How do you know when a kid is booster ready?

My ds is 6 years and a couple months old. I don't intend to harness him as long as possible because he'd outgrow the nautilus harness at around age 8 or 9. He has a turbobooster in the car as a spare seat. He's sat in it for a couple years and is fine, but those are short trips, about once a month or less often, and there isn't a van full of kids to distract him.

When I do get him a booster I am seriously considering the monterey. He has a 15.5 inch torso and weighs 45 pounds.

I don't want to buy the booster, then find out he can't sit properly in it. On the other hand, I think he should with a lot of sip like the monterey has. Would he fit the monterey?

Ds asks every now and then when he can just use the seatbelt. He's asked much less frequently since we got a nautilus. He seems to be pretty happy with his seat- he just wants to use it with the seat belt instead of the harness. (That's not going to be since the lap belt sits too high AND he wouldn't be able to buckle himself anymore.)

I'm going to have to sell the nautilus to get the funds for the monterey, so I can't just buy the booster and if it doesn't work out put him back in the nautilus.
So, when to make the change?

You could buy a cheaper booster and do test runs with him.
Take him on short drives around familiar areas.

If you can't buy a cheap booster to 'test/train' him in, can you borrow one from someone..like someone's spare maybe?

We have a spare turbo. Do you think I should just stick that in the van as his main seat to see how he does?

I have a 5.5 year old with the exact same measurements as your son. We have a TB also as a spare. He seems to fit really well in it but I love love love all the extra protection of the Monterey. We have two FN so wont be buying the Monterey (I'm holding out for the Clek Oobr) but in your shoes, I'd keep the TB as a spare, it seems like just that to me, an extra/light weight/spare seat. Also, keep in mind depending on your vehicle you can LATCH the Monterey in!

Those are my thoughts.

Yeah, I like the idea of latching the booster seat, especially since I just drove around town with 3 unbelted booster seats. At least they were all in the middle row and I could easily have belted them in myself if I wanted to get around to it. The monterey would go in the third row where it is much more difficult for me to reach. I would latch it too. I had two kids in turbos full time, but one tended to fall over while asleep. She does great in her vivo. I really like the vivo, but I like the latchability of the monterey.

Anyway, still trying to decide if ds is ready or maybe I should wait till he's 7...

I would put him in the Turbo for a few days and see how he does. Mostly to see if he could sit properly when there are other kids/distractions in the car. Age-wise, I think he's fine in a booster, even with his small size. My son is small for his age and I will probably move him to a Monterey when he's 6-7, unless there is a much cooler seat that comes out before then

okay... your post mentioning your dh's question reminded me of Jeffrey asking me the same thing about himself yesterday... that settles it... on Saturday, I'm going to take the boys to Damian's game early and use that as a good time (aka... minus Ruthie who would want to be in said video) to film my... "Mommy, why can't I use just the seatbelt like the other kids?" video.

anyway... as for when they are ready... well, aside from my personal requirement for spare boosters being age 4-5 and over 40lbs (depending on budget, of course... if you can afford to do better, you should, but if you can't, you shouldn't kick yourself in the butt about it)... and as a primary seat a kid being at least 6-7yrs old and (unless child is just super tall and skinny or just very very very small for their age... there are some kids like that on this board who are or will use boosters at that age but under my preferred weight minimum and I agree with that decision because the child is otherwise big enough, definitely old enough, and there you are... in this case, I usually add the weight because that happens to be when my kids are big enough in height, too) 50lbs, I also use the 5-step test you would use to decide a child can use the seatbelt and use it to see if the child fits the booster properly (making it more likely they will stay in position and that they are physically ready)... and of course they have to be mature enough to stay in the seat properly the whole trip every trip, even long ones... and I like to add they should be able to buckle themseves simply because my kids can (even if they don't choose to) buckle their 5-point harnesses long before they can buckle a booster without help.

after that, it's parental discretion.

So back to the 5-step test in a booster... basically, you want to be sure the belt is fitting properly, they sit up straight and stay that way, and their knees bend at the edge of the booster seat... so they won't slouch to get them there... the Monterey is a very deep booster, so my concern is that some smaller riders won't be able to bend their knees yet.

I'd try to get him to a store where you can try before buying it for that reason.

As far as I can tell there is no b and m store in the state that sells the monterey. Also, no c-s.org member in the state owns one. I'm going to have to buy the seat with return insurance or something in case the seat doesn't work out. Ds' legs are concerning. I remember they used to be a bit short for the fp booster. I'm going to have to find some monterey measurements.

christineka said:

As far as I can tell there is no b and m store in the state that sells the monterey. Also, no c-s.org member in the state owns one. I'm going to have to buy the seat with return insurance or something in case the seat doesn't work out. Ds' legs are concerning. I remember they used to be a bit short for the fp booster. I'm going to have to find some monterey measurements.

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I'm going to be in SLC in a week, are you near there?

Gypsy said:

I'm going to be in SLC in a week, are you near there?

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Yes! If the time is right I'd love to meet up with you and try out the monterey. (I'm assuming you have one.) pm me when and where. I'm not exactly in the SLC area, but near enough.

christineka said:

Yes! If the time is right I'd love to meet up with you and try out the monterey. (I'm assuming you have one.) pm me when and where. I'm not exactly in the SLC area, but near enough.

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No problem!

I'll PM some details tomorrow along with my cell phone number - but we are going to the Children's Museum and IKEA for sure, and I can't remember which hotel we are staying in, but it's walking distance to the Children's Museum. We are driving in Friday, and leaving early Monday.

Yes, I have a Monterey.

Is that the children's museum at the Gateway? My kids will want to cash in their book points to get another candy bar. I know where the gateway is I'm rather hesitant to buy a seat without seeing it, so it would be awesome to see a monterey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zxFJ9xoTGM

here's the video I made... in case you (or anyone else) wants to check it out!