High Back Booster Without Any Kind of Restraint

Updated on September 06, 2010
B.A. asks from Lebanon, TN
15 answers

My grandson is a year old and weighs approx 30 lbs my daughter wants to buy him a high back booster without any kind of restraint just using the seatbelt this does not sound safe to me at all could you please help me out here to try and get her to understand

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I.V.

answers from Lexington on

Seats are usually based on weight. Most toysRus or similar will do a fitting service and will weigh the child. At a a year, they are normally too small for a high back boaster with just a seatbelt and need better support. We had Graco seats after the small baby carrier and my girls were in these a few years till they transitioned to a high backed boaster with just a seatbelt. Have a look on line, as always a help and will give you weights for each seat.
Hope that helps.

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M.B.

answers from Lexington on

I don't even think that is a legal way to restrain a one year old. I am pretty sure they have to be in a regular car seat until much older. It is not safe and if there is an accident the chances of him making it are not very good. My son is 20 months old and also weighs about 30lbs I still have him in a regular car seat rear facing because it has been determined that they are not as safe forward facing and I want him to be as safe as possible. It's to easy for the neck to break when they are forward facing at least before the age of 2 and I won't risk it. www.joelsjourney.org and I just looked it up here are TN laws http://www.tn.gov/safety/newCRD.htm

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M.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

One year old is very young to do such a thing. I would suggest keeping children backwards facing for as long as possible it's soooo much safer for the child. I would not say this is safe at all.. I cannot believe anyone would want to risk anything like that with their child. The ability for a child to survive a car crash has nothing to do with the size of the child. Turning the child frontwards will put enough strain on the child but to not have them properly strapped in will make it so much more dangerous. There is a video you and your daughter should watch. It talks about the importance of the 5 point harness vs just a seat belt..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
please watch it with your daughter. keep your little ones safe and still consider rear facing. I kept my daughter rear facing until she was over 3 years old and will do the same with my youngest.. there are videos showing the difference in car impacts with rear facing and forward facing..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8
Where I'm living at the moment they suggest you keep them rear facing until the age of 4.. I only turned my baby because she was having major issues with car sickness and that was the only way to get to her to be in the car without throwing up

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H.F.

answers from Nashville on

You should check your state laws to help you. In TN, a child must be 4 years old AND 40 lbs to do that. You are correct in that it isn't safe. When my daughter was 1 I got a seat that would later convert to a booster by removing the straps. She is 5.5 & I removed the straps and started using the seat belt this summer! Possibly suggest a seat that does that. Maybe she just doesn't want to have to buy another car seat. I hope this helps =)

1 mom found this helpful
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V.B.

answers from Houston on

I'm not even sure that's legal! Outrageously dangerous. Those high back boosters are for kids that are nearly 40 inches tall and 40 lbs. Nevermind the fact that he is only a year old and wouldn't be able to understand to sit still and not take the seatbelt off! The American Academy of Pediatrics is actually recommending that kids stay REAR FACING until age 2 now! Please, please, please let your daughter see these responses. I didn't move my daughter to a high back booster with the belt until she was almost 4 1/2 years old and she still took the seatbelt off one day while driving down the street! I pulled over and she was punished and has never done it again, but she also squirms a lot and I ended up moving her back to a car seat for a few months until she learned that she had to sit right in the seat so that the seat belt came across her chest in the right place. Very dangerous otherwise! I hope, for your grandson's sake, your daughter comes to her senses.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

Here in Texas you can't be in a booster seat until your child is 4 AND 40 LBs. It looks like Tennessee's law is very similar (sounds like one little loop hole)...
http://www.tn.gov/safety/newCRD.htm
Pediatricians are also recommending that a child sit rear facing until age two.

I imagine that this is a financially motivated decision. I know it is tempting to try and save the money on car seats, but it is not worth the risk. There are many safe and reasonably priced car seats that are available...look for sales and coupons. Personally, car seats are something I prefer to buy new, but craigslist and garage sales are also a cheaper alternative.

If she is tired of the hassle of a car seat and it's installation and thinking a booster seat will be "easier", I don't think she's realized that she is trading one inconvenience for another. Even at 4, I had to teach my son how to safely sit in his booster seat. The first trip out in his, he undid the seat belt and was standing up before we left the driveway. It was a very nerve wracking to realize he had so much freedom, I can't imagine a one year old in the same situation.

