I had to switch a ton of 3-4yos into their 3-in-1s booster mode yesterday.
It pained me to do it, but their seats had a recall on the harness adjuster, so harness mode is not safe until they get the recall fix kit. These poor kiddos were 30+ pounds and met the minimums to use their older 3-in-1s as boosters, but the fit was AWFUL. Lapbelt riding much too high on the soft tummy, and on some kids, even with the shoulderbelt through the lowest guide, it was still too high. The shoulderbelt did not have good contact with the child's body in some cases, there were inches of space between the belt and the child's body.
But the goal is to always have the kids leave safer than they came in, and we couldn't let them leave in a recalled seat that has a harness that could pull loose in a crash, so booster mode was the safest choice for now.
At Lifesavers, I was at a session that included private crash testing (I believe it was
UMTRI) of various models of booster seats. Some models (that looked identical to many Dorel and Evenflo models, but were not identified for us) allowed the lapbelt to ride much too high, and we were shown real crash photos (of a child's body
) to illustrate the kind of damage that can be done with the booster does not keep the lapbelt low where it needs to be. It was a very emotional session for me, but one of my favorites, where I felt like I learned a lot. I try to explain to everyone now, what to look for in a proper booster fit, especially when dealing with these 3-in-1s. I pointed out the too-high lapbelt to the parents, and all the other issues with using those seats as boosters, and they all seemed to understand that a new seat was in order.