Can someone explain the safety differences between high back booster vs no back booster?

jnicks19

In my car where my daughter rides 95% of the time is still in a 5pt Britax Frontier.  For the occasional playdate and in MH car I have the Graco Turbo booster (with no back).  It does have the strap that you thread the belt through for positioning and we use it.  When I looked before buying, the IIHS rated the turbo booster as the #1 booster seat.

She's on the smaller side at 46lbs at 6.5, I'm wondering if she should be in a high back?  

 

Also, what's the best narrow booster?  Any recs and advice  are appreciated! 

JOEBunny

I think we would all be safer swaddled in bubble wrap, but generally, I think you have the right idea.  DD is in a 5 point in my car, but if we have a playdate, we use a backless booster.  We are not on the highway.  We seldom exceed 15 miles per hour, and the school is not more than 1 mile from anyone's home.  DD weighs a whopping 36 pounds, and is almost 6.  DD's radian is smaller than her booster, which is pretty small.  She has the Cybex something or another for a backed booster, but we also use the backless $13 one from Walmart when we have kids we are picking up and just driving home, which is nice and skinny.  I use the backed booster when we are going on the highway, but otherwise, just keep the backless one in the car, in case we end up with an extra.

Littlejen22

IMHO 5% of the time I am not willing to have my kid drive less safe especially since most accidents happen close to home. My high back booster has great side impact protection and positions the seatbelt at the right height. 

MrsSR

I'd stick with a high back booster.  It's just safer.

The Radian is pretty narrow.

 

Angela814

The new Diono Radian only works as a booster starting at 50 lbs, and the shell height doesn't adjust, so it will be outgrown in booster mode relatively quickly. We have the older version when the company was Sunshine Kids, but we bought it to use as a convertible seat.

Personally, I would prefer to keep DD1 in a high back booster as long as possible. The HBB adds additional side impact protection and has head wings to protect the head and neck. We have the Recaro Vivo in one car and the Recaro ProBooster in another. We also have the high back version of the Graco TurboBooster as our spare. I don't know that there's really any narrow booster. They all seem to take up as much room as a larger convertible seat. The Vivo is probably the narrowest that we have.

outnumbered

We have the Britax Parkway.  It is a high back booster that can be installed with or without the latch system.  My children seem comfy in it, but my son does complain about his back being sore after a drive of more than 2 hours.  He likes to complain though so who knows if it really hurts.

Is 46.5 lbs at 6.5 on the small side?  My kids must be on the smaller side too.

lsufan

outnumbered:

Is 46.5 lbs at 6.5 on the small side?  My kids must be on the smaller side too.

I was wondering this as well.  My son is 6.5 and about 47 pounds, and I was thinking he was 50% in weight for boys.  He seems pretty big to me!

As for the high back vs. no back, I always assumed it was an issue of side impact protection.  Also, my son still very occasionally falls asleep in the car, and he stays in place with the high back.  I see too many FB pictures of kids in low back seats who have fallen asleep and completely slumped over. 

penguingrrl

There are contradictory studies on whether a high back booster is safer than a backless. Part of this is because there's no standard for testing side impact protection in North America. The only thing that is definitive is that a backless does a great job at repositioning the lap belt (if it fits correctly), which is the most critical job a booster does.

For around town and quick trips I would be okay with 6 year old riding in a backless, but I would keep a high back for times they will be riding far or likely to fall asleep in the car because it offers support for sleeping (my daughter uses the wings on her parkway to rest her head to sleep and sleeps very comfortably that way) and looks just more comfortable. But at 6 for carpooling, etc, a backless is a perfectly fine choice.

jlw2505

We have the highback Graco TurboBooster.  I love that the highback has the head wing things for around her head and that the shoulder strap stays where it should and it also keeps my DD where she should be - yes, she can move around and bend forward but when she is sitting back, she is where she should be and not all over the seat like she could be if she just had a booster with no back.