S/O when do you let them out of the car booster seat?

[SKL]

Miss E at 6.5 is not far from meeting the "five point test" for riding in the back seat with a regular seatbelt.  (Currently she's in a high-back booster.)  How many of you have let your kids out of the booster a little younger than the recs, say, 7yo?  It would be nice to have enough space for three people to sit in the back seat without squishing.

[SemiSweet]

We just let ds ride without a booster on his 10th birthday.  He probably would have passed the 5 point test sooner and we had made exceptions a few times, but we kept him in for our cars.  DD is 8 and she is still in a hbb but she won't always sit properly either, so I refuse to move her.  

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest got out of the booster at 10yo. My middle dd got out at 11yo (she was very short). My youngest got out of the booster at 8yo.

[NorthwestMom]

When they hit 4'9"

[gardenmom5]

dudeling was in his booster past his 8th birthday.  then there was so much in and out and different cars, he didn't always have it available and wanted to sit in the very back . . . I gave up fighting him over it.  I would have been happy to keep him in it longer, as I think it's safer.

 

it is less about age, and more height and weight.

[melmichigan]

I'm anal about carseats after working in the ER. My oldest was in a booster until she outgrew it, back then they only had to be in a carseat until 4yo/40lbs, now it's 8yo/80lbs. My kids are in a five point harness until 65lbs, then high back boosters until 100lbs and 4ft 9in, usually around 9/10 yo. At one point I had five kids in carseats, very inconvenient.

[Mena]

My 10yo is exceptionally tall, so we let him out of his booster seat on his 8th birthday. He would have been fine without a booster at 7, but our state law requires kids to use them until they turn 8. My other kids stopped using boosters at 9 or 10. 

[mysticmomma]

Five step test and out grow seat by weight or height.

[redsquirrel]

My boys are petite as am I. In fact, when it comes to height, I should still be in a booster, lol.

 

So, my son was out of the 5 point when he was too big for the seat...around 9 or 10? We have some huge beast of a Britax that goes from 5 point to booster and he fit in the 5 point harness forever. So we took off the straps and he sat in it as a booster until he was almost 12. Now at 13 he is so huge (he had a growth spurt) that it is funny to think of him in a seat at all. He's taller than me.

 

My almost 9 year old still fits in the 5 point. He has the same type of seat as his brother had. It lasts forever. It hasn't expired either. It has a steel something or other that made it last an extra long time.

[Χά�ων]

DS was in a 5pt harness until well after his 8th birthday and was 4'8" so...

[PeacefulChaos]

I kept link in his til he regularly asked to not ride in it anymore. It was this summer, so he was 9/9.5.

Astro is already asking to get out. He will be 8 in November, so definitely until then, but we will see - if he keeps up with the asking, it will be then. If he forgets, we will put it off for awhile.

 

My kids are short, I think. Well, supposedly they are average, iirc, but they certainly aren't tall. I think link is maybe 4'3"-4'5"?? And Astro is maybe 2" shorter.

Link has been about this size for like 3 years. I think he was right at 4' the last time we had season passes to our local amusement park, which was 2010. He has been wearing the same clothes since then, too, which I'm starting to get really tired of!! ;)

[PentecostalMom]

We have Britax Frontier 85 seats for both my 3yo and 7yo.  They will stay in the straps until they no longer fit, then will be in the high back booster until they no longer fit, I don't care how old they are, how tall they are, or how much they weigh.  Let me clarify that to say that if they are outside of manufacturer specs for the seats, we will adjust that.  All of my dc are tall/big for their age, so I think they will outgrow the seats before they hit the weight limit.  I grew up as the daughter of a law enforcement officer and and a nurse and have heard one too many sad tales.  I will have four in carseats when the newest little one arrives.

[Dmmetler]

In TN, the law is age 9 unless they're over 4' 9". In DD's case, she'll be 9 in a few months, but probably won't be out of her booster for another several years-she's barely 4" 0, and only about 45 lbs. Some of her friends are already out, but they're significantly taller and heavier than she is.

 

Luckily, her favorite 12 yr old cousin is ALSO still in her booster (we're a petite family) :)-although her mother did say this summer that she wasn't going to make her take her booster along for carpooling to and from middle school this year (she'll still have hers in the family mini-van, though).

