S/O to Booster Spare --- Booster Training

If Jordan were YOUR kid, when would YOU start booster training him?

I haven't really thought much about this.

Jordan is 4 years old. He is 30 pounds and 39 inches. He is very skinny/boney. He turns 5 at the end of August. Growth charts indicate he will hit 33 pounds around his 5th birthday. He will remain RF until he hits 33 pounds. Growth charts also indicate that he won't hit 40 pounds until he is 7 years old. Practicality tells me that being a WOHM, I will not be able to keep him in a harness 100% of the time until that age. Taking into account field trips etc.

He will likely start Kindergarden this September. We plan to put him in a Montessori all-day kindergarden program. Then we plan to switch to public school in first grade. I do not know yet which school for first grade, or if riding the bus will be involved at that point. It is possible that he will ride a bus from school to a babysitter's house if there is not an afterschool program at the school. To me, there is not much difference between teaching a child to sit properly in a booster and teaching them to sit properly on a bus. If they can't do it in a booster, they can't do it on a bus.

He is a very active child. His impulse control is showing some improvement, but we definately are not "there" yet.

So, taking into account my child's growth pattern, at what age would you start to booster train him?

If I had to make a decision now, to answer my own question with no other input, I would say that I would probably start booster training him in 12 months. But I am interested to hear others' opinions on the matter.

Our plan is to put him in a Nautilus once he is FF, but at his size now, the seatbelt is a poor fit for a booster.

What is a good booster on the market for booster training a small kid? Anything new coming out within the next year or so?

If you don't expect that he'll be riding with other people much in the next year, I think your plan is a good one. :thumbsup: My kids rarely ride with others so I didn't see the need to booster train DS until he outgrew his car seat right around his sixth birthday, when he started riding in a Parkway in my car a couple times a month for about 10 minutes.

I also agree with your comment that if a kid can't sit well in a booster, he probably can't sit properly on the bus, either. So I do think it's important that he knows how to sit still in a vehicle before he starts riding the school bus. :thumbsup:

As far as boosters, we liked our Parkway when DS was smaller (not enough leg support now). I think the Turbo fits little kids well, and other will probably have other suggestions.

That's my question as well. Evan is 33# and 4, but he had so much make up weight gain from getting his tonsils out (and already lost a little weight) I don't expect him to grow much this next year. Thankfully he's not going to K till 2010. It's hard b/c AJ was always so big and is much more conscious of his actions, I can't even trust Evan to not run in front of cars yet! Oye! What does Montessori do about field trips? Evan will probably be in head start or pre-K this fall, both of those are required to use the built in harnesses on the school buses at that age. He'll go to K where AJ is now and he'll need a harnessed seat for field trips no matter what, so I guess I really don't have to worry about it! lol I would find out about the field trips they take and how they ride and then decide, giving him the most amount of time before trying a booster out.

I think that at his size and the fact that he will be starting a private Kinder this year, I would probably wait until he starts first grade in public school, or maybe during the summer before. So maybe 15-18 months from now.

J will be starting private kinder this year too, and will be almost 6 by then. That's why I was considering it this year, but it may not be much of an issue for him until public school either.

My dd hit 40 lbs and 4.5 and we started booster training then. My ds is a whole different story! He is almost 4 and about 31 lbs. I just am not sure when I will start booster training with him. I know that at 4.5 he will not be as mature as dd was so I cannot imagine him sitting properly and he is likely to still be very small. I will say the one good thing about him is that he is totally clueless! Maybe that is b/c he is still young. When my dd was 4 all of her friends were riding in boosters and she noticed and started asking me about boosters. I just don't see the same issue with ds. He has no clue what other ride in. Allie rides in a booster in dh's car and he could care less. Maybe as he gets older it will matter.

Luckily I'm a sahm so this really won't be as much of an issue for me. I'm happy that I have a parkway, even if it's pink, so that when the time comes I will have a seat that fits his tiny frame well.

