kindergartners in 5 point harness or booster seat?

[krisim]

DD will start kindergarten and she's still in her 5 point harness carseat.  She's on the light side (36 lbs and 5.5 years old).  The reason I ask is that there is a drop off procedure at school where the kids are expected to get out of the car quickly to keep the line moving and she can't get out of her carseat by herself (too hard to unbuckle of course!).   I'm wondering if I should think about moving her to a booster seat?

[Jem]

My guy is the same size and I just turn around from the front seat to unbuckle him. We have a small car though, so not sure if that is possible in a bigger car. I'm planning on keeping him in the 5 pt harness until he outgrows it, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

[anna7602]

DD was in a booster seat or nothing at all (taxis) in K. But she was well over 40lbs for the booster and for taxis, we had no way of dropping her off and taking the car seat back home for te next ride.

[irishbride2]

Mine is in a 5 point. I don't know about this fall, but almost all of her classmates were still in 5 point this past spring (I sometimes help with carline which is the only reason I've noticed).

Maybe work on her this summer at being able to unbuckle?

DD can unbuckle all of her carseats except the graco. That thing is a beast.

[holly116]

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't be moving my kid to a less safe carseat option before she's ready to help the drop off procedures go more smoothly.

Honestly, I'm not sure my soon to be kindergardener (still in a 5 point harness) would be able to open the car door and jump out herself, even if she could unbuckle herself from a seat. And if she could, I'm pretty sure me hopping out and helping her would be more efficient, so adding a few seconds to buckle/unbuckle her from her seat would be even less evident.

I'm two years in to doing a car drop off line with preschool and it's really nbd to hop out and unclip a car seat. There are far more annoying reasons that people could improve upon that cause hold ups in the line that don't compromise safety like switching car seats.

[mlt]

I'm going to keep the boys in a convertible as long as they fit. They are pretty small for their ages.

[nannersp]

We just converted my 6.5-year-old's 5-point to a high-back belt booster. She's about to start first grade. She was able to buckle herself in and out of the 5-point, though, so like Irishbride2 suggested, I'd work with her over the summer at being able to unbuckle, if at all possible.

[jeaniebueller]

We started off the year in the 5 point harness but it became such a PITA at drop off, especially once the weather got cold, that I switched him to a belt booster.

[jeaniebueller]

Jul 7, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 holly116 said:

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't be moving my kid to a less safe carseat option before she's ready to help the drop off procedures go more smoothly.

Honestly, I'm not sure my soon to be kindergardener (still in a 5 point harness) would be able to open the car door and jump out herself, even if she could unbuckle herself from a seat. And if she could, I'm pretty sure me hopping out and helping her would be more efficient, so adding a few seconds to buckle/unbuckle her from her seat would be even less evident.

 

They pick up on it pretty quickly. DS could hardly open the door alone at the beginning of the year from inside the car, but once he got the hang of pickup and drop off, it was no big deal. And made me much happier in the morning to not have to get out of the car to do it for him.

[holly116]

Jul 7, 2015 11:31:09 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Jul 7, 2015 11:24:24 GMT -5 holly116 said:

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't be moving my kid to a less safe carseat option before she's ready to help the drop off procedures go more smoothly.

Honestly, I'm not sure my soon to be kindergardener (still in a 5 point harness) would be able to open the car door and jump out herself, even if she could unbuckle herself from a seat. And if she could, I'm pretty sure me hopping out and helping her would be more efficient, so adding a few seconds to buckle/unbuckle her from her seat would be even less evident.

 

They pick up on it pretty quickly. DS could hardly open the door alone at the beginning of the year from inside the car, but once he got the hang of pickup and drop off, it was no big deal. And made me much happier in the morning to not have to get out of the car to do it for him.

Good to know! We have sliding minivan doors but in DH's car, the older two totally take themselves out with the door and don't shut it properly so I try to avoid that. Maybe if they had more practice.

With my preschool drop off experience, our school does three cars at a time. If I was really close on time, I'd pop out when we were next in line and unstrap her so she was ready to jump out quickly when it was our turn.

I don't necessarily want my kids learning to unstrap themselves right now. My almost 5 yo oldest would be fine but my 3 1/2 yo quickly does what his sister is doing and I do NOT want him realizing he can do it by himself anytime soon.

[Deleted]

In my Civic, I can unbuckle DS from the driver's seat and he can open and close his door. He's a tiny 4 year old.

[mrsGreeko]

Both of my older kids didn't move to a booster until after kindergarten. My oldest could unbuckle herself. My middle couldn't so i just turned around and did it for her. I see parents get out to open back hatches to let kids out or to unbuckle and walk th around the car to the sidewalk if they have to get out on the road side. As long as you are quick
About it (no stopping on the sidewalk to have a leisurely chat while your car blocks the drop off lane) you will be fine.

[frlcb]

My son is going into second grade and is still in a 5 pt harness. We have survived 3 years of car pool with no issues, I am sure the time it takes you to reach back and unbuckle won't ruin the whole system. At her size I wouldn't switch.

Also do some schools really make the kids open the doors from the inside? Our school has either teachers or older students doing it, and I am glad about that.

[6fsn]

My K-kid rode the bus, but for preschool she could get the top part and I could reach the bottom from the driver seat while we were in line. In winter I'd have her get down and get into her coat then get back into the car seat.

[penguingrrl]

Ditto fivedogs that at her age and size there's no proven safety benefit to harnessing unless she won't sit correctly, so I would consider boostering if you think she's mature enough to sit correctly (I'm a huge advocate of RF as long as humanly possible, but not convinced that harnessing past booster maturity/size is beneficial at all). I haven't been at an elementary school that had a ton of extra hands on the drop off line to help kids with harnessed seats. Usually there are two teachers running the line and 8-10 cars unloading at a time, or at least that's how both districts I've lived in did it. So maybe someone can help, maybe not. Both make it clear that if your kid can't get him/herself out they cannot use the line and you must park and walk them into the building.

