Are there any dangers to harnessing a child past a certain age?

[Mom2Connor]

A booster is not like sitting on a phone book. It isn't to just make them taller. Boosters have belt guides on the hip area so the childs immature skeletal hips/pelvis doesn't take the brunt of the impact. The booster does. A high back booster also has a belt guide to help properly position the shoulder strap and can help keep kids positioned correctly if they fall asleep.

[Computermama]

Originally Posted by c&w's mama this is the first time I've ever heard boosters might be a good idea... I've always been told 5pt harness is better. Since the seats look safer, I believed it. My state has kids in some type of seat virtually forever. I was told a booster was like sitting on a phone book. I'd like to learn more about this because I need another seat.

Nope. There is no evidence that there is a safety difference between a high back booster seat and a forward facing harnessed seat, with one large proviso - the child has to be mature enough to sit properly in the seat with a booster, vs the harness which doesn't really give the child a choice. Most neuro-typical kids are capable of this at around 5 or 6. This is why many of us booster train - start using the booster only for short trips at first, harnessing for long trips until we see that the child can manage short trips. Sweden, the gold standard for child seat safety, has many children skipping right over the FF harness stage, going straight from RF in a harness to a booster seat at age 4-5.

And as stated above, a booster has several more safety features than a phone book, including belt guides to make sure that the seatbelt hits the child properly, and false hips to help absorb crash energies instead of an immature pelvis. A highback booster also has some side impact protection as well.

[monica-m]

Originally Posted by c&w's mama this is the first time I've ever heard boosters might be a good idea... I've always been told 5pt harness is better. Since the seats look safer, I believed it. My state has kids in some type of seat virtually forever. I was told a booster was like sitting on a phone book. I'd like to learn more about this because I need another seat.

Whomever told you that has no understanding of how booster seats work. PPs have covered the lack of evidence to support this, etc. How old and big is your child and does he/she have the maturity to be in charge of his/her own safety in addition to staying in position at all times, even while sleeping?

[Greenbabybottoms]

So I thought I'd update. We took a bit of an impromptu trip to my parents hOuse today, it is about a 40 minute drive and i put her marathon in the back just in case. The entire drive there she was perfect, the drive home she fell asleep and I was really nervous. I kept an eye on her and did have to call to her twice to remind her she had to sit up straight. The second time I was ready to pull over at the next exit to put her marathon in but then noticed she was self correcting as she started to doze and was clearly making an effort to stay in the right position. That was all within 10 minutes of leaving my parents, as far as I could tell the entire rest of the trip she was perfect, sat straight kept her head back against the headrest. I clearly have not given her enough credit. I'm still going to give it another week and let the novelty wear off but I actually think she may be ready.

[monica-m]

Tell her to tip her head back when she's feeling sleepy. Where the head goes, the body will follow. Glad to hear things are going well so far.

[THBVsMama]

We had no choice but to booster train shortly before DS turned 5. He was (is) a beast of a child and outgrew the harness height to his Frontier 80. He has always been a dream in the car. I've never had any slouching/leaning issues with him.

DD is much shorter than he was at this age, but I still plan on booster training at around age 5-5.5. If it works, great. If she lacks the maturity, I have no qualms about continuing to harness until she can prove she's ready.

[hilaryisinked]

Originally Posted by Dory I think she was referring to hers, in her post. Which, is a very common way of thinking, so I wouldn't call either stupid. When it comes to car safety, the only really stupid logic is the "I didn't ever ride in anything and I lived." no one here is stupid.

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[hilaryisinked]

Originally Posted by Computermama What we're going to do once the horrible nasty road weather clears with my 5 year old is leave the straps in her nauti, but use it as a booster for short in town trips - we live in a smallish town, so across town is ~15 minutes at most. If she does well with that for a few weeks, then widen the radius where she can go in the booster. Take it slow, remind her that she has to sit still or she won't be safe in the booster. Ease her into it.

That sounds like a good approach

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[Leighleighbuggy]

I am wondering when to booster my older son. He is 6 years old but very small for his age and still fits height wise in the Diono radian. I currently still have him harnessed because we travel long distances (we live way out in the country) and he often falls asleep in the car. This is the first I have heard a booster may be a safer option, so I guess I need to look into training him. He still looks so little to me LOL!

[allhiskids]

We are soon to be in the market for a combination. He is 5.7 now but only weighs 34 pounds and is 40 inches tall. I plan to keep him harnessed a while longer.