 

 

[twoxcell]

Our state law is 8 years old or 4' 9" so none of mine will stop using a booster until at least 8. My oldest rides without one but he is over 100 lbs and about 4' 9". My oldest dd will be 8 at the end of October and I will see then if I think she is ready and big enough. My younger two are both still in 5 pt harness seats for now.

[blondeviolin]

We have five kids in car seats. My 7yo still rides in a harness and will until she outgrows the Diono. She is tall, but we've got a bit of time...

[Acorn]

I think our state law is 4'9"to be out of a booster. There might be an age that is and./or also.

[NatashainDFW]

It is all about age and height. No matter how mature you think your child is or how much they weight their bones are still only as old as they are and until the seat belt fits correctly (meaning sits over their thighs and not their stomach and goes across the shoulder and not against the neck) it just isn't safe to not be in a booster unless they have reached puberty. Bone ossification at puberty is what makes an ill fitting seat belt not nearly as dangerous as before puberty. DS1 will be nine in Dec but is only 4'5" (can't believe I said only because he stands up to my shoulders lol) so he is in a low back booster and will remain in one for some time. DD is moving into a Britax Frontier that will keep her harnessed until 90 pounds once her current seat expires at the end of the year. She will remain harnessed in it until she outgrows it by height or weight. I would rather embarrass my kids over their seats than risk injury because they aren't in them.

[Heather in Neverland]

No one really uses car seats here and there are no laws requiring you to do so. The only ones who use them are expats and even they generally stop using them after a short while. My daughter is still in a car seat at 3.5 years old. My ds was still in one at age 5.5 when we moved here but we stopped using it shortly afterwards. Living in the US, however, my oldest ds was in one until about age 7 but he was quite tall for his age.

[Laura Corin]

When their bottoms were properly against the back of the seat with the knees bent over the edge of the seat.  For Hobbes, that was when he turned 13.

 

L

[sewingmama]

Mine are still in 5 point harnesses. They are quite small kids.

[cathmom]

Age 8 and shoulder belt not across neck.

[Caitilin]

Have short light kids here. Probably minimum of 10 yo. I'm convinced of the value of cars eats, including boosters after our car-totalling rollover last month. Dd9 is probably no more than 50ish pounds, and walked away uninjured largely thanks to her booster. :)

[Cindy in FL.]

My ds who will be 13 in less than a month is only 4ft 10in and weighs 71lbs. He is not in a booster, but this makes me wonder if he should be?! I'm trying to encourage him to eat more/better so he can GROW! :)

 

I'm anal about carseats after working in the ER. My oldest was in a booster until she outgrew it, back then they only had to be in a carseat until 4yo/40lbs, now it's 8yo/80lbs. My kids are in a five point harness until 65lbs, then high back boosters until 100lbs and 4ft 9in, usually around 9/10 yo. At one point I had five kids in carseats, very inconvenient.

[Wheres Toto]

My oldest was done with boosters/car seats around her 7th birthday.  Right after her 7th birthday is when the recommendations changed and we did not put her back into a booster at that point.   We were actually in a fairly bad, head-on collision in a Honda Civic where the car was totalled.  She was fine, but she's always been tall and I have no idea how the seatbelts fit her way back then.

 

My son just turned 8 and is still in a low-back booster, although I plan to check his height soon (he's tall) and see how the belts fit.  IF he's tall enough/they fit well, we may not make every other person who drives him around use a booster.  Our Suburban has belt adjusters that I think will make it fit him fine in that car, I'm not as sure of our Honda Accord.

 

My youngest is in a backless booster.  She's almost as tall as her brother, sits well and the belts fall correctly.

 

Does anyone know the rule about the car headrests when using a backless or no seat?  I thought I read somewhere that the child's head should fall in a certain position on the headrests (at most top even with the ears??) - does anyone know what that recommendation is?  I noticed the other day that while in his booster, ds's head was pretty high up on the headrest.

[Parrothead]

Back in the day it was age 4 or 40 pounds. Dd came out of the car seat about the time she was 4.5. We grow 'em big around here. At that age most people thought she was 6 or 7.

[beaners]

Ok, I'm super strict on car seats for my kids.  But some of the parent requirements here would have had a couple of my friends in high school carrying a booster around for those times their friends drove them to school. I think someone mentioned 100 pounds? One of the guys on the cross country team didn't break 100 pounds until his senior year.  He was able to drive a car before that person would let him out of a booster.  :lol:  

[Matryoshka]

Miss E at 6.5 is not far from meeting the "five point test" for riding in the back seat with a regular seatbelt.  (Currently she's in a high-back booster.)  How many of you have let your kids out of the booster a little younger than the recs, say, 7yo?  It would be nice to have enough space for three people to sit in the back seat without squishing.

