Booster question for a vehicle without side curtain airbags

My 7.5-year-old ds1 is currently using a backless turbo booster in my husband's vehicle. It is a 2007 forester without side curtain airbags. His legs are too long to use the back with the turbo booster. He rides in a Monterey in my minivan, so we could use that one for both cars. (This usually doesn't happen, since it can be difficult to unlatch, especially in the forester. We could just not latch it in the forester, but I certainly wouldn't mind having an excuse to buy another seat.)

DS1 is 7.5 is 51.5" and 57 lbs. I think that the belt is a little too close to his neck with the backless, but I can read the manual and learn to use the belt guide if needed. He has pretty long legs, so the turbo booster with a back is not an option.

Given that our second vehicle does not have side curtain airbags, would it be better to just get him a different high back booster?

With the Babies R Us trade-in, I was thinking of trading in our soon-to-expire marathon and using the discount to get a frontier. DS1 could use it for at least a couple years as a booster. By that time, ds2 will be front facing. Given the fact that we already have a Radian65, Monterey, turbo booster, and Regent (ds2's back-up seat), I feel like I am sort of looking for an excuse to buy another seat. Then again, I know that when it comes down to it, we will not switch the Monterey to the forester for every trip.

I'm pretty sure I'd have to promise dh that this would be our last seat. I don't know that I want to spend the money now, since if something like the multi-tech were ever released here, I absolutely would get it for ds2. I want ds1 to be safe too, though.

So in a smaller vehicle without side curtain airbags, wouldn't I want all the protection possible for him? I'm sure he'd still even fit in the frontier harness, but I wouldn't force a 7.5-year-old to be harnessed. Would you be comfortable with a child of his age and size in just a backless booster in a small vehicle without side curtain airbags?

As usual, thanks for your help.

Josef's Monterey is in DH's car, which does not have SI airbags and in my car a Parkway which does have airbags all around. *I* wanted a LATCHable booster in DH's car, even though there is not sounding evidence that a LATCHable booster is any safeR than a non-LATCHable booster.

I know this most likely does not help you much , but above is what we decided for our situation.

mommaon112903 said:

Josef's Monterey is in DH's car, which does not have SI airbags and in my car a Parkway which does have airbags all around. *I* wanted a LATCHable booster in DH's car, even though there is not sounding evidence that a LATCHable booster is any safeR than a non-LATCHable booster.

I know this most likely does not help you much , but above is what we decided for our situation.

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Thanks for your thoughts about this. I hadn't even thought about the latch issue for that reason, but you bring up a great point. If the latch would help keep him in place at all, it would be a great thing to have, especially in the vehicle without side curtain airbags. I had an '03 forester last summer and bought him the Regent to use it it for that reason. He refuses to be harnessed now, but I'm fine with that at his age and size. I had him sit in the Frontier yesterday at Babies R Us, and he liked it. It seemed like it might even be a slightly better belt fit for him than the Monterey. DH doesn't really want to buy another seat at the moment, which is fair since both kids got new seats last month. (He was fine with those purchases, so I really can't complain.)

He rides in the forester much less than he rides in my minivan, but enough where I worry about this. He loves his Monterey and wants it to stay in my vehicle. The forester is a stick. I should probably learn to drive it some day so that we can just swap cars when I go somewhere alone.

I would rather see a 7yo in a highbacked booster (although I don't wince too much at backless), so if you can get another highbacked booster, I'd recommend that.

(P.S. Both my husband and I have driven stick-shift cars for 20+ years, and we agree that the Forester has one of the easiest sticks ever. If you're going to learn, it's a good vehicle to learn on!)

chickabiddy said:

(P.S. Both my husband and I have driven stick-shift cars for 20+ years, and we agree that the Forester has one of the easiest sticks ever. If you're going to learn, it's a good vehicle to learn on!)

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That's what DH told me. I'm sure it will be fun once I learn.

DH was great about the seats last month. Poor guy, I told him when I bought the Regent a couple years back that it would be ds2's primary seat once he outgrew the rf limit of the (2004) marathon. I had no idea at the time that ds2 would have the opportunity to still rf at age 2. (DS1 was 38 lbs at 24 months, and I just assumed DS2 would be huge as well.) . I don't want to nag DH, but I plan to bring it up again when there is another Britax sale. I don't know that I would want to trade in the marathon anyway, since it is a great spare seat to have right now.


Thanks for your help with this.