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

[Matryoshka]

We never wore seatbelts as kids. We never wore seatbelts when we lived in China.

 

Most of the adults alive today can say that, and most of them were never in a serious car accident.  Because the ones who were riding around back then without seatbelts and did get in a crash are now dead, so are not here to give their perspective.  So the anecdotes are a bit skewed.

[catz]

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.

It's not uncommon here at all. I transitioned my oldest out very close to age 12. I allowed him to ride without in other people's cars when needed for short term carpooling, etc., but just kept ours in. It was no big deal - we had it and it still fit him well. I think it's usually pretty obvious when a kid is ready to "really" transition with the belt across the shoulder. Cars and kids are made very differently, so I think it will vary widely. I know 8 year olds that outweigh my almost 13 year old.

 

I grew up without seat belts. I've traveled through Asia, so I get that is not part of the culture there. It just seems like a simple thing to do given the #1 killer of kids ages 1-13 car crashes and we owned the boosters already that aged well with both my kids.

[Pretty in Pink]

All of my children still use car seats of one form or another except for my teenager. He used a booster until he was tall enough to pass the 5 point test, which was around age 10.

[Pretty in Pink]

DP. :P

[Paige]

I don't think I pass the 5 step test. I'm 5'2 but small framed and have never, ever, had a seat belt hit across my thighs and most of the time it's across my neck if the car's belt is not adjustable.

 

My DS is 12 and only about 4'7 and not yet 70lbs. He's gone without a booster a few times but he doesn't pass the 5 step test and he complains he is uncomfortable. He'll stay in a booster until he's 4'9.

 

My younger kids are all smaller than him and smaller than he was at their ages, so I expect they'll all be in boosters until they are 12 or more. I don't get the push to move them out. It doesn't hurt anything to have them sit in one.

 

My mom thinks I am absolutely ridiculous to keep them in seats, but what do I gain by letting them out early? Our state has pitiful laws and most people don't use seats for kids over 6 or 7. Any kid under 7 has to be restrained in a properly fitting safety seat. Kids 7 and up can use seat belts.

[SKL]

My car is over 10 years old, so I wonder if that is why the back seat is so small.  I believe that in those days, there was no booster law in many states, so they designed rear car seats to fit kids, not adults.  Just a thought.

[SKL]

I don't get the push to move them out. It doesn't hurt anything to have them sit in one.

 

It's just that my car is used at least weekly to drive three adults and two kids, meaning one adult has to sit in the back seat between the car seats.  The car seats are way bigger than a kid's butt, so the adult in the middle gets squished.  Not the end of the world, but it will be nice to put this era behind me.

[Freckles]

Like I said, I understand the reasoning. It's just not something I would enforce past second grade. That is my decision for my family. You do what's right for you.

[PeacefulChaos]

Well, I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but I do actually care about the embarrassment factor.  I was the only parent I know (well, DH and I were) who had a kid in a booster til age 9+, and he got teased for it when kids would get in the car - 'Link, why are you riding in a baby seat?  I don't have to ride in one of those.'  Granted, some of these kids moved out of seats before they legally should have, too, so they balked when they were still required to ride in one in our car - 'I don't want to ride in a baby seat!'  I always just told them it was the law and they had to in our car.

He dealt with it for a long time and it didn't bother him.  So when he did start asking, on a regular basis, if he could ride in the seat without it, I let him.  If I wait until he hits 4'9", I"m sure he'll be into the teenage years.  Which would only make things way worse lol.  :)

 

I'm sure that to some of you this is absolutely ridiculous and makes me a bad parent, even.  So be it.  I really don't care.  :)  :P :D

[Freckles]

Most of the adults alive today can say that, and most of them were never in a serious car accident.  Because the ones who were riding around back then without seatbelts and did get in a crash are now dead, so are not here to give their perspective.  So the anecdotes are a bit skewed.

 

We wear our seatbelts now. I just don't think a 12 year old needs to be in a car seat. My opinion only. To each his own.

[Freckles]

Most of the adults alive today can say that, and most of them were never in a serious car accident.  Because the ones who were riding around back then without seatbelts and did get in a crash are now dead, so are not here to give their perspective.  So the anecdotes are a bit skewed.

