Booster Seats, revisited.

I am whatever falls squarely between horrified and sad. I saw a friend's pictures from their recent cross country move. Of course, everyone takes pics of the kids in the car. I don't know why this has become a staple of American society, but toddlers in carseats are a popular thing to take pictures of. Maybe it's because my toddler is still rear-facing, that I don't get the appeal of this, but for whatever reason, people love to show off their carseat skillz (or lack of in a lot of cases) in photo form.

Anyhow, here's the pics from the trip, and there's the kid who's slightly older than Orren, but roughly his size, in a booster seat. I knew they'd moved him to one. I'd warned them that it wasn't safe for a kid that age and size, but that was all I could do. They went ahead with it. I thought they would have at least gotten him a high-back one. No, in the pictures, there was this kid, in a backless booster, on a cross country trip. Holy cow. I didn't say anything. What's done is done, but wow. I cannot imagine. Picture Orren in a backless booster. Erin is not even big enough for that in our car (their car has the same seatbelt height as ours). The seatbelts are so high that without the top belt positioning guide of her high-back booster, the belt would cut across her neck, and pose major danger to her in a crash. Now picture a kid Orren's size in that same belt. Scary, right?

So we're going to go over it one more time. Who should use a booster? How do you use a booster? When can you move from a high-back to backless booster? What happens if you booster too early? Boostering is so misunderstood. We're going to talk about it now.

What do booster seats do?

Booster seats are not like carseats. They don't provide an extra level of protection for children over what an adult seatbelt provides for an adult. (Some do provide some degree of side impact protection, but most do not do this to any significant degree.) The main function of a booster is to position the adult seatbelt in such a way to fit a child who is too big for a 5-point harness, but not big enough yet to wear the adult seatbelt on its own. In short, a booster seat allows a child to wear an adult seatbelt.

How do I know if my child is ready for an adult seatbelt?

This link discusses the 5-step test for seatbelt readiness. Most kids won't pass the 5-step test until they are close to 10 years old. Until this point, they need a booster seat of some variety to make the seatbelt fit them properly. A seatbelt is not safe unless it fits right, and car accidents are the #1 killer of American children 14 and under, so this is pretty important.

How do I know what kind of booster is right for my child?

Like I said before, a booster's function is to position the seatbelt correctly. This means that the shoulder portion will pass over the center of the shoulder (not slide off the arm, or cut into the neck), and the lap portion will pass over the tops of the thighs, not ride up the abdomen. A booster that positions the seatbelt this way for your child is the right one. Whether that's high-back or backless depends mostly on the size of your child in relation to the height of your seatbelts. If you're unsure whether to get high-back or backless, try out the boosters in your vehicle, with your child (some retailers such as Babies R Us will allow you to do this), to see what makes the belt fit correctly.

But what age and weight should my child move to a booster?

This is the hardest part because there is NO finite guideline for this. If you ask a child passenger safety technician for their best practice recommendation, they'll tell you that maturity is the most important factor in booster readiness, and that most kids are mature enough sometime between 5 and 6 years old. If you ask a carseat manufacturer, they'll tell you 3 years old and 30 pounds, because that's what they rate the seats for. It's kind of freaking horrible that they do that, to be honest, because there is not a 3-year-old on the planet who's actually mature enough to sit still for an entire car ride, which is a very important indicator for booster readiness. I don't know why carseat manufacturers rate their seats for such low age/weight limits. It's virtually criminal. Kids who meet these guidelines die in those seats regularly, when they would have been saved by a 5-point harness.

So break it down for me simple. How do I know if my kid is ready for a booster?

Ask yourself these questions:

Can he/she sit still without a 5-point harness for an entire car ride? A child who's still a wiggly toddler is not ready for a booster. Most kids will reach this milestone sometime in Kindergarten.

Is he/she at least 40 pounds? Children below 40 pounds have an increased risk of submarining, that is, sliding under the belt and strangling on it in the event of a crash.

Does the belt fit properly (see above) when using the booster seat?

Has the 5-point harness carseat been outgrown? (Why bother boostering when you have a seat that fits fine?)


The most important thing to remember is that boosters are for big kids. If I see one more backless booster advertised on Craigslist as a "toddler carseat" I am going to scream. That is NOT a toddler carseat. My 7-year-old cannot even use one of those safely in one of our vehicles (she can in the other due to lower seatbelt height). Boosters are for school age children, and when used properly, they save lives. The key, as with anything, though, is to use them properly. Early boostering kills children. It isn't even uncommon. This is very serious business. Learn about carseats before deciding which one is right for your child. Never let money be a hindrance to safety. There are high weight harness carseats you can buy for $70 that will fit most kids through preschool age. Educate yourself, and never scrimp on safety, and remember, a step up in carseats is a step down in safety, not a milestone to be celebrated.