# Texas Car seat Laws?



## HarperRose (Feb 22, 2007)

I have searched high and low on the WWW for Texas car seat laws and found some pretty lax info. Last I knew the kids only had to be 3 yrs and 36 lbs to be in a car seat, then they were free to sit in a seatbelt.

PLEASE tell me the law has changed or something! That's insanely small.







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How old and what weight do they need to be? I have my 5 yr old still in a high back booster and my 7.5 yr old in a seatbelt w/ shoulder strap. (We drive a Dodge Caravan and the shoulder strap things move up and down to adjust to your height. Have not checked it for ds, didn't think of it till now.) Do we need to change this?


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## LilyGrace (Jun 10, 2007)

It's 5 years or 36 inches, as far as I can tell.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/directo...n/pr090705.htm


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## Papooses (Dec 20, 2006)

Still no where near what the laws of PHYSICS require....







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## LilyGrace (Jun 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Papooses* 
Still no where near what the laws of PHYSICS require....







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Oh, trust me, I know. When I lived down there a mom in our homeschooling group was so happy that her daughter was turning 5 so they didn't have to use a booster anymore - her kid was a full head shorter than my 5yo, who is still in a 5pt harness. I shudder to think how things would have played in an accident.

Justthatgirl - side note, please check to see how the lap belt fits your 7.5yo. I know at that age my average sized oldest was not able to have it sitting across the hip region, and at 8.5 he's still in a booster depending on the car.


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## Mirzam (Sep 9, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LilyGrace* 
Justthatgirl - side note, please check to see how the lap belt fits your 7.5yo. I know at that age my average sized oldest was not able to have it sitting across the hip region, and at 8.5 he's still in a booster depending on the car.

Please do check. I can't imagine my 7.5 year old, and he is 52" tall, fitting a seat belt properly. Low back boosters are cheap. Someone I know got a Cosco High Rise in camo for $10 at KMart or WalMart, don't remember which. The High Rise is actually a nice low back booster for big(ger) kids -- plenty of depth.


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## HarperRose (Feb 22, 2007)

Thanks, you guys. We actually have 2 high back boosters (one in each vehicle for dd) so I'll just move both to the van and make dh drive the van instead of his car when we go out as a family.







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My 5 yr old is really a wisp of a girl. She can fit in sz 4 clothes even though her 6th b-day is about 5 wks away. She is petite. Her friend is 6 mos _younger_ and probably 4 inches _taller_ than dd. (Also still in a high back booster.)

DD is 43 inches, ds is 47 inches.

Thanks for the info.

Age and height really shouldn't be the only requirement. That's scary.


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## Papooses (Dec 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Justthatgirl* 
Age and height really shouldn't be the only requirement. That's scary.

Especially such a young age & short height.... The pelvis doesn't finish developing until puberty -- while boosters' main purpose is to life a child up so the seatbelt fits, they do also help absorb some crash force







Scroll down to find > "Vital Importance of Boosters"


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