Booster Seat with Anchor or Without?

This info has been passed around here for the last couple of days or so, and the more I read the less clear it becomes to me.

I would like for someone to explain to me why it would/could ever be a bad idea to use the anchors. I'm just not understanding why this is a conversation. I'm chuckling because, the way she started, I thought Marda was going to clear it all up for us, but she might as well have written in geometric shapes instead of using letters to make her words.

You can latch a booster IF the seat allows it. In this case it's merely to hold the SEAT in, if empty. If you buy one without latch you need to buckle the empty booster every trip.

There is some speculation that a latched booster could provide better protection in certain crashes, and less protection in others. The data isn't really there.

I would want a high-back one. Extra side protection can't hurt. Look for a deep seat.

I find the latched kind are easy since it's already anchored!

You are not to use the latch system when a child and 5 point harness seat weighs more than 65 pounds combined (or whatever weight your carseat is rated for). Booster seats used WITHOUT a 5 point harness can be safely anchored to the seat. The purpose of this is to prevent it from being a projectile in the case of an accident when the child is not in the seat. The car's seatbelt will be what is restraining your child. The anchor will not be what is holding the child to the seat, so it continues to be safe.

Latch anchors are only designed and tested to secure children up to 40 lbs. Period. Anything beyond 40 lbs you should use a seatbelt to secure the seat.

In case of a booster seat using the LATCH anchors will secure the car seat when it us UNOCCUPIED. So in case of an accident the seat won't become a projectile and injure other occupants in your car.

We have a Britax Frontier in one of our cars, an extended use high back booster that allows harnessed operation until 85 lbs and belt positioning use until 120 lbs. The seat is secured in my car with the regular seat belt (much like a convertible car seat) and DD buckles in using the harness. That is the correct usage for that seat according to Britax.
Check the manual for the seat you choose to buy.

By the way the 40 lbs weight limit also applies to convertible seats! Once a child hits 40 lbs any convertible seat should be secured in the car using the seatbelt instead of LATCH... this is important since many convertibles, which used to have a 40 lbs weight limit, can now be used to 65 lbs and beyond.

I agree there is a lot of confusing information out there and realistically I think it is fairly unlikely that the LATCH anchors would give... BUT they are only tested and recommended up until 40 lbs and any use beyond that is at your own risk.

Good luck.

Both the backed booster and the no-back booster that we have for our child come with no anchor or tether. As long as that is how the booster is supposed to be installed, it's fine.

If combined weight of child and seat is 65 lbs, no latch..

You're getting a lot of incorrect information on here. The purpose of having Latch on a booster is to secure the seat to the car, so that it doesn't become a projectile in a crash if it's unoccupied. If you don't have latch on a booster, you are supposed to buckle the booster in every time after the child gets out of it so that if it is empty and you're driving around, the booster seat is still buckled in (I knew that wasn't going to happen in my car, so I opted for boosters with latch).

The 40 lb rule doesn't apply to booster seats because the latch is not securing the child. It is only securing the seat. You are using the belt to secure the child. It is true that you can't use a belt and latch together on a seat with a harness, but, again, it does not apply when using a seat in booster mode.

There's no real need for a back on a booster seat. It serves no purpose except giving them sort of a shelf to lay their head against is they sleep in it. I always stop and recline their seat a tiny bit so their head naturally goes back instead of forward once they fall asleep on long trips. Otherwise they stay awake and have no use for that side piece.

I'd go with the most padded seat and use only the base with cups. That way kiddo has everything they need.

If you have an anchor why not use it? There's nothing that says it will do damage to your child if it's in use right? It's just supposed to keep it in place instead of sliding around? To me that's not an issue because we never had a vehicle that had them.

We had a van that had integrated seats, they folded down and had a 5 point harness. When the kids got bigger we put them on a cheap Walmart booster, the only reason to have a booster is to raise the child's chest up for the seat belt to fit across their chest instead of going too close to their throat. SO any booster will do the same thing. Really, they can say they do all sorts of stuff but they all do the same basic thing, make them taller in the seat. They don't do anything else. The seat belt makes them as safe as any adult would be in that seat.

I have the Sunshine Kids/Diono Radian RXL carseats which came with a special breakaway anchor for kids under 40 pounds, and it still has the full latch system to use to hold the seat in, yes, even with the anchors. I have a 2002 Camry and no problems at all. We are still using the 5 point harness becuae my 45 pound boy is only 2.5 and my 60 pound girl is 4. I am not comfortable only using the seatbelt with them, but the carseats can be just high backed boosters as well with the seatbelt, and be anchored in with the latch system. This give an extra sense of security, and it does not say to undo any anchors at a certain age, just that one specific breakaway one that we had to take off at 40 pounds. If you want extra safety, I would totally recommend this brand. You get the best of all worlds. One caveat though, it is made of steel, so they are about 40 or more pound themselves, so moving them is not easy or something you want to do everyday to switch cars. Unless you're He-man strong.:)

I hope that helps. Good luck, it is SO hard to find what you need and feel safe with at the same time.

I hear you saying this is confusing while it seems clear to me. At 45lbs your son weighs too much to use a booster with an anchor. Buy a booster without an anchor.

The reason they make boosters with an anchor is because some children are tsll enough to need a booster but weigh little enough to make an anchor safe. Actually I've not seen a seat that was a booster only with an anchor.

When deciding what to buy, think thru what would happen in an accident and what your child needs to be safe.

We used a booster with a detachable back and found that we used it mostly without the back. I suggest your child is large enough he would be ok without the back.

The laws are changing January 1, so I'd recommend buying the high back booster, as they'll need to be in it until 4'9" AND 8-12 years of age. I've also heard that one law may be changing to require a 5 point harness until age 8, but I haven't seen anything to substantiate this, and I think THAT would be a little overdone.

For the anchors, it's combined weight of the seat and the child, so you'll need to check your VEHICLE'S recommendations and limitations - unless your manual says to defer to the car seat.

That said, I've always used the LATCH system when I can. I know they say that seat belts are just as safe, but some cars we've ridden in are older models that don't have locking seat belts. I'm not sure how they can say that's just as safe. My son is currently 7, and my daughter is 4. Son is unfortunately and begrudgingly going back into his high back booster that will be LATCHed, and my daughter is LATCHed in her seat with the 5 point harness (and will be for quite some time; my son was harnessed until almost 6).

Some of it is so confusing because the side of the backless booster clearly says ages 4+ and usually 40 pounds can ride in a backless booster. Personally, I feel that's unsafe, especially since the seat can slide. Most backless boosters do NOT have the anchors, and I just don't feel they're safe enough. My two cents.

Read the manual carefully. Mine said NOT to use the tethers/anchors when using the lap belt. This was for my son when he was younger. He is 9 1/2 so it has been a little while though, so things may have changed.

I also read the article that warned about the combined weight of the child and the booster being over 65 pounds, but since it doesn't apply to me yet I did not read it that carefully.