 

We wear our seatbelts now. I just don't think a 12 year old needs to be in a car seat. My opinion only. To each his own.

[DianeW88]

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

 

When my kiddos were young, it was 4 or 40 pounds.  I know things have changed, but I don't think it's necessarily for the better.  The carseat manufacturing lobby is huge, and honestly, I think it's mostly about money. 

 

I've worked in a Children's Hospital ER, on and off, for over 27 years, and I have seen more car accident victims than I care to remember.

 

Carseats are a life saver...for infants, babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  For school aged children over the age of nine, I have not seen a difference in injury rates between kids restrained with a regular seatbelt vs. a booster.  In some cases, the injuries we've treated were caused by the child being in the booster itself.  Most parents do not have the seat properly installed (and please don't rely on those "car seat check stations" at firehouses or hospitals.  Unless the car seat manufacturer is there, those people don't know any more than you do.  We watch a short video and see a demo on proper installation, and that's it.), many automobile vehicle seats are not correctly designed for a larger child in a booster, and honestly, I've seen cases where the force of the crash, combined with the height and weight of the child, caused the booster to fail...and then the kid's a missle with a car seat attached to him.  

 

I know people will argue with this, and I think every parent should do what makes them feel best and what they feel is right for their child.  If you want your kid in a carseat until he's 14, then go for it.  I know there are statistics that will say the opposite of what I've seen.  But you know what Mark Twain (via Benjamin Disraeli) said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics." ;)

 

And I pray nobody here EVER has to have their child in the ER for an automobile accident.  So don't text or talk on your cell phone while driving...please!! Safe travel wishes for everybody!! :)

[Mommy22alyns]

If they're 8+ and can pass the 5 point test.  Rebecca rode in DH's very small car last year at 9 with no booster.  Our main car is an SUV, so both girls are still in HBB (they're on the petite side for their ages).  Sylvia has ridden in our friend's minivan with no booster as well.

 

My kids might be 14 before they hit 80 lbs!   :laugh:

[SKL]

Yeah, I can't really go by weight, as my eldest is about 40lbs.  :)

 

My girls are in 2nd grade and I don't know whether any of their friends are out of their seats yet.  I am sure many will be by 3rd grade though.

[Catwoman]

From what you have described, it sounds like your girls are still too young, too small, and not heavy enough to be out of their booster seats, but we don't have small cars (except for our sports cars, but they are 2-seaters,) so I can't imagine a 6.5yo being tall enough to fit properly in a back seat without a booster.

 

What do your state laws say about it?

[LisaKinVA]

All our children (thus far) have been about 9yo.  The oldest is finally over 100 pounds (he's 13, but about 5'4...with a bit of growing still to go).  My next two are about the same height/weight (11.5 yo dd is 1/2" taller than 10yo son, he caught up to her about 2 years ago...they trade spots for who weighs more on any given day...both appear to be getting ready to grow some more, but neither weighs over 80#)  My 7yo weighs maybe 5 pounds more than her 4.5yo sister, but she's in a Sunshine 5pt/booster seat...where she'll stay until she's too big for it.  She hates it, though.  My tiny 4.5yo will probably be in one until she's over 10 (and we're back in the states).  It's been different with each one.

[twoxcell]

 

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

We have no choice here. The law is 8 or 4' 9" I don't know any kids who are 4' 9" before 8. Kids are also required to be in a 5pt harness until 4 and 40lbs. My second dd just broke 40lbs at age 5.5 but I haven't switched her to a booster yet. My older two kids are big and my other two are small.

[swellmomma]

Well this week dd5 has just been using a regular seatbelt.  I hate it, but she was with auntie on vacation for 2 weeks and using my nephew's spare booster.  I had left her booster at gramma's because we thought we would be coming in to gramma's house to get her.  Only gramma and poppa stayed an extra coupld days on the vacation(they vacationed with auntie et al.).  So her booster is still in the city 2 hours away and my sister drove dd5 to meet us 1/2 way) so we won't be able to get her booster back until next weekend at the soonest and that is a 2 hour drive away.  My bigs were just using seatbelts by 5, because back then that is what was done.  ds9 was 6 when I moved him out of the booster, but he has always been a big boy.  Dd5 really is just barely over 40lbs, I am not feeling too safe with her out of it, my plan is to keep her in it until 60lbs or 8-9 which ever happens first

[SKL]

Yeah, I was just checking to see how much Miss E will have to grow in order to be 4'9" and that's when I realized how tall that actually is.  That's overkill given my car's design.  I guess I'll go by what feels right - it's a $25 fine if I get stopped for breaking the rule, but how do they know if my kid is 8yo or not?