 

One of my dds did not pass the 5-pt test till past her 12th birthday!  She's tiny - your dd must be tall! :)  Her twin sister had been out two years or more by the time she got out of the booster.

 

The gold standard is the 5-pt test.  It is more about height and also femur length (to see if their legs bend naturally at the curve of the seat so they don't slouch and end up with the belt over their tummies rather than hips) than it is about weight or age.  The key is that the built-in belt fits them properly.  Same dd at 12 and finally 4'9" still hadn't hit 80 lbs, but she was finally tall enough to pass the 5-pt test, so I let her out.

 

You may also find that your child can pass the test in one car and not another, depending on the depth of the seat.  The rear bench of the van, for example, is narrower than the middle row/captain's chairs, so they'd pass it sooner in the way back.

 

[DianeW88]

Uh...5 maybe?  I can't even imagine keeping a child in a booster past age 7.

[Desert Strawberry]

My oldest was 9.

My 7 year old just outgrew the high back on his booster and moved into a lowback.

my tiny 4 year old just turned forward facing in his baby seat, so I can't imagine he'll be out of a booster before he's twelve.

[Desert Strawberry]

Dp

[Mommyof4ks]

My middle ds is out of a booster in our van at 9, but he still needs one in our truck, because the seatbelt does not fit him properly yet without one. Dd was out of a booster at 8 for the same reason. My kids are tall, but the big vehicles we drive have seatbelts that do not fit right until almost adult height.

[MomtoCandJ]

Dd is in a high back booster, she is 40 inches tall and 40ish pounds. I'll let her out when she reaches 4'9" (which maybe a while). In Dh's truck and dmil's car dd is in a backless booster (she doesn't ride with them often and they wanted seats they could put in the trunk or under the seat if they needed to).

[Soror]

Ds is still in one at 9. The law here is 8. I'm hoping he is tall enough by his b-day next year to be out of it.

[SKL]

Miss E is long-legged and growing like a weed.  :)  Soon it will be time for me to figure out the belt adjuster . . . .  But in reality I suspect I will keep her in the booster until her older, smaller sister gets out (I'll probably let her out at age 8).  I seem to have a car with smaller back seats or something.  Here's hoping it still works for a couple more years.  :)

[sassenach]

My van has seatbelts made for linebackers (full-sized conversion van), so my 5ft tall 10yo is still in a booster. We got in a pretty significant accident last month and I was really grateful that I've remained a stickler all these years.

 

Dd made it out of the booster at around 11years old.

 

In my dh's sedan, dd8 is still in a booster, but ds fits just fine without.

 

It's all about fit. Does the seatbelt fit right even after your dd has been wiggling around and shifting her body? It's one thing to sit straight and tall and have the seatbelt look passable, it's a whole other thing to have it fit in real life use. Also, consider getting a backless booster if you need more room.

[DianeW88]

If your 7 year old were the size of a 4 year old you would.  Plus they recommend it up until 4ft 9 (between around ages 8 and 12).  My 11 year old is just about there.  I still have him sitting on the base of the booster because the belt doesn't fit properly otherwise.  It doesn't fit me properly at 5ft 1.

 

My dd is only 5'3" as a full grown adult.  She was tiny as a child.  She was out of her booster by six.  My 12 yo ds just reached 4'9" this year.  He was out of a booster by six or seven as well.  So yes, I would.

[melmichigan]

Ok, I'm super strict on car seats for my kids. But some of the parent requirements here would have had a couple of my friends in high school carrying a booster around for those times their friends drove them to school. I think someone mentioned 100 pounds? One of the guys on the cross country team didn't break 100 pounds until his senior year. He was able to drive a car before that person would let him out of a booster. :lol:

It's based on height, weight is secondary. The hundred pounds is what the seats accomodate, not what is necessary to get out of them. My DC are extremely tall so they were out of the seat well before 100 pounds, my nieces are very heavy set so they would need the 100 pounds.

 

I did go to high school with a girl who was so short she had a carseat in her car, and peddle adjustments. :)

[Karen in CO]

Colorado law is that kids must be in a child seat until they are 8.  It is a newish law.  Before that, I followed my pediatrician's guidance on proper fit for a seat - bend of the knees and position of the seatbelt.

