At what age will your child stop using a booster even if they don't 5 step?

What is your booster cut off?

  • 10 years old

    Votes: 4 6.5%
  • 11 years old

    Votes: 5 8.1%
  • Puberty

    Votes: 35 56.5%
  • They will drive with a booster if they don't 5 step!

    Votes: 18 29.0%

  • Total voters
    62
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carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
I'm sure you know this, but 125# is off the charts for an 8yo. There will always be statistical outliers -- 4# newbs, 46# 2yos, 32# 8yos, and, yes, 125# 8yos. I'm still comfortable saying that MOST kids who do not 5-step will fit in a booster, even if they don't want to.

And, as with any outliers (not just size/carseats), parents have to make hard choices. I would choose to booster a 125# prepubescent child who did not 5-step.
 

Lenae

Active member
I don't 5-step in many vehicles.

I will let my kids decide the summer between elementary school and middle school/jr. high if they still don't fit. That's about 12 I suppose. I voted 11.
 

Jessica61624

New member
carseatcoach said:
I'm sure you know this, but 125# is off the charts for an 8yo. There will always be statistical outliers -- 4# newbs, 46# 2yos, 32# 8yos, and, yes, 125# 8yos. I'm still comfortable saying that MOST kids who do not 5-step will fit in a booster, even if they don't want to.

And, as with any outliers (not just size/carseats), parents have to make hard choices. I would choose to booster a 125# prepubescent child who did not 5-step.

I agree! Id love to see him in a booster but I can't even get her to position the harness clip right.
 

thepeach80

Senior Community Member
Shoot, my 90# 8yo is off the chart, 125# is crazy! We did have an 135# 5yo at an event once. She did leave in nothing b/c we had nothing for her, but she was going to see them special for an appt that next week. Evan is short but he's a lightweight. He's 7 and weighs 1/2 as much as AJ who is 18 mos old than him!
 

Katy

New member
I don't have a age picked out, I'm going to play it by ear. Lots for stuff in cars can change between now and when my oldest nears teen years. My kids are short when it comes to total height. Many adults in our family don't always pass the 5 step test and a few even sit on a pillow to drive. I think when we get close to 12 I'd consider buying a vehicle where it is easier to pass the 5 step test in.
 

christineka

New member
I know there are really large 8 year olds out there, I meant that in the 13+ years old category of kids who don't 5 step, they would be more likely to be lightweights.
 

momtoo3

Well-known member
Ds1 is 11.5. He 5 steps in my van but was not even close in dh's car or our truck last summer. I will have to check him again soon. So far he has not objected to the boosters but he can just barely get the armrest down on the Big Kid and asked for a new one. Unfortunately, I can't find another that works 3 across in dh's car that can be buckled without losing an arm. I am going to pick up either a cruz or topside to try. Ds1 is also SN and doesn't have friends that go anywhere with us so he doesn't realize he is probably the only kid in his middle school in a booster. If he did we would have to take my van anyways. He is also a shrimp but is in early puberty.

So I guess I would say either puberty or middle school for an average kid. At the rate my other 2 are growing ds2 will 5 step around 8 or 9 in most vehicles but may not be 80 pounds and I will push for him to be boostered until that point. Ds3 may be driving before he 5 steps. Well maybe in my van he would pass but most other vehicles he wouldn't, he is smaller than ds1 was at his age. I will (probably) let him decide in middle school if it was an issue with peers but may still make him use a booster when not around friends. We are also in walking distance of school so other than having friends ride with us/riding with friends it won't be an issue.
 

tam_shops

New member
I'm glad I checked the poll, see puberty seems to be the average answer, so I can live with that b/c my answer was drive with it if need be and my mom in fact drove on a phone book for *years*. Nobody thought anything of it. Obviously, I must have b/c I remember it! LOL

At any rate, the way cars now have seats that adjust up and forward, I highly doubt that the average person would need a booster to drive, but I have a friend w/ a little person son and I'll be sure to let him know that my mom drove on a phone book, so an actual booster would be far more *cool* and comfy (like a Clek) that what she did. And, under 5ft tall, my mom has never been over 100#.

I'm over 5ft and 100# and don't 5step in some cars either, I'd sit on one if my butt fit! LOL

tam
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I voted puberty because age 12 is my current thought.

On the flip side, my kids will be in a booster to age 10 (provided it fits,) even if they 5 step before that. There is a jump in seatbelt injuries in the 8 to 10 yr age group and I'm sure it's because kids come out of boosters but just don't have the same skeletal development as teens and adults.

Dd turns 8 this summer and she's never even mentioned being in a highback booster - I think she thinks her friends are the unlucky ones because they're not safe and she is. I regularly hear from her that she doesn't know why so and so is sitting in the front seat because it's not a safe place for kids.

So anyways, right now I figure age 12 if they aren't 5 stepping yet I'll consider it. My kids are both quite tall for their age though and I fully expect they'll 5 step before that.

