Booster Seat Feedback

I haven't read ALL the other posts...but I just recently bought my four year old a booster seat. It is a simple Graco from Walmart.

I recommend the kind with a BACK (which has an option of becoming back-less) for a couple of reasons. FIRST, from everything I have read, you child needs a back if the car you have doesn't have a headrest AND if your child is under 40 pounds. SECOND, I love that our new booster seat headrest comes out and allows my son to rest his head on the side of the headrest so he can sleep more comfortably without his neck getting all kinked. I'm so worried about his comfort in the car and I have to say, we love the new boosterseat.

Good luck with your decision if you haven't made one already!

All car seats and booster seats come with height and weight parameters for their specific seat. Read the manuals carefully to know that you are using the right seat for your child's size. The child also has to be mature enough to not "monkey around" with the seatbelt while sitting in a booster seat.
The video about the child ejected from his seat because the seatbelt didn't hold was a marketing tactic for 5-point harness seats. Yes, they are safer as long as you follow the size guidelines for the carseat. Are you concerned that your seatbelt won't hold you? That tragic accident can happen to anyone buckled into a seatbelt.

Try looking at the feed from previous posts. I did once and someone posted a video of a child in a booster and the buckle came undone because it was not a three point harness and the child was ejected and died on impact. My son was ejected and luckily is perfectly fine. It was the most traumatic thing I have ever been through. We have the Britax Marathon now I think. It went up to 65 lbs. I absolutly love britax. I know there was another britax and it went higher but it did not fit on airplanes which is why we went against it. Just make sure you buy the best you can, because in the long run the few hundred dollars is nothing compared to the cost it would be if you were in an accident. Careflight alone alone was $12,000 to Children's hospital. My insurance only covers 10% of medical costs. And that didn't include the hospital bill and doctors. There was a website I bought mine through and it was a reasonable price$209 http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/albee-baby_1998_...
Good Luck, L.

Sorry Mama, I wouldn't put your son in a booster just yet! Safest thing is to keep him in a 5-point harness for as long as possible.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04 - a pretty good video about the importance of staying in a 5-point harness.

What kind of car do you drive? Are you going to be switching the car seats back and forth between cars very often? (With the Regent and the Frontier you want to get them installed and leave them installed as they can be kind of tricky to get in correctly)

We moved my son out of the roundabout at 4.25 years and that was only because he got a ton of grief on a preschool field-trip because he was the only one in a 'baby seat'. If I didn't have a constant battle he would still be in there because I know he's in secure. Sometimes he now messes with the shoulder belt and I'm not sure it's tight enough.

For a safety standpoint they recommend using the back seat to keep the shoulder belt positioned correctly. On little guys it can ride too far up the neck. I think you get rid of the back part around age 5-6 (or depending on height). But I like the full back on our booster because my son will still occassionally fall asleep in the car and it helps to give him some head support so he doesn't topple over :)

I also loved the Britax but found the Evenflo full back booster to be a better fit for him. Plus he loves the hidden compartment to store his drink or snack.

Hi L., I am a car seat tech and would love to help you. The only reason you need the high back booster is if your car does not have head rests behind the seat. That is the purpose of the high back. If your car does have head rests to support your childs head in an accident, then you really only need the simple booster chair, which is much less expensive. Just make sure the seat belt hits him appropriatly accross his chest and neck. if it looks like it is choking him then he may not be ready for it.
S.

I don't know too much about the brands but I do know that the boosters with the backs help to position the shoulder strap (if there is one) across the childs shoulder. I had to use the back of the booster until my daughter's torso was long enough to use the shoulder strap without it. It was convienient because the back was removable, so when she out grew it, I just used the booster seat.

I don't know about brands but about 1yr ago we saw a video from parents whose daughter was killed because she was in a booster. They said if they had a do over they would put her in a 5 point harness seat. If I remember right I believe she was about 4yrs. When I buy a car seat for my granddaughter it will be with a 5 pt harness system