# what makes a seat a 'deadly' booster?



## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

So, I've seen quite a few posters around here refer to various seats as 'deadly' in booster mode or even some dedicated boosters as awful/deadly/crappy seats, and I'm just wondering what makes them deadly/crappy/awful.. and how they get on the market as such, while most everyone agrees that all regular carseats are safe? Why are boosters so different? And how are parents supposed to know the difference w/o having done major research??


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## Maedze (Dec 16, 2008)

Belt fit.

Particularly, lap-belt fit.

For a kid who isn't in a booster and should be, the seatbelt is what's going to injure or kill him. The lap belt rides up on the abdomen and tears, crushes and damages the unprotected organs in an accident.

A good booster keeps the belt down on the thighs, underneath the hips.

There are certain boosters that uniformly provide a crappy belt fit on 100% of children. For some reason, they fit the dummies 'ok' (but not great), but real live children? No dice.

Are they better than nothing? Yes. Are they good? NO.

All the Dorel 3-in-1 seats provide terrible belt fits, as do all the Evenflo combination seats.

Last year, IIHS published a nice little study showing what technicians have known for years. The seats I've mentioned all got 'worst bet' ratings.


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

A well-fitting booster needs to position the lap belt close to the body and low on the hips and thighs, not riding up on the soft tissue of the abdomen, and the shoulder belt close to the body between neck and arm. That's the most important research. Boosters described as "crappy" are known for putting the lap belt on the belly, which results in crash forces being directed into the soft tissues and internal organs, which is sometimes not survivable.


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## Eris (Sep 11, 2002)

I would add, some of the poor fit can also come from the shoulder belt not being in contact with the shoulder and torso, going instead from shell to shell, away from the child's body, and also the shoulder bet getting snagged by poorly designed positioners so that if the belt gets pulled out at all, it doesn't retract back and so is loose across the body.


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

okay, we're not to the point of using a booster, yet... but we have an Alpha Omega Elite. How does that rate in terms of a booster? (and FF harnessed)


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Unfortunately, it is almost always a terrible booster. I've seen lots of kids in AOEs, and I've never seen one that fit well. The lap belt is high on the belly and the shoulder belt usually does not lie close to the body.

Do you have the version with a 50# harness or a 40# harness? The 50# seat is a decent FFing harnessed seat. The 40# seat is fine as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough to get most kids to a safe booster age/size. You cannot use the top headrest/strap setting with the harness, and because of this, most kids outgrow the harness by height long before 40#.


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## Maedze (Dec 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *shanniesue2* 
okay, we're not to the point of using a booster, yet... but we have an Alpha Omega Elite. How does that rate in terms of a booster? (and FF harnessed)

How about terriblest, horriblest worstest booster ever?









If it's the new 50 pound AOE and NOT the old 40 pound version, it makes a decent forward facing harnessed seat.

Under no circumstances should it be considered a good booster.


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

Here's the link to the IIHS news release about boosters, in case people want the full list.

I need this because dd has just outgrown her Marathon, and at 5 1/2 and 52 lbs., I'm going to move her to a belt-positioning booster. (Yes, she really has outgrown the Marathon height-wise. She's just over 22 inches torso length and the max is 22 inches. My kids just have crazy long torsos!)


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## chickabiddy (Jan 30, 2004)

Actually, at 52#, she's lasted longer in the Marathon than most kids. Or did you mean the Regent? (I'm not asking just to be picky, but knowing whether she's outgrown a Marathon by height or a Regent would help in making booster recommendations.)


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chickabiddy* 
Unfortunately, it is almost always a terrible booster. I've seen lots of kids in AOEs, and I've never seen one that fit well. The lap belt is high on the belly and the shoulder belt usually does not lie close to the body.

Do you have the version with a 50# harness or a 40# harness? The 50# seat is a decent FFing harnessed seat. The 40# seat is fine as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough to get most kids to a safe booster age/size. You cannot use the top headrest/strap setting with the harness, and because of this, most kids outgrow the harness by height long before 40#.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *Maedze* 
How about terriblest, horriblest worstest booster ever?









If it's the new 50 pound AOE and NOT the old 40 pound version, it makes a decent forward facing harnessed seat.

Under no circumstances should it be considered a good booster.

yikes! I'm not sure off the top of my head which one it is... we actually have 2 (well one is in my parents' car because they drive DS around a lot). I can tell they are different. The one in our car is a lot plushier. DS still has a long way to go RFing (he's a 22.5 pound 20 month old), but it's good to know for future reference... and thanks for the link to that list (it will come in handy when we get to the point of having to convince DH that we need to buy different seats


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

The Marathon can be rear-facing or forward facing (convertible seat), the Regent is forward-facing only... that'd be the major difference. Also, the Regent is ENORMOUS and the Marathon is merely sizeable.


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