backless booster seat

megann831

at what age/ height/ weight can LOs be in a backless booster with just a seatbelt?  I'm wondering if we can use DD's convertible car seat for DS when he's outgrown his infant carrier, which he just about has.  So at age 3, about 36" 30 or so lbs would we be able to use a backless booster?

gingerfamily

No way.  A five point harness is recomended until they are 40 pounds. 

TriciaandSean

I believe it is the law in most states that they have to be 4 and 40 pounds. From what I've read most kids are not mature enough until 5.

MrsWindyCity

ditto the others - 4yo, 40 lbs. at a minimum.

carlab44

fredalina:

A 3 year old never ever belongs in a booster seat. But even when they are ready around age 5 or 6, they usually should be in a high backed, belt positioning booster even longer, around 6 to 8. Buy your daughter a harness to booster like the Graco Nautilus.

Ditto this. The minimum age for a booster is 4, although a better indication of readiness is their ability to sit nicely 100% of the time. No leaning over, no playing  with the seatbelt, etc. Once they are at least 4 and mature enough to sit nicely they can be moved into a high backed booster. We moved DD from the 5-point harness to a high backed booster when she was 6. 

alake

We just turned my five year old forward facing.  We were given custody of my two year old nephew and I decided to forward face her and use her RXT for him.  She went into a prosport.  My seven year old is harnessed 99% of the time.  She uses a booster on school trips or when she goes with friends.  I would go with a Maestro.  They harness to 50 pounds and booster to 100.  They run about a $100 bucks or so.

gimmietimmies

Ditto the pps. It not okay to put a three year old in a backless booster, regardless if they fit the physical criteria on the box. There have been kids in the news lately the have been killed or seriously injured at this age because of misuse ofhe seat, child notsitting correctly, or despite fitting the criteria for the seat, are short torsoed and get a bad seat belt fit and torpedo out of the seat. These are typically accidents where other passengers have minimal injuries. Heck unless your three year old is above the 100%ile for height, they really should be rear facing, or at the very least harnessed forward facing. You can google this for yourself if you like, or ask a tech on car-seat.org, you don't have to listen to an Internet stranger.

If you need a new seat, there are lots of appropriate seats for low budget that are perfectly safe.

Angela814

carlab44:

fredalina:

A 3 year old never ever belongs in a booster seat. But even when they are ready around age 5 or 6, they usually should be in a high backed, belt positioning booster even longer, around 6 to 8. Buy your daughter a harness to booster like the Graco Nautilus.

Ditto this. The minimum age for a booster is 4, although a better indication of readiness is their ability to sit nicely 100% of the time. No leaning over, no playing  with the seatbelt, etc. Once they are at least 4 and mature enough to sit nicely they can be moved into a high backed booster. We moved DD from the 5-point harness to a high backed booster when she was 6. 

All this. The 40 lb minimum is also important to make sure the adult seat belt works correctly.

We moved DD1 to a high back booster at 5 years, and she'll be in that until she outgrows it. Then we'll move her to a backless booster. She's 6.5 yrs, 53 lbs, and 51" right now.

KellyD01

We switched DS into a high back belt positioning booster at Christmas. (WE were on our way to visit my aunts and he got car sick... the only option was a stop at Walmart. He was 4 1/2 and 46#. It wasn't and isn't meant to be a permanent switch because I didn't believe he was ready for it. He's done really well sitting properly until this week. He has had 2 warnings and if I have to tell him a 3rd time to sit correctly he's going back into his good seat. If it had happened a year ago, even though he was already over 40# I'd have paid whatever I needed to to get him a car seat instead of a booster.

MammaBear81

alake:

We just turned my five year old forward facing.  We were given custody of my two year old nephew and I decided to forward face her and use her RXT for him.  She went into a prosport.  My seven year old is harnessed 99% of the time.  She uses a booster on school trips or when she goes with friends.  I would go with a Maestro.  They harness to 50 pounds and booster to 100.  They run about a $100 bucks or so.

We are similar to this, my 7 1/2 year old is still in a 5 pt harness (unless he goes with friends, and then we let him use a booster).  My 5 1/2 and 4 1/2 are still in 5 pt harnesses, and my 3 year old (29 pounds and 37 inches) and 18 month old are still RFing, and will be for quite some time.

Each "step up" in the car seat world mean less protection from a car accident- no need to rush!

alake

She is 43 inches but has a short torso.  I would have kept her rear facing longer, but I didn't want to buy another rear facing car seat, when I felt that she could go forward facing.