I'm glad I checked the poll, see puberty seems to be the average answer, so I can live with that b/c my answer was drive with it if need be and my mom in fact drove on a phone book for *years*. Nobody thought anything of it. Obviously, I must have b/c I remember it! LOL

At any rate, the way cars now have seats that adjust up and forward, I highly doubt that the average person would need a booster to drive, but I have a friend w/ a little person son and I'll be sure to let him know that my mom drove on a phone book, so an actual booster would be far more *cool* and comfy (like a Clek) that what she did.

tam

There are companies out there who are able to customize vehicles - chances are he's going to need the gas pedal and brake pedal customized just so that he can reach it - they can customize the vehicle seat as well I believe. I wouldn't suggest a phone book - they'll need to cross the customizing vehicle bridge when the time comes - a phone book isn't going to fix him reaching the pedals and still being able to see over the dash...
 

tinytreasures

New member
Glad to see this post.
My son is 14 and in high school and still in a booster. He is 4'8" he gained 15lbs since the beginning for the school yr so he is up to 91 lbs now. (don't get me on the vent of the school letting him eat food that he is allergic too :mad:
He never questions the booster. He just uses it every time in the van. If I could I would put him back in 5 point. He has Autism and bipolar and can't sit nice at all. He even choices to sit in my 12 yr old dd Parkway (thanks for the help on the special needs board she loves this seat) if she is not in the van.
None of my kids question riding is seats.
I have a 14, 12, 10 and 7 yr old in boosters. My 5yr old ff in a radian. Plus 2 fosters that ride in 5 points in Blvds.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
Mine stayed boostered regardless of 5 Step status until a minimum of 12 years old. After 12, if the child honestly did.not.fit, well, it would depend on just how bad the fit was.

For example, my younger niece will be 12 in June. In *MY* car, she will likely be in a booster until at least 14, just because she's so tiny. But it would totally depend on just how bad the seatbelt fit really is. On the other hand, Gregory was thisclose to passing at 12, AND had outgrown almost every booster on the market except the original Frontier. I didn't make him continue to use one at that point because Joy needed the Frontier and I wasn't about to buy a second one for him to use for six or eight months.
 

mcomommy

New member
I think 12/13, I think it will be a problem for us because we make tall torso kids for the most part. DD2 might be my only exception, we shall see.
 

Mysweethoneybee

New member
I was just flipping through the channels and some Discovery type channel had some sort of trauma type show in Florida. It had a little girl and showed an abrasion due to the seatbelt. The doctor said they automatically send kids ages 4 through 10 to be tested for internal bleeding because they don't do well in seat belts alone.
 

mlohry

New member
Mysweethoneybee said:
I was just flipping through the channels and some Discovery type channel had some sort of trauma type show in Florida. It had a little girl and showed an abrasion due to the seatbelt. The doctor said they automatically send kids ages 4 through 10 to be tested for internal bleeding because they don't do well in seat belts alone.

That's pathetic, since the law in FL says 4 year olds can just be in seat belts, dumb state! Maybe the emergency people should tell legislatures to change the laws.
 

ElfJewel

New member
If there is no complaining they will stay in a booster until they 5 step, which will probably be right around 12/puberty. My brother turned 12 in Nov and pretty much 5 steps now. I haven't made him use a booster since he turned 12. (he complained because he was in nothing in my dad's car since he turned 4)
 

bnsnyde

New member
Even if he 5-steps, my son will use a booster!
As long as he fits in the Frontier as a booster...could be a long, long time! I imagine 11 or 12 as he's tall.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
I don't 5-step in many vehicles.

:yeahthatsad:

I'm barely 5 ft tall. All the women in my family are from 4' 10 to a top height of about 5' 4. Same in dh's family. My kids are currently in the 14th and "less than 3rd" percentiles for height. I personally don't 5 step in many vehicles, in many seating positions, nor do most of my female relatives. It is **very** likely that my daughter at least, will never 5 step in many vehicles, possibly my son as well, at least until the far side of puberty, i.e. driving age.

Sadly, unlike Q and her lucky little bubble of non-teasing, my daughter, age 7, is constantly surrounded by negative messages regarding carseats. None of her friends use boosters, and tease her about it. It doesn't help that because of her birthday and just the weird demographics of our social circle, she is the youngest in her peer group, so all of her friends mostly are age 8-11 anyway, so LEGALLY out of boosters, not that most of them actually waited until age 8 to stop. Hell, I just had a *freaking screaming meltdown* not 2 days ago with my own mother, who was trying to teach Katie that she doesn't need to use a booster "just to go down the street." :hitselfonhead:

Katie is very, very aware that "you don't have to use a booster once you are 8" :rolleyes: but also knows that mommy has repeatedly said that because she is small, she will likely need to use one a bit longer, for safety. At this point, she is already in backlesses, as a compromise, so she doesn't feel quite so bad.....and only because they fit her *superbly*. I'm not sure when/where my cutoff will be. Probably about age 10? Maybe I'll get lucky and they will grow by then, who knows? :)
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
I drive. Everywhere. It's much easier on daughter when she doesn't have to take her booster to someone else's van. And when I drive other kids, they have to use boosters too. It helps, a little, even though I hate driving all the time.
 

Laurelz

New member
I don't have kids ready for boosters yet, but what is the 5 step? I know the steps to booster training, but didn't know there were steps to get out of a booster?! :)

Most kids where I live are out of boosters at 5! :eek: As soon as they are "in school" most parents take the seat away. I have a 3.5yo in a harness still and people always ask me "shouldn't he be in a booster by now!" You should see what they say about my 2yo rf'ing when their 12mo is is ff'ing. I will booster until they fit properly without and can show me that they can sit without it. (..so I guess the 5 step.. once I find out what they are!) :p
 

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