[melmichigan]

Yeah no kidding. Like I said, height wise the seat belts in the back don't work right for me. The thing is around my neck. It's so uncomfortable! So I usually end up pulling that chest part down around my waist so I don't feel like I'm being choked. And then of course that almost defeats the purpose.

All of our cars have seatbelt adjusters on all the rear seats. I love them because it keeps the seatbelt where it should be even once they are out of boosters. My sister got the short genes in the family and she even uses them when she visits. They also make it easier to use backless boosters if you are pushed for space. I hope all cars will have them in the future, not everyone is tall.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

My 10 year old is still in one. He is tiny for his age. He understands this and doesn't object to the booster seat, it makes riding in the car more comfortable as his seat belt fits correctly in the booster.  I think he'll be in it until he is 12 or so. It depends on his growth. I don't think he'll reach 100 lbs anytime soon but he may get taller.

[melmichigan]

Here that would be against the law. They have to be 8.

The laws still vary based on state. The Academy of Pediatrics recommendation is higher than most state laws.

 

http://elitecarseats.com/child-car-seat-laws-state/. This may be a little outdated but gives a general idea.

[chiguirre]

I put Trinqueta back in a car seat when the law changed in Texas, although I wasn't really sure if she needed one since she's very tall. On her 8th birthday, I gave it away. I let her sit in the front seat when she was weighed enough for the air bag to activate (and I realized that she was taller than several of my mini van driving mom friends). The front is more comfortable and her experience matches WendyK's, the front seat belt fits better than the back seat belts.

[jenn-]

My kids have all varied as to when they have gotten out.  Only 1 of the three that are out was 8 before he got out.  The other two were tall enough to come out before their eighth birthday and the seatbelt actually hit too low with a backless booster and you couldn't adjust the back high enough to get the proper placement.  My current 7yo will probably be out of his before his next birthday for the same reason.  If we were having to wait until they reached 100 lbs my 5' 6" daughter would still be in one.

[LucyStoner]

My usually top of the growth chart for height older son didn't pass the 5 point test until he was 9. I've never seen anyone pass in a regular sized car before they were 8 and huge (I used to be a NHTSA CPS Tech who did volunteer car seat checks). Are you quite certain your daughter is close to passing it now? She can sit with her back against the back of the seat and her knees reach the edge and bend down over? The belt goes over her shoulder, center on her collar bone and not neck? The lap belt is on her thighs and not her belly? She never falls asleep while driving? IIRC you have said your girls are smaller for their age? Or did I mix you up with someone else? Is your daughter who you think is close to passing 52 or more inches tall at only 6?

 

Here are pictures of older kids passing and not passing the test. No one is even 7-8, much less 6.

 

http://carseatblog.com/3966/the-5-step-test/

[SKL]

One of my kids is smaller, the other is growing quickly these days.  She used to be petite when she was a tot.

 

And my rear seat is a lot smaller than the ones in those linked photos.

 

I would still have to use a belt adjuster to be doing it right.  I do have an adjuster.

 

The other day my kid puked all over her car seat, so I removed it and we completed our trip without it.  She was pretty close to fiitting , butt back, feet almost flat on the floor.

[craftyerin]

My kids will graduate when they pass the 5-step test.  Most informative article I've ever seen on this: 

 

http://csftl.org/boosters-are-for-very-big-kids/

 

 

[catz]

I've transitioned my kids pretty close to 4'9". My son hit that at 11. I just transitioned my out of a hhb daughter at 9. She is a little short, but our seat belts adjust short and she's well positioned with it set at the lowest setting. My son is now almost 13 year olds. He's like 4'10" and sub 80 lbs. I still don't let him ride in the front unless I need to.

[catz]

Dp

[Freckles]

I think they were six. They were allowed to sit in the front when they finished third grade. I understand the reasoning, but I can't imagine pulling up to the middle school and watching my 12 year old hop out of a car seat. It seems very odd to me considering some grown adults will never pass the size test. We never wore seatbelts as kids. We never wore seatbelts when we lived in China.

[Dory]

My oldest is the only one out of his booster seat. It's not legally a necessity for my other two to be in one where I live, but seat belts across necks or behind backs makes me cringe. My dd is almost tall enough, by her 9th birthday, she'll probably be out of her booster as well.