Car booster seats till what age/height

Our pediatrician had told us our kids should be in those backless booster seats until they were 4'9". So we did this with our eldest no problem until 4'9" and are doing with our youngest- who is 10 but very small for his age- so nowhere even close to 4'9". He's been saying for a good two years that none of his friends use boosters- even those similar to his height. We've always said, in our family this is what we're doing and what we're comfortable with. But lately, he's been saying that friends are making fun of him and even a few of their parents have told him when he's over that he doesn't need one anymore....I asked a friend today and she told me kids go to just seat belts at 8- but Google says different- more along the lines of what the ped says... It seems like a weird thing to tease someone about but maybe I am missing something?

Just put him in a regular seatbelt, it's fine. Sometimes you've got to take the (really really minuscule) risk.

http://www.nj.gov/lps/hts/childseats/childseats_newlaw.html

Please do what you're comfortable with.

My MIL and a few other family members find the car and booster seats to be a pain, as they they don't like having to schlep them around. My child is on the shorter side and I will not move them until I think they are well within safety guidelines.

Do what you feel is safest for your family.

ETA: http://thecarseatlady.com/.

The booster seat doesn't add protection like the child seats do, it is to make sure the child is sitting at the correct height for the shoulder belt to sit across their chest properly. If your child can sit in the rear seat of the car buckled in with the seat belt properly across their shoulder and not going across their neck then they no longer need the booster seat.

My 10 year old is still in a booster; he's about average height as far as I can tell, but without the booster the belt cuts across his neck a bit and I worry about what would happen if we stopped short or, god forbid, got into an accident. If you worry about this too, stick to your guns, and tell him that safety comes first. It won't last forever.

NJ law had been age 8 or 80 pounds which ever came 1st...I have no idea if it changed...car seats/boosters change so frequently...i remember when they said to turn the child around when the legs reached past the edge of the seat or they could break a leg in an accident..now they say leave them backwards a lot longer and let them scrunch up their legs

of course you have to use your judgement if you have an usual situation such as a child with dwarfism or very small for the age....

also you have to look at the car and if the seatbelts adjust to fit children

It probably depends on the seatbelts. Like Amandacat's, my 4'7" tall 10 yo still uses a booster (no back, just the bottom). He doesn't seem to mind -- and I think he prefers to be higher up.

Well, then, I need a booster seat. I am a tall, short-waisted adult. Most of my height is in my legs, and the seat belt does cut across my neck. What do adults do?

Well, I'm already a step ahead of you folks with the car seat wars. My 10 year old has been sitting in the back without a booster for a couple years. But now his fight is for the front seat (when there's no second adult in the car). He claims that his friends sit in the front seat so why can't he. I know this is true of some of his friends, but they're bigger and a year older. I've let him sit in the front seat a couple of times and it just doesn't feel right. I'm waiting until he's older (and taller).

I believe the issue with letting them sit in the front seat is due to the air bag's intensity when deploying. My daughter is 9 and she too has begun asking about sitting in the front seat. She is actually quite tall for her age but I keep putting it off as well. I also have noticed that some of her peers have begun riding in the front seat but for now I am staying firm!

There are adjusters you can buy for the belt that cuts across and does not fit right for shorter folks My mother -in-law- has two different kinds. Autoparts store maybe? My smaller kids were in boosters till tall enough. I looked at it (complaints) as small price to pay for safety. Do what you feel is right. The get to be tall enough eventually. and sooner than you think. My guy is now 6'2". Now it is hard to make him ride in the back seat at all. Girl is 5"3" but the elder so "dips".

They make seat belt clips that hold the belt lower for shorter folks including kids on the smaller side. They can be a pain but they work fine.

lizziecat said:
Well, then, I need a booster seat. I am a tall, short-waisted adult. Most of my height is in my legs, and the seat belt does cut across my neck. What do adults do?

I use seat belt clips like these:

http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0091OE6K6

Kind of annoying, but it works.

sprout said:

lizziecat said:
Well, then, I need a booster seat. I am a tall, short-waisted adult. Most of my height is in my legs, and the seat belt does cut across my neck. What do adults do?

I use seat belt clips like these:
http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0091OE6K6
Kind of annoying, but it works.

Thank goodness, didn't know they made something like this. I was really hoping not to have to use a booster in the driver's seat... My new car's seat belts are height-adjustable but still don't fit me correctly.

