IL Law on Booster Seats?

My understanding is they have to be 4 and 40 pounds and stay in a booster until they're 8 or 80 pounds. I could be wrong, I just moved here from NC but the laws are pretty much standard.

Here is the IL laws:

Child safety seats

* All children ages 12 and under should ride in the back seat.
* Make sure your children are properly restrained every time they ride in the car.
* Infants must be in rear-facing child safety seats until they are at least 20 pounds and one year of age.
* Children over one year of age and between 20 and 40 pounds should be in forward-facing child safety seats or in rear-facing convertible seats if they have not reached the maximum rear facing weight.
* Children ages 4-8 (40 to 80 pounds) must be in booster seats using the car's lap and shoulder belt.
* Read the owner's manual for both your child safety seat and your vehicle for information on proper installation.
* Child safety seats are occasionally recalled so be sure to send in the seat's registration card to be sure you will be notified. You can check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov for information on recalled seats.
* Replace any child safety seat that has been involved in a crash.

It is 80lbs or 8 yrs old. I actually just let my 10 yr old stop using a booster seat when she turned 10. She and her little sister are tiny little things. She only weighed 54lbs when she was 10 and I almost didn't want to let her out of it but I could picture myself dropping her off in high school and her climbing out of it,lol. My youngest will probably be out of hers way before my 8 yr old. She is 7 and already weighs 62lbs. Her big sister is 8 and only weighs 46lbs. I agree that the law doesn't make a lot of sense at all but then again the 4 yr 40lb law for car seats doesn't make any sense at either. My niece is only 4 and weighed enough at about age 2 to get out of a car seat. She already weighs 76 lbs which means that she could be out of a booster seat in no time.

Hi N., they changed the law a few years ago and as far as I understand, it is this way: They have to be in a car seat(any) until one of the following happens: age 8, 80 pounds or a height that I can't remember maybe 48 inches. My 3 year old son is in a booster because it goes from 30 to 100 pounds. The craziness of the law is that when my oldest daughter was 6 she had to go back into a booster until 8 and her friend who was a year older got out of it even though she weighed less and was at least 3 inches shorter than my daughter. Personally I think when they are older it should just be based on height because the booster is just there to get you up high enough for the seat belt to be fitted correctly. Hopefully this helps, you could also check with your pediatrician or even call your local police station.

C.