# I just realized my daughter may be too big for a booster seat. Opinions?



## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

I just realized my daughter is the only kid her age that I know who is still in a booster. She has a high back booster she uses sometimes because it's more comfortable (she falls asleep in the car on long drives) and a backless for short trips. She can not get comfortable to sleep in the backless. She's 8.5 and average height for that age (couldn't tell you exact weight or height). Does a nearly-nine year old belong in a booster of any kind? In real life I literally don't know ANYONE who puts their third grader in a booster. When I drive around a car full of girls hare age, NO ONE sends a booster and parents laugh if I ask.

Separate question: my niece is a tall, skinny first grader. She rides with us often and her dad sends a backless booster. As soon as she's asleep, she slumps over and she spends the whole drive wiggling all over the place. He also tells her not to lock the seat belt because she won't be able to move. Isn't that the point?


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Separate question first: do not lock the seatbelt in a booster. Some boosters and some vehicles actually do not allow it. If a child is not capable of remaining in position, that child should be harnessed.

An average sized 8yo still needs a booster. Kids need boosters until they pass the 5-point test (must score 100%):
~ lap belt low on hips and thighs, not riding up on belly
~ shoulder belt crossing between neck and arm, not riding up on neck
~ back and buttocks against seat crease
~ knees bending at edge of seat and preferably feet resting on the floor
~ able to maintain seating position for the entire trip

Kids are usually around 57" (4'9") when they pass reliably in most vehicles. They will pass sooner in tiny third rows of SUVs and later in buckety sedan backseats.

A backless booster is fine for an 8yo.


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## blessedwithboys (Dec 8, 2004)

Both my kid were in boosters til age 11


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I don't know what booster you have, but there are some that adjust higher if you still want a booster with a back for sleeping on trips. But a backless booster is perfectly safe for a child that age. My oldest (9) has learned to tilt his head back to sleep so that the shoulder belt and his body stay in the correct position when he's asleep.


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## sillysapling (Mar 24, 2013)

I remember using a booster when no one else did, IIRC at 8 or 9. It didn't bother me or my friends, who sat next to me booster-less. I think even my several-years-younger cousin was boosterless when I still had one. Is anyone giving you or your daughter trouble, or are you just worried you're being overprotective? If anyone'ss giving you/her trouble, address that- but it's fine to have different standards from other parents. Most people on here do.


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## alpenglow (Oct 29, 2007)

I think it's important to understand the whole point of a booster seat in the first place. ie., it's more than just keeping the child from flying out of the car. The lap/shoulder seatbelt is also designed to be fitting in a certain way to help prevent seatbelt injury to the internal organs (which can be deadly). The lap part of the belt should stay below the child's hipbones and the shoulder belt go over the breastbone. Because the size of a child's pelvis is small, in a normal seatbelt, the lap belt part may end up sitting too high. The booster changes the angle of pull of the vehicle seatbelt...to help the belt go where is should (below the hip bones....essentially over the thighs just in front of the hip bones).

I would consider:
1. Your local laws (some places require the booster until age 10 or a certain height).
2. How the vehicle seatbelt actually fits (remembering the point of a seatbelt fitting properly). 
3. Whether or not your car has headrests built in in the back seat. My car doesn't....and for that reason I will keep the kids in high back boosters as long as possible so that a little fender bender doesn't cause a serious neck injury due to no head support being behind their little heads).
4. In most places, the number one cause of accidental death in children is car accidents (I think - would have to double check this stat...but in any case, I take vehicle safety seriously).

I don't really care what my friends or dd's friends say about boosters - I just go by the laws/research/safety standards and just keep the whole point of it in the back of my mind.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

alpenglow said:


> I think it's important to understand the whole point of a booster seat in the first place. ie., it's more than just keeping the child from flying out of the car. The lap/shoulder seatbelt is also designed to be fitting in a certain way to help prevent seatbelt injury to the internal organs (which can be deadly). The lap part of the belt should stay below the child's hipbones and the shoulder belt go over the breastbone. Because the size of a child's pelvis is small, in a normal seatbelt, the lap belt part may end up sitting too high. The booster changes the angle of pull of the vehicle seatbelt...to help the belt go where is should (below the hip bones....essentially over the thighs just in front of the hip bones).
> 
> I would consider:
> 1. Your local laws (some places require the booster until age 10 or a certain height).
> ...


That is why everyone on here is suggesting a backless booster over getting rid of it entirely.


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## alpenglow (Oct 29, 2007)

thanks. Do ensure a headrest is in the car and in the right spot


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## elus0814 (Sep 21, 2009)

chickabiddy said:


> Separate question first: do not lock the seatbelt in a booster. Some boosters and some vehicles actually do not allow it. If a child is not capable of remaining in position, that child should be harnessed.
> 
> An average sized 8yo still needs a booster. Kids need boosters until they pass the 5-point test (must score 100%):
> ~ lap belt low on hips and thighs, not riding up on belly
> ...


This contradicts itself. A backless booster might 'be fine' for an eight year old. It might not. They might also be safe without one. They might not. There are many factors in deciding. You say yourself that a child not capable of staying in a safe position should be harnessed, meaning a backless booster might not be fine.

To the OP, I have a child of a similar age who now rides without a booster. In the third row of the van the boosters made our oldest kids heads so high that it was not only unsafe because of the lower height of the headrests but it was difficult to see out the back window.


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