should i buy a booster seat?

Question

MY SON IS 2 BUT GOING ON 3 IN 3 WEEKS. HE IS 37PDS AND 41" TALL. HE IS TALL I KNOW. I WANTED TO KNOW CAN I PUT HIM IN A BOOSTER SEAT OR LEAVE HIM IN THE REG. CAR SEAT?

Answer 1

You should wait until he is at least 4 years old, preferably age 5-6, before moving to a belt positioning booster.

What carseat does he have now? Most have only a 40 pound harnessed weight limit, and some have very low top slot height. When a child's shoulders go over the top slots, the seat is outgrown by height, regardless of overall height or overall weight. That's how my dd outgrew her convertible carseat, the Cosco Alpha Omega.

A pretty bad thing about the Alpha Omega/Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 seats is that the harness height adjusts by raising or lowering the headrest, but the very top headrest setting CAN'T be used with the harness. It is only there to raise the headrest higher in booster mode. It is not reinforced to withstand crash forces. But it's so easy to miss that many, many parents think they can use the top headrest setting with the harness and that the harness still fits their child, heightwise. Very dangerous seat, in my opinion. The Cosco/Eddie Bauer Summit has the same dumb rule.

When you switch to a booster from a harnessed seat you are essentially making it his responsibility to be properly restrained at all times. If he leans out of position at the wrong time he could be injured, ejected or killed. We can't choose when we have a crash, or know before it happens.

Kids under age 5-6 have higher rates of head injuries and death in crashes if they are in a booster instead of a harnessed seat. This is because a younger child's head is larger in proportion to the whole body. As a child grows up, his body "catches up" to his head, so the head is smaller in proportion to the body. A larger head in proportion to the body is heavier, and will place much more stress on the vulnerable neck in a crash. Internal decapitation can actually occur. :o(

My daughter was big, also. She was 38 inches and 35 pounds at 2.5 years old. She hit 40 pounds at 3. Now at 5.5 she is off-the-charts for height still, but has dropped to the 80th percentile for weight. She's in kindergarten and is a smidge over 4 feet tall and about 50 pounds. She's the second-biggest kid in her class.

I found seats that harness over 40 pounds, and some are pretty affordable.

If your vehicle has headrests (this is a requirement for this seat as the headrest is very flimsy and does not provide head/neck support in a crash; the vehicle seat must provide that), the $100 Cosco/Safety 1st Apex/Alpha Elite Apex/Safety 1st Biltmore (yes, all those different names are the same basic seat) is an awesome choice. The brown Biltmore version at Babies R Us has energy-absorbing foam like more expensive seats, and also has higher top slots than the other Apex versions. It harnesses to 65 pounds and then converts to a booster. The only higher weight harnessed seat to become a booster.

For $180-$200 you can get a Sunshine Kids Radian, a convertible seat that rear-faces to 33 pounds (do you have younger kids, or will you, that you can pass the seat down to when your son outgrows it forward-facing?) and forward-faces to 65 pounds. Nice, tall top slots. Ultra-narrow seat, the narrowest on the market, but has some installation issues in some vehicles.

For $270 you can get a Britax Regent, what I have, that harnesses to 80 pounds. Kids will outgrow the others I mentioned at about age 5-7. Kids won't outgrow a Regent until age 8-10, and may not even need a booster afterwards. It's a large seat (so is the Apex), but once installed it practically becomes part of the vehicle seat itself. My daughter loves hers, and feels she is much safer and more comfortable than her kindergarten classmates, most of whom are not even in boosters.

If you'd like to see crash test videos comparing a harnessed seat and a booster seat, let me know.

Answer 2

This is a very timely question. Booster seats using your car's seatbelts can be dangerous. They do make 5 point harness seats for older children up to 80 lbs. I did not know about these until a story on our local news here in Houston told about a 3 year old who was killed when he and his booster seat were thrown from the vehicle in a collision. I ordered one for my son after I heard the story and read more on the parent's website. I want my son in a 5 point harness as long as possible. Here are the websites for the news report and the website Kyle's parents set up. It is the Kyle David Miller Foundation. Everybody - please send his url to everyone you can. There is a big difference in what states require and what is the safest way to carry your children.

Answer 3

i put my son in the booster when the car seat was just getting to uncomfortable for him. i know people who put their children in the booster before they are actually suppose to be in one. i found this website i thought might be a little help. look under the car seat frequently asked questions section. i know that they make new types of car seats and boosters now so i am sure that you can find one that will accommodate you sons height. hope this helps.

Answer 4

At that height and weight it is a matte of preference because either will suffice. Boosters are more versatile, easy to change out from car to car and generally more comfortable for the child. Car seats, however are safer with their five point harness and latch system connecting to the car.

Answer 5

I would wait for at least 4 to 6 months. Very few 3 year old sit in a belt postioning booster well at first give him till 3 and a half and then try

Answer 6

He is not old enough to be in a booster seat. If he's getting too tall for the harness in his current seat, you need to look for a new seat with higher slots for the harness.

Answer 7

My 5yo daughter is also 37 lbs and 41". She's in a booster seat, but we're kind of questioning whether or not she should actually be in it. It doesn't seem to fit her good enough.

Answer 8

Ask his pediatrician...they know the laws involving the booster seats. They may tell you to go ahead and put him in a booster seat due to his size. I had to with my son because he did not fit in his carseat and it is more dangerous placing a child in a carseat that does not fit them and the state patrol is realizing this.

Answer 9

He can be in a booster seat at 3. Base it on his height. When he sits in his regular car seat, where does the top of his head go. Is it above or touching the top of the seat? There are exceptions to everything. If his head is doing the above, I would go to a booster because it is safer. The chance of neck injury is greater if the head is above the seat level itself. I pulled my girls out of boosters (I got state police to agree with me on that one) because it was safer for them because they are so tall. And they are suppose to be in them till their 8. If you have doubts, contact your local babies r us or police department, they can usually help you with that one.

Answer 10

he's definitely the right weight and height. if you feel he will stay in it then I say why not. i just bought one for my daughter last weekend and she's 3 years 1.5 months old. She's very good in it and loves her new big girl seat. safety is first priority though. she was getting too big for the car seat we had for her. good luck!