Car seat/ booster

[bab]

How long will you keep your child in a safety seat. More than one person gave me shit at work today because my kids are in boosters. They are eight and both weigh about 50 pounds (soaking wet LOL). They are both about 49"-50" tall.

The person annoying me most has an older child and I think she stopped using a seat around age 3 or 4. I think that is WAY more irresponsible than me keeping my kids in seats. WTF? Why do people need to gossip/ pop shit about this? Is it really THAT weird for me to keep my kids in boosters?

[Deleted]

Is that even legal? I think my state law is under 7 need to be in a child safety seat.

[ginap]

Until she is 13. Really, as long as she still fits the criteria for being in one. I plan to keep her rear facing until she is 3 (assuming she doesn't grow 5 inches in the next year) and get a lot of side-eyes for it. Nearly everyone I know with kids turned them right around 1, 1.5.

[katb]

As long as needed. My twins were about 8 1/2 and they reached a weight/height that I was comfortable with being in a seatbelt - 60 pounds and about 56".
My 5 yr old son is on the lightweight side and will probable be in one for longer. He rear sat until he was over 2.
I give side eyes to a lot of parents when I see their 3 or 4 yr old in a seatbelt or a little one in the front sea.

It is actually a law here in MD that a booster seat until you are 8 yrs old.

[papie]

Until she can sit with her bum back to the seat and her knees at a 90 degree angle. She is a giant though so 1-2 more years? She is 6.
I have gotten lots of comments already too. Ugh. I finally caved and got her a backless one for DH's car but she remains in the high back one for our main car which she is in 99% of the time.

[newgirl412]

The rule of thumb I have always heard is if they can sit with their bum at the back of the seat, knees bent at end of seat, not put shoulder strap behind them and can fall asleep sitting up and not slouch/fall over, then they are capable of using no booster. But most laws say minimum 8 years old. My four year old (43 inches tall and approx. 38 pounds) is in a 5 point harness (Graco Argos 70) and has a good little bit before he outgrows the harness. I will keep him in the harness/high back booster for as long as the seat allows.

[formerlyak]

The law in CA is 8 years old or 4'7". DS won't be that tall before he turns 8 next summer, so I will take the booster out when he turns 8.

[speedracer]

probably a long time. ET is 40lbs soaking wet and he's almost 6, still in a 5pt harness seat. your coworkers suck.

[styme46]

DD will probably be in a booster until she's old enough to drive herself around. Legally, we can take her out when she's 9, but she's so tiny that I wouldn't feel comfortable moving her until she's taller and heavier. If she is anything like me (which she very much is) she won't reach the weight/height requirements for her booster until she graduates! lol

[texassmith]

DD1 is so tiny, we joke she'll have to ride to prom in a 5-point harness, lol.

[starfish]

Long as I can, my DD turns two, and just reached the weight to turn around, but we are going to wait little longer since she is so small. My son will be in 5 point for as long as they make one for his size, and plan on keeping him in a booster long as he fits safely.
I don't understand giving someone crap for doing safe car seat use. I see giving someone crap for not doing safe car seat use.

[hopecounts]

it's a legal requirment to have kids in a 5 pt harness seat until 5 and a booster until 6 in my state.
It's so easy to help keep them safer by putting them in a carseat/booster why not do it as long as necessary?

[maddysmum]

My eldest was in a five point until she was almost 7 and is in a booster for the indefinite future (she'll be 8 in two months) and I've never considered anything else. Our youngest will be the same.

I think this gets lumped into the extreme things helicopter parents do without being thought about logically.

Seats in cars are built to be safe for the average adult. They are built to fit the average adult, to keep the average adult as safe as possible. An adult is built very differently from a child. It's not bubble wrapping a kid to put them in the proper carseat - it's common sense. A car seat makes a car work for a kid the way it works for an adult. It's just a modification to equal the playing field a bit. Hell, I'm an adult but I'm super short - cars aren't ideal for me! Seatbelts hit me in a weird place, I need to stretch to get the clutch in, I seat too close to the steering wheel, etc.

If a car doesn't fit me perfectly, why would it fit a child? That's not overprotectiveness...it's logic.