

I measured the kids in a sitting position, to their shoulders. 8 year old A is 18 inches, and 5 year old J is 16 inches. Any seat recomendations?

K

Regent, Monarch or Nautilus for the 5yr old.

The Regent will have the tallest harness slots but the other two make good boosters after the harness is outgrown.

IMO, the cost of a Regent is not justifiable for older child with 18" torso - unless behavior/maturity is a concern. I would look into a high back booster with SIP. I'm not up on my boosters like I ought to be.

As far as expert info -
Look at the links at this site.
NTSHA, CHoP and SafetybeltSafe.org have resources and "documentation."

flipper68 said:

Regent, Monarch or Nautilus for the 5yr old.

The Regent will have the tallest harness slots but the other two make good boosters after the harness is outgrown.

IMO, the cost of a Regent is not justifiable for older child with 18" torso - unless behavior/maturity is a concern. I would look into a high back booster with SIP. I'm not up on my boosters like I ought to be.

As far as expert info -
Look at the links at this site.
NTSHA, CHoP and SafetybeltSafe.org have resources and "documentation."

Click to expand...

For the 8 year old, What is SIP? From what I was seeing online (babies R Us website) maybe the Recaro Vivo or Britax Monarch? She deffinetly doesn't have maturity or behavior concerns. She is VERY safety minded

THanks,
K

SIP is Side Impact Protection. All high back boosters offer some, but some are designed to offer more.

Susan