[momofkhm]

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.

 

Legally in NC, it's 8 and 80 pounds.

 

Until that law was enacted in time for my youngest, it was the 5 point test.  For my kids, it was early.  Of course some people would say I've let my kids in the front seat too early too.  

[zoobie]

Once they pass the 5 step test. Most state requirements are a joke. I don't gauge parenting decisions on the bare minimums required by law. :)

 

My kids are tall though. If I had an extraordinarily petite child, I probably wouldn't make her take the Turbobooster to high school. ;)

[zoobie]

It's just that my car is used at least weekly to drive three adults and two kids, meaning one adult has to sit in the back seat between the car seats. The car seats are way bigger than a kid's butt, so the adult in the middle gets squished. Not the end of the world, but it will be nice to put this era behind me.

Will the booster fit in the middle seat? There's one called the Bubblebum that's great for traveling and has a slim profile.

[SKL]

80 lbs sounds kind of ridiculous.  I didn't think weight was a factor as far as safety goes.  Why on earth would my friend's chubby child be safer in a seatbelt than my slim, muscular child at the same height?

[Dustybug]

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.

 

This is likely what I will do.  My 7yo is still in a high back booster and was actually still in the 5pt. harness until last year when the chest clip broke.  Otherwise, she'd still be in it.  

[Matryoshka]

80 lbs sounds kind of ridiculous.  I didn't think weight was a factor as far as safety goes.  Why on earth would my friend's chubby child be safer in a seatbelt than my slim, muscular child at the same height?

 

Weight really has absolutely nothing to do with it.  They should just leave it off as a criteria.  Short stocky/chubby kids get out way too early that way, and I don't think two of mine hit 80 lbs. till they were over 5' tall, when they were more than tall enough to go without a booster.

 

The boosters have to have higher weight limits because some kids too short to leave a booster do weigh that much - that doesn't mean that weight is a minimum to get out, it's a maximum to use the booster.

[ByGrace3]

I am kind of known as a car seat snob by my friends...but I know I am no where near some people ;) my oldest 2 are in high back boosters. I moved them to boosters around 6. Truth be told my ds should still be rear facing at his weight....he's small...but I am trying to find a balance. I moved my youngest forward facing at 3 and she will be in a five point until at least 6 like the others. I plan to keep my older two in boosters until 4'9 as recommended. I am not ridiculous about it and have let my oldest ride in just a seat belt if riding in someone else's car, but as for our car and my parents where they mostly ride-- boosters it is. :)

[Renee in NC]

Legally in NC, it's 8 and 80 pounds.

 

Until that law was enacted in time for my youngest, it was the 5 point test.  For my kids, it was early.  Of course some people would say I've let my kids in the front seat too early too.  

 

It's 8 OR 80, not and.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Certainly not before the law says.  And 50% of 10yos should still be in a booster.  And I have no issue with kids in boosters through their preteen years (I won't be making teens be in one though).  

 

My son (now 18) was in one til 11.  That was when he outgrew his booster.  

I expect my oldest three littles to be in one til 11 or 12.  

 

I think that the law being later as well as more and more information being available will make it more normal for 8, 9, 10, even 11 and 12yos.  It may take some time; but I do think it is so.  

 

There really is no hurry to move them.  I wouldn't leave them in a booster once they are past the measurements for the seat; but I would rather them be in seats and safer until they must move to a regular seat belt.

 

ETA: My six littles are all in five point harnesses.  Occasionally, the 6 or 7 year olds will use a booster, such as when riding with someone else or if I need more flexibility in the van for some reason.  My kids are small and I don't believe any child is 100% about how they sit in the seat (since most adults aren't either). 

[Heather in Neverland]

Legally in NC, it's 8 and 80 pounds.

 

Until that law was enacted in time for my youngest, it was the 5 point test. For my kids, it was early. Of course some people would say I've let my kids in the front seat too early too.