My plan is to just play it by ear and see what happens. Hopefully he will be ok in a booster part time by the time he starts kinder!

Evan is clueless too, lol. He asked the other day (after looking at the backless booster in the car) if he could ride in a carseat w/out straps when he was 10. I told him that would be o.k. HAHAHAHA!

thepeach80 said:

Evan is clueless too, lol. He asked the other day (after looking at the backless booster in the car) if he could ride in a carseat w/out straps when he was 10. I told him that would be o.k. HAHAHAHA!

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lol. Clueless kids are so much easier!

I agree with your reasoning completely, and also think age 5 is a good time to start booster training. It's hard to say that, based on his size (my own dd was his size exactly at 2yo ), but by next year he should be 40+ inches and hopefully 33-35 pounds. Ideally we say 40# for booster use, but we all know we're talking about average to above-average sized kids, and we all know that maturity and proper booster fit are the key factors.

I look at booster training as a long process, completely dependent on the child's impulse control, maturity, and emotional growth over time. I think most kids will fail to sit properly in a booster (or on a bus) if they're moved from a harness to a booster (or bus seat) with no training or preparation ahead-of-time. That sudden freedom of movement is amazingly tempting, so I think kids need training and practice to get it right for those longer trips, especially trips without parents along for the ride.

I think the Graco TurboBooster, Britax Parkway, Britax Monarch, and Fisher Price Safe Voyage booster are great fits for smaller booster riders. The Turbo is what we used when we started booster training when dd was 3.5yo, 42" and 40#.

Macha didn't hit 40lbs until she was 7. I didn't really give much thought to "booster training," so my answers are more vague, sorry. I basically held out until it became supremely impractical to keep moving her harnessed seat - dh unable to install it correctly, Grandma unwilling, etc. Her maturity level is decent, though, and she has three older brothers to emulate as far as staying positioned. Those things do make a difference as well.

I really prefer the way Macha fits in the Turbo and the Parkway. She's fine in the Monterey or Start, and I'm okay with her riding in both of those, but for HER booster the Parkway is my fav, and I'd buy her a Turbo over a Monterey or Start if I had to replace the Parkway at this point.

If he were my child, I wouldn't worry. He is so small that he can easily fit in a wide range of easily installable harness seats.

I don't think it hurts to start early, but I personally wouldn't worry about it.

Neither of my part-time booster riders is 40lbs yet. My younger part-time booster rider is 5 in July, and my older part-timer is 6 (as of Sept). They ride fairly regularly with MIL, and we have worked with both of them on booster etiquette.

Both of my part-time booster riders are 37ish lbs. My 4.5 y/o has a better maturity for the car than my 6 y/o.

I do not trust ILs to install/uninstall/adjust harness seats on their own. When dd3 stays with ILs, we install the seat every time, and it comes home with us each time.

Raechel

I wouldn't even think of it till he hits 40 pounds. I'd install a harnessed seat in the babysitters car. My 4 year old is 29.5 pounds (or around there), still rfing and I have no plans to let her sit in a booster ever until she hits 40 pounds. I don't care if she's 7 when that happens!

If you really want or need to use a booster at some point, I'd worry about it a coupl weeks prior to the first use. Once a kid is mature enough to sit in a booster, they often don't need training. They know the rules of staying in place and you just go over exactly how to buckle a few times and they are set to go.

Logan is 34 pounds, 4 years old. I am not booster training him till he hits 40 pounds.
Logan has been in a booster 2 times in emergency situations and he has sat perfectly still. He isn't a hyper crazy kid(like Michael was). I suspect he will sit perfect, but I know his age and bones aren't ready yet.

I suspect that to be next winter maybe when he hits 40 pounds?

In your situation I wouldn't even think about it until he reached 40 pounds. Sitters Car I would just supply a harnessed seats. Field trips? That is a tough one, but I would ask to install a seat before you left and make sure they knew how to do the straps and chest clip.