I hope you are able to convince her!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.F.

answers from Madison on

I'm sure that is illegal! Also very dangerous!! At 1 he is not capable of staying seated properly in a booster seat. Also he is not tall enough or heavy enough. Booster seats are for kids AT LEAST 4 YEARS OLD AND 40 LBS. You can probably google "car seat requirements" for the state she lives in and print those out for her.

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L.L.

answers from Topeka on

NOWAY he is to be in a 5 point restraint carseat with the cars seatbelt strapped to the carseat or latch system on newer vehicles.If any accident were to happen the child will be ejected from the carseat immediately on impact does she want to look for her son that was ejected from the vehicle out on the road??? He is too small height and weight not only that he has lack of muscle control, booster seats are for children ages 4 and up who weigh 40 lbs and up even a 4 yr old who doesn't meet the height and weight limit still should remain in a 5 point forward facing careseat.Hope this helps please put your foot down grandma and protect your grandchild.

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J.K.

answers from Raleigh on

The law in NC and I think in most states is that you need to be 40 lbs to use a regular seat belt with a booster otherwise, you need to be in a 5 point harness. The good news is they make convertible booster seats that can be 5-point harness and then you can switch to the seat belt when they gain weight. My daughter is small and in Kindergarten and is still wearing a 5-point harness. It is very dangerous to wear the seat belt befor 40 lbs. It will not hold them in an accident and they can go flying. Please tell your daughter. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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T.J.

answers from Seattle on

My kids sat facing backward in a britax marathon until they were almost two. That seat goes up to 65lbs! Now my oldest who is tall and big for her age is in a britax frontier booster, you can use the five point harness to 85lbs then the seatbelt to 100lbs.

The aap recommends children stay backward until age two, and there are minimum weight requirements on all seats. I think boosters are 40lbs minimum, but I don't even let my five year old use one because she fidgets a lot.

Have her go to a fire station, they can check seats and make recommendations on which types of seats are best for your grandchild's age and height/weight. Google joel's journey and also Kyle David miller.

NEW booster seat recommendations available at: http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr090810.html BUT your grandchild is still too young and too small for a booster of any kind!!

1 mom found this helpful

L.M.

answers from Dover on

It isn't safe. Kids should be in a 5-pt harness until they are 40 lbs or 43 inches tall (each car seat is different but they are all close to these requirements). There are high back 5-pt harness that can later convert to a high back belt-positioning booster. When the child is 1-3 years old, they would have a tendancy to not sit properly and therefore not be restrained properly!

1 mom found this helpful

B.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Oh wow, please don't allow her to do this, and if she does do something drastic like calling the police. Her son will DIE in even a minor collision, even if she stops short and he's sleeping, he will fly righto ut of the seat.

A child must be AT LEAST 4yrs and AT LEAST 40lbs to ride in a belt positioning booster saet, thats AND, not or.

Please encourage her to google EXTENDED REAR FACING and JOELS JOURNEY.

Its just silly for her to consider putting a baby in a belt positioning booster seat, she needs a major wakeup call.
www.safekids.org and tell her to visit a CSPT via safekids for help and information, they work for free installing, checking, and replacing car seats as needed.

Please knock some sense into her. HAve her look up car seat crash tests on youtube, and google the two terms above.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.A.

answers from San Francisco on

Do they really make such a thing?

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

To put this child in a booster seat only using a lap belt sounds so outrageous I wonder if you might have misunderstood your daughter. My grandchildren used a high back booster that used a 5 point harness but then converted to a booster using only a lap belt once they were the right age, height, and weight.

Current understanding has recently changed standards. Now it is recommended and some states require that a toddler remain rear facing much longer than previously. Perhaps she doesn't know this.

I recommend, as a mother to an adult mother, that you not try to convince her. Print out the regulations for her state and suggest that she talk with someone in the fire department, if they fit baby seats, or a hospital ER.

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E.M.

answers from Louisville on

30 lbs at one year?!?!?! my daughter is 32 lbs and almost 4 wow... ummmm no you dont want a booster im assuming hes not the right height and he will be out of that seat in a second.

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