[cjeanette]

E was still in the 5 pt for K. It really wasn't a big deal. They expect you to move in out quickly but I was able to lean over pretty easy and help her from the drivers seat.

[af1212]

Jul 7, 2015 11:13:03 GMT -5 krisim said:

DD will start kindergarten and she's still in her 5 point harness carseat.  She's on the light side (36 lbs and 5.5 years old).  The reason I ask is that there is a drop off procedure at school where the kids are expected to get out of the car quickly to keep the line moving and she can't get out of her carseat by herself (too hard to unbuckle of course!).   I'm wondering if I should think about moving her to a booster seat?

I have thought about this too.  I have a 5 year old heading to Kindergarten and will have a 2 1/2 year old and newborn come September.  We have a Diono radian and she can definitely NOT unbuckle it herself.  It's super hard to do!  It's not about learning how; she just doesn't have the physical strength to be able to do it.  We have a minivan and I can't reach to the back row to do it for her.  In preschool, I would wait until I was the next car in line, then I would climb to the back and undo the bottom clip (she can do the top one herself) and then pull forward.  I will have to wait to see how K carline runs to see if I can do this in the fall.

I have thought about putting a booster in the back row next to the 5 pt harness and having her sit in the booster from home to school but the harnessed seat for longer drives.

And for those saying it will be fine to hop out, open the door and unbuckle the seat belt - most schools have rules/procedures about how carline runs.  It may be okay, but if it's not part of their procedures you will not be allowed to do it, no matter how quickly you think you can get in and out.

[qcinoct]

E is 5 and still in a 5 point harness. He's about 48" and 48 lbs. But, I don't have to drive him to school. He can mostly undo the harness himself though. His seat can use the harness until 65 lbs so he'll be in there a while.

[cinco]

My oldest was in a 5 point harness until 3rd grade. She could undo it by then, but in K and 1st, I climbed back and undid her quickly. I didn't feel like we slowed down the line any. We switched DS at the same time as DD1. He was in 1st, but weighed the same as DD1.

[lindsaymg]

DS was almost 6 when he started Kinder (early fall birthday) and tall for his age. We moved him to a booster right before Kinder.

[zeewifeandmama]

My DD is in 5 pt harness and going into first grade. we worked with her to be able to get herself out. I'm 5pt harness fo lyfe!

[iheartbanjos]

5 pt. She is starting kindergarten in the fall, but her preschool had a car line. If she was struggling with the buckle, I would reach back and do it when the car before us was unloading. No biggie!

[mlvmd]

We have two 5pts right now but I was considering switching one to a belt booster in DH's car because I hate the harness on that seat and he never falls asleep in that car. Otherwise he is 50 lbs, tall, and is okay in a belt booster. The 5pt in our minivan is actually easier because he can get in it by himself and I can reach over DS2 and unbuckle it when we are getting out. We will walk to kindergarten so I don't have drop off issues though.

[jeaniebueller]

And for those saying it will be fine to hop out, open the door and unbuckle the seat belt - most schools have rules/procedures about how carline runs. It may be okay, but if it's not part of their procedures you will not be allowed to do it, no matter how quickly you think you can get in and out.

 

seriously,  you do not mess with the flow of traffic at the drop off line. People mean business!

[origami]

My kids will be in boosters at 5, but if they still fit in their convertibles Id have left them in those. I have 1 twin that can unbuckle himself and one that can't, but in a rush i would unbuckle them both myself because I can do it so much faster. i can easily reach both from my driver's seat though. I don't know what I'd do if they were in a 3rd row or something.

[lauralala]

DS is 5.5 and in a booster. He 46" and 47 lbs. He sits properly, and on the very rare occasion that he falls asleep he has used the wings of the booster to lean on. It works for us, but if you are not comfortable moving to a booster, there is no reason to do so.

[elocrates]

DS1 was in a 5 point harness until part way through 1st grade. However, in kindergarten he learned how to unbuckle his 5pt harness pretty efficiently. He could also buckle himself in quickly so all I needed to do was give the straps a quick tighten. DS2 will still be under 40 pounds when he starts kindergarten this fall. We have no intention of moving him to a booster any time soon, but as others have mentioned are working with him on being more efficient with his own buckling/ unbuckling.

FWIW, elementary school drop off lines seem to move a lot faster than daycare or preschool drop off lines.

[stacyb1983]

DS will be in kindergarten next year and he is still in a 5 point booster. His seat is on the outboard passenger side. I can reach into the back and undo the bottom clasp, he knows how to undo the chest clip.

[af1212]

Jul 7, 2015 11:42:18 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Jul 7, 2015 11:13:03 GMT -5 krisim said:

DD will start kindergarten and she's still in her 5 point harness carseat.  She's on the light side (36 lbs and 5.5 years old).  The reason I ask is that there is a drop off procedure at school where the kids are expected to get out of the car quickly to keep the line moving and she can't get out of her carseat by herself (too hard to unbuckle of course!).   I'm wondering if I should think about moving her to a booster seat?

  When she was younger (4ish), I got her a "Buckle Bopper" to help her unbuckle herself (well, it was for my mom, but DD1 co-opted it).  www.amazon.com/Buckle-Bopper-Seat-Belt-Aid/dp/B00A4PL7VM  

This thing is awesome! I just ordered one!!!

[Deleted]

There are some boosters that are rated for 30 lbs.