Ready for a booster?

Unregistered · May 30, 2009

My 6 year old son has been riding in a Regent in my Van. He's just moved to the top slot and he stilll has a lot of room to grow. The main problem is that I carpool 4 other Kindergateners and they all use a backless booster in my van. Some of them just use the seatbelt in their own cars. The law is 6 or 60lbs. My son has been getting embarressed for a while and saying he doesn't want to sit in a baby seat any more. The other problems is that we've just got a new van and it doesn't fit that well. It leaves the other 2 kids on the back row very squashed and if I put it in the middle row opposite the baby it makes it hard for the other kids to get in and out.
I don't know whether to start letting him ride in a HBB or even a backless booster. It would be more convenient and less embarrasing for him, but I'm worried about his safety. The new van has side curtain airbags if that makes a difference?

Maedze · May 30, 2009

Most 6 year olds can sit safely and maturely in a high back booster. I would prefer not to see a 6 year old in a backless, though. There's a maturity issue involved and most 6 year olds need the added support of the high back.

mommaon112903 · May 30, 2009

My son will be six at the end of November (guess you couldn't have guessed that on your own from the s/n, lol) and he has been in a HBB since Mid-March. He does GREAT in his booster, and will be in a HHB full-time after his sixth b-day.

Some six year olds are not mature enough, but the majority are. The only way to know is to buy a booster and see what happens. Of course if your son sits nicely in his Regent, most likely he will be fine in a booster.

Is there any way you can get HBB for your son's friends? I too would not like to see a six year old in a LBB for the same reasons Maedze mentioned.

emandbri · May 30, 2009

Here is an article that says that no back boosters provided no help at all in a side impact crash. Tell the parents you "found this" on the internet and tell you are concerned about the kids being in backless boosters.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/chop-htb090905.php

I would feel fine moving your son to a high back booster. My son will be 6 in Aug and has been using a booster in my dh's car, and my MIL's car for the the last 9 months and has done fine.

What kind of van do you have though? If you don't have 5 shoulder belts in the back then you need to keep him in a harness and have the seat installed in the lap belt so the other 4 kids can have shoulder belts with the boosters. You can't use a booster with a lap belt and no one should ever use one. Is the carpooling only until school is out? If that is the case and you have a lap belt there I would keep him in the regent and then in the fall put him in a booster but only carpool with 3 other kids instead of 4.

Unregistered · May 31, 2009

Oh, I don't transport them all at once, I only land up having my son and one or two other 6 year olds at a time. Because they are 6, most of them don't use any booster in their own cars, so I don't think it would help talking to the parents. I do insist they sit in the booster in my van. I actually thought they were safe in the booster and thought that the hbb would only help if there were no headrests. I already have one hbb that my 10 year old used to use. It was manufactured in 06 so I can use that for my son. I've just noticed that the backless booster was manufactured in 12 2002. I feel terrible if that means it expired 5 months ago. I never thought of checking. I'll try to get another hbb. for the other kids.

Ready for a booster?

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Maedze

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