How To Choose A Booster Seat

How to choose a booster seat? In the United States, child safety seats are mandatory only for children up to 40 pounds. Children from 44-80 pounds can legally ride in a seat belt instead of a booster seat and those over 80 pounds who must use an adult belt fit correctly don’t need any type of child restraint at all.

Booster seats play a key role in keeping kids safe while travelling by car or van: they raise your kid so that it’s easier for them to sit securely with their back against the vehicle’s backseat.

How to choose a booster seat

They also take the stress off of you as well as your toddler because now there is no more struggling to buckle him/her into place or dragging around bulky car seats when not needed. The choice between highback versus low backs depends on your child’s size, comfort and preference.

 

Should my 6-year-old be in a backless booster seat?

Yes, the backless booster seat has been described as a kind of like a “training wheels” for your kid’s carseat. It allows them to sit more upright so they can see out the window, but it doesn’t have any type of extra support or harness on top.

This is great because you’re not having to go through all that trouble of getting their shoulders low enough and making sure there are no gaps anywhere to keep them safe!

The downside? Well, since this only supports the tummy area (not really covering anything else), kids tend to slouch forward which makes it unsafe. So if you do decide to get one of these boosters for your child… make SURE they hold themselves up properly and don’t let themselves go limp.

 

Can my 5-year-old use a backless booster seat?

A backless booster is a good choice for your five-year-old daughter. This type of car seat will give her more protection than a forward-facing car seat because it elevates the child to provide proper support and positioning during an accident.

However, you can still use this type of car safety device as she gets older since there are several types available all the way up through age 12 or 13 years old. In fact, some children who weigh over 100 pounds may need one even after they turn 18 if their doctor recommends using one due to certain medical conditions such as scoliosis (a curved spine).

No matter what size or height your little girl might be by then though, make sure that you keep on top of her progress every few years when you take her for a check-up at the doctor’s office. That way, she can keep getting adjusted to this type of car safety device as needed to ensure that it still provides proper support and positioning during an accident.

 

What are the height and weight requirements for a backless booster seat?

A backless booster is a safety seat that does not have a high back. The child’s head should be at least one inch below the top of the vehicle seat when in use, and their ears should stay above shoulder height.

In addition to these guidelines from NHTSA, another consideration is whether your car has adjustable head restraints on its front seats. If yes, you can likely leave them down for extra support during travel with the booster installed behind them.

If no or if they don’t adjust up and out of the way easily enough for your liking, then it might be best to skip this type of carseat entirely since installing such boosters could add unnecessary challenges .

For vehicles without side airbags (most models made before 2007), carseat.org recommends children remain in the back seat until they are at least 40 lbs and age eight. For cars with side airbags, it’s best to avoid using a booster entirely (and instead place the child directly into the vehicle seat belt) since that could cause serious injury if their head were to hit an inflated airbag during a crash.

 

When can a child switch to a backless booster?

When a child is near the height and weight limits for their forward-facing car seat. When they outgrow their five-point harness (in which case, it’s time to move up to a booster) or when your rear-facing infant has reached 40 lbs.

If you have multiple children that are close in age and size, this also applies as there may be no need to purchase two different types of restraints just because both kids will use them only until they reach 40 lbs.

In these cases, I recommend purchasing one forward-facing restraint with a high back since children can remain safely seated in those seats until they meet height requirements – usually around 50 inches tall depending on the model). Only after reaching safety guidelines should parents switch to a low profile booster seat.

 

Does my 8-year-old need a car seat?

No state requires a child of this age to be in a booster seat. However, all 50 states and the District of Columbia do require an appropriate car safety restraint for children under eight years old as listed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

If your child is taller than 57 inches or older than 145 pounds AND you choose not to keep them in their forward-facing convertible car seat, then they should graduate up into another type of carseat that will provide better protection: either a belt-positioning booster or high back harnessed booster depending on whether your child passes his/her five-step test! Learn more here about which types are right for your family.

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