Good heavens. My 9.5 yo ds is only 62 lbs. He'd be in a car seat until he was old enough to drive himself!

[Laura Corin]

It doesn't have to be a car seat.  You can use a booster.  It's just a simple little thing (can find one for under $20).  Nobody would even see that he is sitting on it unless they came right up to the car and looked in. 

 

It seems seat belts are mostly designed with average sized adults in mind.  I'm not an average sized adult so even I don't sit properly in the back seat of the car.

 

Yes.  Hobbes was in a backless booster until his 13th birthday, when the seatbelt fit without it.

 

L

[swellmomma]

If I had to wait until dd14 was 80 lbs she would still be in a booster seat and she is in high school this year.  She is very petite, so while she just finally hit 5'-ish this summer she is only 71bs.  By contrast my ds turning 10 in 2 days is 110lbs and 5' tall already, he hit 80lbs when he was still 7 I believe. Well neither of them are in boosters anyway :) Talked to my folks yesterday, my dad will drive to me to bring me the booster rather than me driving to them just in case.  DD5 while she is enjoying the use of the regular seat belt without her booster really should still have it so she will. She is like dd14 in that she is slow to gain weight but she is tall for her age, though no where near 4'9"

[mamaraby]

We will follow the law. And yes, my carseats are installed properly. And no, I don't think it's safe for my 8yo to be out of his booster seat let alone my 5yo. As for the carseat lobby, really? They're failing big time considering how little I've spent spread over all the years my kids have been in carseats. Backless boosters for the older set aren't exactly huge income streams. They're like...what, $20?

 

8yo/4'9"/80lbs is the state law. Ds is 8yo, he's 60ish lbs, and under 4'9". Most importantly, if he doesn't sit in the booster, the seatbelt doesn't fit him properly so booster it is. End of story. I really don't care what other kids think. We wear bike helmets. We wear our seatbelts and our kids are in carseats/booster seats whether it's popular or not. It's the same attitude my parents had. I survived any short term embarassment. My kids will too.

[kentuckymom]

Squirrelboy was in a 5 pt. harness until shortly after his 8th birthday. It was then that he reached 65 lbs, the upper limit of his harness. He's still using it as a high back booster, and he'll stay in a booster of some kind until he's at least 4'9". He's 4'3" now, so I'm guessing he'll be 10 or 11 before he gets out of a booster. Kittygirl is still rearfacing, and the plan is to keep her that way until she no longer fits rearfacing in her carseat according to the manufacture limits. She has about 3 inches to go, so it'll be awhile. She's a bit a smaller than Squirrelboy was at her age, and girls tend to be smaller, so she may be in a booster until middle school.

 

The laws in Kentucky are ridiculous. Kids have to be a 5 pt. harness until 4 years or 40 in. and a booster until 6 years or 50 in. So if she lived in Kentucky SKL would be within the law to take her daughter out of a booster. i cringe when I see tiny kindergarteners riding with just a seatbelt. I hate the argument that "We did it that way and survived." The fact is, some people didn't survive. A family in our neighborhood let their teenager ride a four wheeler on the street at dusk. He was hit by a car at an intersection and killed. I'm sure his parents thought he was perfectly safe. He was even wearing a helmet, which they probably didn't do when they rode four wheelers.

 

I don't think this is a matter of family preference. Kids should not be out of boosters until they really truly fit with just the seatbelt. Anything else is simply unsafe. Yes, that can vary by car. In that case, if your kid fits in your car's rear seat while still under 4'9", you should have a backless booster handy for when he/she rides in other cars.

[Joker]

Both of my dds were out of boosters around eight. I know they wouldn't have met the weight requirements many are listing here but they met height and age. In my state the law says they must be in a child seat if they are under five years old. There is nothing specified above that other than recommendations.

[Hwin]

My 7yo will be out of a booster as soon as he can pass the 5 step test, right now he's close, but in the past I've found that "close" can mean another year or more of growth :tongue_smilie:  He will be transitioning to a backless soon, as he will be in the middle back seat between two little ones in carseats and that's all that will fit. I don't feel that he'll be any safer in a backless that he doesn't need, than sitting in just the belt if he's tall enough. But I'm not going to rush it. I've mulled my different options, and three across is a pain no matter the configuration.