I have a VW Golf, and up until now it has been fairly roomy in the back for my daughter and her Recaro car seat. Now it seems way to cramped for her and I've been looking into other seats. I've been considering switching to a Olli Clek car seat. I really love the smallness, look and rigid latch system. My daughter is 37 lbs. Do you think it is too soon for a backless booster? What age is okay for it? I've heard a lot of mixed feelings about the use of backless boosters. Has anyone had experience with the Olli Clek? Are there any other seats you would recommend?
no way, harness booster would be safest, most go up to 50 or 65 lbs now a days.
I bought a britax marathan, for my son and he will be it for a long time yet. I know there are cheaper ones that are safe also!
Absolutely not. At only 3yrs old and not even 40lbs, she needs to remain in a harness.
A forward facing car seat is outgrown when the child goes over teh weight limit, the shoulders go over the top harness slot, or the ears become level with the seat back. Until any one of these happens, she is just fine in her car seat. Although Recaro car seats are short, i'm guessing she's outgrown it by height.
I don't think the Clek Olli booster are worth the money, especially for a no back booster. And they are not small. My 7.5yr old is in a high back Sunshine Kids Monterey, and thats also a LATCHable booster. It was definentely worth the money. The Monterey is the best booster we've ever used.
Find her a new harnessed car seat. You can get the Evenflo Maestro for $70, and it will harenss to 50lbs and then becomes a high back booster. the Evenflo Generations 65 will harness to 65lbs and then becomes a good high back booster. The Graco Nautilus will harness to 65lbs and is much taller harness slots than the other two, and then turns into a great booster, and a no back booster eventually. The Nautilus looks just like hte Turbobooster with a harness, its a very cool seat, and it comes in a couple different PINK patterns too.
She's not ready for a no back booster. A high back.... maybe if necessary when she turns 4, but if she's outgrown her car seat (see above), then she needs a new seat now ,and a harnessed car seat is your best bet for her age and size.
I agree with Brandy I have kept my children in a 5 point all the way up to the 65 weight limit. After being rearended and the car that hit me hit my toddler car seat in the backseat I am all about the extra safety. The latch system stopped the other car from going even further into my car. Had I had my child with me they would have been seriously injured.
I actually just called my pediatrician for my 4 year old and she said they can go backless at the age of 4 and 40lbs not before! So until she gets 40 lbs I would not suggest it :-(... Give it a month and she should be fine!
I don't believe your daughter would be tall enough for a backless booster. You need to check the weight and height and age guidelines on them. We moved our daughter to a booster last year right before she turned 4, even though she weighted enough before then and she was just tall enough to get the shoulder strap to fall in the right place - she's mostly legs. There is pretty much no way that we could move her to a backless booster, she just isn't tall enough from the waist to up.
I have a VW Jetta, which is similar in size to your car, and have two kids in the back. My little boy's booster seat has a back on and says it cannot be used until he weighs 35Ibs and is a certain height. The back part of the carseat is more for their height than their weight because the back has the system to guide the the cars seatbelt to fit a smaller child. It is a "belt positioning" booster seat. Without it the seatbelt does not position correctly for your child's height and can be laying across their neck instead of across their chest, and the lap part of the belt can position incorrectly around their mid-section too which can be extremely dangerous in a collision.
I didn't move my older child into a backless booster until he was about 6 1/2, and he has always been bigger/taller for his age (he's now just 7 and 4 ft 4 inches tall already). My younger son who is still in the booster with the back (belt positioning) will be 5 in August, weighs around 38 Ibs, and is about 39 inches tall, and I have no plans on moving him into a backless booster any time soon. You can get the booster seats with backs that are slimmer. I have never heard of the Olli Clek booster seats so can't comment on them, but I think for now your daughter would be much safer in a belt positioning booster seat :)
I think it depends on your state laws about booster seats. If you had an accident where it was from the side she wouldn't have any protection from her had being tossed from side to side. I can barely sleep at nights, we just moved our 3 yr. old into a booster/with back and I have nightmares about him unbuckling and trying to open the doors. So, I am having a hard time adjusting, but he is doing pretty well.
Here are somelinks:
http://monroe.lib.mi.us/eresearch/ref_desk/booster_seat_l...
http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7-###-###-####_3504_22...
I wouldn't recommend a backless booster. My 4.5 year old is very tall for her age... close to 47 inches and 47 lbs and I have her in a high back booster. My 3.5 year old is smaller... 37 inches and 35 lbs, and she is still in a harness. I believe the law is 4 years AND 40lbs to put them in a booster at all.
I've never heard of the Olli Clek. I've always found the website www.car-seat.org to be very helpful. You could ask them... they have a lot of installation experts on there that know all about the different cars and seats.
I just looked up the Olli Clek, and it's a backless with LATCH. I think a latch on a backless booster is a bit unnecessary. The child is being held into the car with the seatbelt at that point... I really don't think the seat would/could go flying out from underneath them once they are buckled, know what i mean? I recommend looking into a Big Kid booster seat or something with a high back... especially for the price of that one (i just looked again). OMG!!!! that is crazy, I'm sorry! You could get a Britax high back booster that would last the kid until they are almost 10+ for that price!!!
Whether your daughter still needs to be in a 5 point restraint is a matter of state law so find out what that law is first. Without looking myself I bet 37 lbs is too light to let her out of the 5 point.
Agreed that latch on a backless booster is pointless, the whole point of a booster seat is that it raised the child up so that the seat belt goes across the chest at the chest, not at the neck area. Whether the seat is secured is really not the point.
BTW the back on the booster can be very useful when kids fall asleep in the car, it gives them a place to rest their face/cheek and helps keep them from falling right over.
Other thoughts on boosters is that really any brand will do and you can pick up a used one for next to nothing.
Hello A.,
I'm a parent coach, and one of my goals is to become a certified child car safety seat installer. Because of this, I've studied carseats a lot. The backless booster seats, I feel, are less safe than the full back kind.
The reason booster seats are built with backs is because a car seat is designed for an adult's body. Booster seats with highbacks are designed to make your child fit into the car seat. Just like on the school bus, back to back, seat to seat.
While it may be a tight squeeze, I strongly suggest you keep the highback booster.
Good Luck!
R. Magby
