Harness vs. booster

Joyofbirth

New member
So, if possible, I'd like a deeper explanation as to why an older child is no safer in a harness than a booster and why it's unnecessary to keep harnessing beyond a certain age, provided the child can sit right and all that. Isn't a 5-point harness just all-around safer. Given the way it spreads crash forces and minimizes movement and such. Why isn't that safer? My dds have SPD and can in no way sit still properly so they will be harnessed as long as humanly possible. But I'm sure that even if they could sit right, I would prefer them in a harness. I'd just really like to understand the flaw in this thinking. Thanks for the help.
 
ADS

simplychels

New member
I think is has to do with neck injuries. Somebody on here mentioned the controversy in terms of the harness possibly creating more neck injuries due to holding the body back while the neck goes forward, as opposed to a seatbelt where the neck flows with the torso more in the event of a crash.

There is going to be a better worded answer from a tech im sure, but thats the gist of what I understood the reasoning to be
 

sholoulou

New member
I am curious as well. I have a son who will be 6 the end of Oct. We have a Britax Parkway and a new :) Britax Regent. I put him back in a harness because I thought he would be safer. hmmm would love to know the answer to the above question!
 

April

Well-known member
My limited understanding is basically that we have no data to suggest that there is a statistically significant safety advantage to harnessing past a certain age. Apparently there IS some data from Sweden, that suggests that harnessing older kids is less safe because everything is restrained but the head, which flies forward putting huge stress on the neck and spine. No one here so far has been able to show that data though. So if that's true, the question becomes why harness FF at all? In Sweden they don't. They go from RF to a booster around 4-5 years old. Their seats go to 55lbs RF'ing and almost all kids are safe in a booster by the time they reach that size.
Well, in North America we only have very recently got seats that RF to 40lbs. We DO have data that children under 40lbs are not safe in boosters due to the risk of submarining. So there has to be something to fill in the gap between kids outgrowing RF'ing seats and being old enough and big enough to safely use a booster.

The theory that harnessing bigger kids puts more stress on the neck, as well as the theory that harnessing is safer due to spreading crash forces over a greater area, are really speculation at this point because there have not been studies to show the data on either.

Again, that's my limited understanding.
 

Maedze

New member
Also keep in mind 'statistical significance'.

Take a sample of 1000 kids, 6 years old, 50 pounds (THIS IS NOT A REAL STUDY, I AM MAKING UP THESE NUMBERS TO SHOW WHAT I MEAN).

They are all in identical accidents. 500 of them are in higher weight harnessing seats. 500 of them are in boosters.

Of the harnessed children, 21 sustain bruising. Of the boostered children, 23 sustained bruising.

Were more boostered children injured? Sure. Is it significantly significant to the point that parents should be running to purchase a hwh seat? Absolutely not.


Older kids have more mature bodies. Larger bodies means that energy is transferred over a larger area instead of directly concentrated on a small area. So, a 30 pound forward facing child in an accident is over all at a lot more risk of injury than a 60 pound child.


Here's another example. Take two four year olds. One is buckled into a correctly installed harnessed car seat using a top tether. The other one is buckled into a car seat, is wearing a crash helmet and has a fire-repellent suit on.

Are they both safe? Yes. Is the kid in the helmet and suit safer? Arguably. Statistically, is that kid less likely to get injured because of his added gear? Eh, probably not.

My almost five year old is in a harnessed seat. He can sit maturely in a booster (I started booster training him when he turned four.) He probably has another 12-18 months left in his harnessed seat and I intend to leave him there because why muck with a good thing? If he outgrew it on his fifth birthday, though, I would buy a booster, because he's big enough, old enough, and can sit properly.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Yes to Maezde (but I'm out of rep points for now). There is absolutely no evidence that harnessing older kids who are physically and developmentally typical and can use boosters properly is any safer than boostering them. There is limited evidence that harnessing *may* contribute to a specific sort of injury.

Nobody is saying "don't harness big kids" (somewhere around >5.5y and >50# for purposes of this discussion, and that's pretty conservative). We're saying "you don't have to harness big kids to keep them safe".
 

mommaon112903

New member
My son is quickly outgrowing his Regent and has been in a SK Monterey in Daddy's car since mid-March. He does WONDERFULLY in it, and I feel VERY safe with him in it. For a while he did drop down to 35lbs, but the seatbelt still fit and he still used it properly-and he was not going on long-drives.

Now he is up to 41lbs or so and will be full-time in a booster sooner than later.

I grabbed an old-style Parkway off swap (even though we are BROKE but had started saving $ for another Monterey but I :love: the old-style Parkway) and I can almost gaurantee that when it gets here and I put it in my car Josef will be boostered over 95% of the time ;)

Josef has always been on the "skinner" side and will not reach 50lbs until after his 7th birthday or later (if he continues on his current growth curve). He will outgrow the Regent due to torso WELL before his 7th birthday, and I feel 100% safe with him, even being on the skinner side in a properly fitting and used booster.

A PROPERLY used booster is VERY safe and *I* will not harness *my* typical child over the age of six years and 40lbs.
 

Joyofbirth

New member
Thanks for all the info. It makes a little more sense to me now. If I'm understanding this correctly, it's pretty much a gray area? Like nobody knows for sure, but there's not much difference in one vs the other. It seems that some of the posts here lean towards there's no benefit to keeping a kid harnessed and that they're probably beter off boostered. Is this the case. It just doesn't seem to me that a booster is anywhere as close to safe as a harness. But that's probably just my over-protective paranoia. Thanks for helping me understand.
 

Maedze

New member
No one is going to dissuade you from, say, keeping a six year old in a harnessed seat that still fits.

But, regardless of how it looks, or feels, to you, boostering is perfectly safe. Buying a harnessed seat for a six year old who rides safely in a good booster is an unneeded expense that will not benefit the child in a crash.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Thanks for all the info. It makes a little more sense to me now. If I'm understanding this correctly, it's pretty much a gray area? Like nobody knows for sure, but there's not much difference in one vs the other. It seems that some of the posts here lean towards there's no benefit to keeping a kid harnessed and that they're probably beter off boostered. Is this the case. It just doesn't seem to me that a booster is anywhere as close to safe as a harness. But that's probably just my over-protective paranoia. Thanks for helping me understand.

I don't necessarily think a 50# 6yo is better off boostered, but I think she'd be just fine boostered. I'm not against harnessing big kids (my own little big kid was harnessed past seven), but if my best friend called up and asked if she could crash on my couch tonight because her husband's on the warpath because she just bought Regents for both their cars and both grandparents' cars for her physically and developmentally typical 50# 6yo, I'd tell her as a friend and as a CPST to return the Regents and make up with her hubby.

Maezde wrote about statistical significance, and I'll write a little about perspective. When we're doing checks and routinely see 37# 4yos riding in lap belt only or 50# 6yos unrestrained in the front or in the cargo hold, I think we start to realize that the 37# 4yo is VERY safe RFing or FFing/tethered, and the 50# 6yo is VERY safe harnessed or properly boostered -- the finer points of the best of best practices are really very fine and perhaps not worth agonizing over. :twocents:
 

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