Swithcing from 5 Point Harness to Seat Belt Booster

They would stop selling inexpensive boosters if they weren't safe?! Like they would stop selling cigarettes if they were dangerous? There are plenty of products on the market that aren't necessarily safe or what's best for us! The safest place for anyone is in a five point harness for as long as possible, I wish they had them for adults! I've been in serious accidents including one fatality, I don't take this lightly at all. Smaller children are at risk of sliding under seatbelts, being internally injured or cut by seatbelts, and usually aren't mature enough to keep them on right or not move around while seated, and what happens if they fall asleep in the car? My daughters are in a britax marathon (harnesses to 65lbs) and a britax frontier (harnesses to 85lbs then a booster to 100). Nothing but the safest for me! My oldest was in a marathon in our accident and was fine. Check out weight/height minimums and maximums on all seats, britax's website shows all models and what's best for your individual needs. There are always good deals at albeebaby.com and on new in box items on eBay, babies r us stores let you try the seats out, sometimes in your own car. HTH!

Your son will be far safer if you look for a new 5 point harness seat for him. He is still quite young and if the child doesn't sit in the seat properly with the booster, it puts him at great risk for injury.

Britax makes a seat that will go 5 point to 80 or 85 lbs then will go to booster up to 120lbs. My just turned 6 year old is still in his Britax 5 point harness seat that will take him up to 80lbs. He has a Britax high back booster for dad's car that has an anti-submarine strap that hooks to the lap portion of the seat belt so that he can't slide under in the event (God forbid) of an accident.

The absolute bare minimum to move a child out of a 5 point harness (according to car seat experts - aka car seat techs) is 4 years AND 40 lbs. Most children are not mature enough to sit correctly in a booster seat with vehicle seatbelt 100% of the time until closer to age 5 or 6.

If the shoulder harness is coming from below his shoulders, he has definitely outgrown his seat and it needs to be replaced ASAP.

My daughter will be 6 in January and is still riding happily in a 5 point harness in a Graco Nautilus and a Britax Frontier.

Definitely look into the Nautilus. It harnesses to 65 lbs then becomes a high back booster, then a backless booster.

Check out car-seat.org for more great information.

Go to
www.seatcheck.org
for state specific laws.

Better yet take him and his seat to a local FREE inspection site.
He may be ready to switch b/c there is a point with height where it's dangerous to have the straps too low behind his shoulders.
You can find a local seat inspector at the same website.
What you need here is FACT, not opinions from other moms.
Good luck!

I am going to have to agree with TJ on this one.

I have 3 kids. My oldest (7 years old) is still in a 5pt harness. The law in our state is 8 AND 80lbs (and suggested 5 feet tall) before they are out of a seat. We have a booster that fits with just a seat belt and it just doesn't feel safe.

Sure, they make the seat belt kind of seats, but they just aren't as safe as the others. I think at 3 1/2 and his height and weight is still too small for a seat belt (I have a 4 year old who is just a tad bigger and he is in a 5pt harness as well).

Yea, its convenient to just have them in the seat belt, but if you were in an accident, you would want him in the safest seat possible.

We changed over when my now-almost-9YOs were 4, but back then the only seats that harnessed above 40 lbs. were the Britax Husky/Regent, Marathon, and Sunshine Kids Radian. If forward facing "combination" seats like the Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier, and Evenflo Maestro - which have high harnessed height/weight limits and convert to decent boosters afterwards - had been around back then, we would have kept them harnessed longer. Few 3-4YOs have the emotional maturity to sit properly in a booster, more but not all 5-6YOs do.

What seat are you using for your son? Unfortunately, many combination harness/booster seats do not clearly specify what the *harnessed* weight limit is so when parents see a "suitable for kids 30-80 lbs." on the box it's not clear that the upper limit is the *booster* limit and the harnessed limit might be only 40 lbs. If you have a Graco Nautilus, Britax Frontier, Dorel/Cosco Apex65, Evenflo Generations or Evenflo Maestro, your son is still within the harnessed weight limits but if it's something like a Cosco/Summit/EddieBauer Alpha Omega, Vantage Point, it might have a 40 lb harnessed weight limit. Also for many of the Alpha Omega seats, the top harness slots are for use in booster mode only

Your son has outgrown his current seat some time ago. The straps need to be at or above the top of his shoulders. If they are under his shoulder blades, he should have been out of that seat months, if not a year ago. First make sure there aren't any slots or positions that are higher up. If not, immediately get a new seat. He is much too young for a seat belt booster. Not only could he submarine in an accident or come out of the belt, but there is no way a child that young can sit correctly in a booster all of the time. I would recommend the Graco Nautilus. (I use the Britax frontier for my 5 year old and 3.5 year old, but the nautilus is much cheaper).

We changed the kids into boosters by the time they were 3. I know a lot of people are against this but I figure if the children were really at risk the car seat manufactures would rather make lots of money on full car seats with 5 point harnesses than inexpensive boosters. I figure they would stop making them if they were so dangerous. We have had good luck with our older one, she only got out 1 time and then never did again. With J though, he tries to get out about 1 time every 2-3 months. He sits by the door and we always have the child safety locks engaged. The door will not open from the inside. If he gets out while we are traveling we immed. pull over and get him back in. The second time he tries this he gets a swat on the hiney, the swat has only happened once.

Hey -
I actually had to switch my son about a month before he turned 3 because he was gigantic and they did not make a 5 point harness big enough for him. BUT, that was several years ago. I agree that your son has outgrown his seat, but they have changed the law now and the law says that your child has to remain in a 5 point harness until age 4. So, you may want to check on that before you decide what type of new carseat to go with.

My duaghter is almost 3 now and she is still in her 5 point harness, but I think she is going to outgrow it soon. HOnestly, we have a friend that has a 6 year old that is still in the 5 point harness and it seems so much safer (my daughter is super squirmy and I don't think she will respect just a booster seat). So, I may try to get the seat that my friend has so that my daughter can stay in a 5 point harness a lot longer.

FYI, my son is almost 8 and he used the highback booster for years. The highback booster helps position the seatbelt. Once we got out of the highback (he outgrew it), the seatbelt position is an ongoing battle. He will let it (make it) go below his shoulder so that it really wouldn't hold him properly in a car crash. So, really think about your son and what you can do for him to help him be safe!

Good luck!
L.

Ditto Elaine. I just read your update, what kind of seat is he in? If its a 3-in-1 like Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st, or Cosco Alpha Omega then he's likely outgrown it and MAKE SURE you read the manual correctly becauseo n the seats I just listed above ,the top notch is ONLY for booster mode, you cannot use it with the harness. Also those seats only harness to 40lbs, he's above that weight. please get your seat checked, if you are using it above the weight limit or on a non-harness slot, he is not safe at all. at 44lbs, unless he's in a newer seat, he's over the weight limit.

Look for a seat with a 5 pt harness we have a britax for both our kids that the weight is 80 lbs. I believe the straps on the seat for his age need to be above his shoulders not behind that is what the tech said when we had him install our seats. There are alot of seats out there with a 5 pt harness. We got a great deal on ours through ebay-both got free shipping-u can't beat that. And we saved a ton for the seat being a Britax. L.:)