I believe kids are supposed to stay in the back seat until they are 12, but I don't know if that is a law or just a suggestion

My boys are 8, and still ride in boosters in our cars, but we no longer worry about them riding in other cars without boosters when dropped off by a friend or picked up by a grandmother. We also no longer go to the effort of taking boosters along when we fly somewhere.

But they aren't riding in the front seat anytime soon.

I have one of those padded sleeves for my seat-belt and it makes it more comfortable on my shoulder and somehow also seems to keep it off my neck more.

I think the car manufacturers design the vehicles for people who are about 5' 6" or taller and have no clue that the average woman in the US is more like 5' 4" and that means that half the women are shorter than that! And most of the children. (And, for some reason, they rarely put those position adjusters for the shoulder belts on the rear seats which is where the short people usually sit... sigh!)

A
- When New Jersey implemented the nation’s
first 8/80 booster law in 2001, it was viewed
as a dramatic improvement in child passenger
safety. At that time, most booster seats were
rated for use by children only up to 80 pounds.
Many are now rated for use by children up to
100 pounds or more. The federal government now
recommends a booster seat for all children up
to 4’9” tall, which is considered
the minimum height for a passenger to be properly
restrained by a seat belt. Booster seats must
be used with a lap/shoulder belt. They should
never be used with just a lap belt because a
child is not fully protected.

that all children should sit in the back seat until they’re 13 years old.

I never understood how school buses are exempt from these laws - not only are kids far younger than 13 not in car seats, but not even seat belts!

hmbooks said:
I never understood how school buses are exempt from these laws - not only are kids far younger than 13 not in car seats, but not even seat belts!

Something to do with the fact that if they had seat belts they would be required to monitor and make sure that all the kids were buckled in which would be hard to do. Basically, since they can't ensure that all the kids would buckle up ALL the kids are denied access to a seat belt, even the ones who would buckle up if given the chance.

I have two friends (sisters) whose parents never allowed them to go on school field trips because of this.

My kids are made to wear seat belts in buses, whether for school or camp field trips. Whether or not it is the law, it is the firmly enforced rule for all of the buses my kids ride, I believe.

I think children should be in booster seats until they leave for college. You can't be too careful.

School buses aren't even required to have seat belts, actually. I checked to see if that was still the case. I hoped maybe it had changed since I last rode a school bus in the mid-2000s.

There was actually an expert said seat belts in buses would be less safe....buses being bigger would absorb impact better...and seat belts would delay exiting in an emergency....they said the seats themselves offered protection

susan1014 said:
My kids are made to wear seat belts in buses, whether for school or camp field trips. Whether or not it is the law, it is the firmly enforced rule for all of the buses my kids ride, I believe.

I have yet to be on a bus that had seat belts. Has this changed recently

Hahaha said:
Well, I'm already a step ahead of you folks with the car seat wars. My 10 year old has been sitting in the back without a booster for a couple years. But now his fight is for the front seat (when there's no second adult in the car). He claims that his friends sit in the front seat so why can't he. I know this is true of some of his friends, but they're bigger and a year older. I've let him sit in the front seat a couple of times and it just doesn't feel right. I'm waiting until he's older (and taller).

^^^ us too.

cupoftea said:
I believe the issue with letting them sit in the front seat is due to the air bag's intensity when deploying. My daughter is 9 and she too has begun asking about sitting in the front seat. She is actually quite tall for her age but I keep putting it off as well. I also have noticed that some of her peers have begun riding in the front seat but for now I am staying firm!

The front seat rec is age 12. We follow that. And because of air bag deployment.

I'm all for child safety and education regarding same. Plenty of people are clueless. I also know NJ takes a very hard (and conservative) stance on car seats, recommendations, the actual rules. I'm happy for that. We follow rules. We interpret recs based on what we are comfortable with. Recs can be hard lines and assume worst case scenarios. We don't always follow the extremes.

My babies (all 4) turned around at age 1ish. Little guy is still in full booster (age 4.5, 46" inches I think) Our bigger kids have been booster free since 8ish. I can't imagine a 10 yr old in a high back booster.

My son attends a mixed age school. There was a field trip and I was carpooling some of the other kids. One nine year old tried to call dibs on the front seat. I told him the minimum age for the front seat was 12. He tried to pull the "my mom lets me" scam (and I don't believe it for one minute), but I just said what he did in his mother's car was her business, in my car he would sit in the back.

I thought it was the LAW (not just a recommendation) that 12 is minimum age for front seat (?)

I looked for an NJ law re age for the front seat, but could not find it