My son is 11 and 77 lbs. He’s also 5’ tall, taller than some women (and his teacher)! We had a 2005 Toyota Sienna until January that he never
seemed to fit well in. I talked about how he didn’t fit and included a picture in this blog post on how to tell if your kid still needs a booster. In January, we bought a new vehicle and he fit differently in the back seat than he did in the Sienna. Yay! He could ride without a booster! How exciting. I didn’t particularly care: he appeared to fit in the seatbelt OK and that’s all that mattered. However, I couldn’t see him in my rear-view mirror anymore and that drove me crazy. I could hear him doing things, but couldn’t see what was up and had to rely upon my dd to tattle on him—“E, what’s your brother doing? E, is he sitting up straight? E, what was that sound he just made?” All as if he existed in a vacuum and couldn’t hear me.
When I allowed dh to drive *my* new car, I’d watch ds out of the corner of my eye and see him slide down in the seat bit by bit. Uh oh. Even though he fit OK in the seatbelt, he was slouching for some reason, probably because he’s 11. I’d nag and he’d sit back up straight for a few minutes. I’d threaten to put him back in a booster and he’d moan that he didn’t need one and he’d sit up straight from now on. One day I really looked at where the belt was fitting on him and made good on my threat to put him back in the booster. The next morning on the rush to get to school, he opened the car door and there it was: the familiar green booster. “MOM!”
Surprisingly, after I said that I didn’t like the belt fit on his hips and asked him if the belt fit was better in the booster, he agreed and hasn’t made a peep since. He really has always been my safety kid and understands being safe—following in mom’s footsteps [so proud!]. Better belt fit means much less chance of injury in a crash. I’m not going to freak and make him ride in a booster in his friends’ parents’ vehicles where his friends have been without boosters for years now, but in our vehicles where he rides 99.5% of the time, he’s riding the safest he can.
@melinda, bullying was something that I did keep in mind. The kids at his elementary school were pretty well-mannered and when I asked him if it either bothered him or if the kids said anything, he said it didn’t bother him and the kids mentioned it once, but he told them he was safer, which was true. Now that he’s at middle school, I know the kids aren’t as kind and I took him out of it before the start of school. With the booster, belt fit is so much better on him (take a look at the comparison pics above), but at this point (and he’s 5’2″ now!), I’m totally fine with him being without a booster. Overall height, like in harnessed carseats, doesn’t really matter with seatbelt fit–it’s more proportions.
Not to start a argument, but aren’t you afraid of him being bullied when the kids at school see him still riding in a booster at 11 years old? I would think a 5′ person sitting on top of a booster is not safe??
it did… I have one… it was actually a bit confusing at first for me to remove it… lol… it threads through a slit in the middle of the back of the cover… THEN loops around the bar of plastic underneath and the metal piece on the end then has the main strap fed into it… aka… had to pull back the cover to figure out how to remove it.
I agree… the lap belt fit is way worse without the booster than the shoulderbelt is with it… the shoulderbelt is in the appropriate zone… it’s just me liking it centered as it was in the first pic or even a little close to the neck if need be instead… for side impact purposes.
maybe just see if you can get him and his booster a little closer to the door?
I really do love those huge headrests, though.
Kat, it’s an ’11 MDX. I don’t have a shoulder belt positioner for the Dakota (did it come with one? maybe I do and I tucked it underneath the cover?). It’s the same for my dd in the olli; I’m just able to pick vehicles with lousy shoulder belt geometries for kids :D. At this point, I’m willing to trade shoulder belt fit for lap belt fit.
Good for you and good for him! I’d have done the same thing. (And WOW does he look like Matt! LOL)
I know… ANOTHER comment… from me… but have you tried using the belt positioner with it? I’m just not crazy about how close to the edge of the shoulder his shoulderbelt is sitting.
I wish my car had such tall headrests… SIGH… we have shoulderbelts to adjust high enough that, if Jeffrey had more room with the headrest, I wouldn’t have him out of a booster yet (and Damian would have lasted much longer… like… a good year or two, but that’s a lot for him)
They haven’t had any problems with slouching or other things, and the lapbelt fits them both better than it does in your son without the booster, but still… I would have liked the false hips a bit longer on Damian and I would still like them for Jeffrey (at least he still needs (and can use one with height room to spare) a backless booster in his dad’s 2-door Chevy Cobalt!)
I’m so jealous of your headrests… and if it helps, I recognized that booster (because it’s Jeffrey’s favorite, besides the clek olli… the price point it retailed for makes it MY favorite backless… I hate they discontinued it)
what vehicle are you driving, btw??
YK Jools, I just mentioned to Kecia that we need a half booster for these older kids who are too tall for hbbs, but still need a backless for lap belt fit. One that bumps them up just a bit. When we get a Bubble Bum, I’ll have to see what those instructions say about inflation.
@Thanksgiving_Twins_Mom, the booster is a Combi Dakota. I’m pretty sure they’ve stopped making it, but it is one of the best backless boosters for older/larger kiddos–nice and wide with a deep seat. We love it for him, but it’s still too big for my almost 9 yr old.
at the risk of losing some car seat geek points for being unable to identify that booster model from that little glimpse of arm rest – what booster does he use? My 9YO’s are still using their FPSVs as LBBs but I’m always curious about which boosters are good fits for older kids.
Yeah, I’ve got a slouchy 14 year old here too. I wonder if gripper under their butts would help any? I may have to try it!
Oh, how I WISH my car had taller shoulderbelt anchors. My slouchy 5ft tall 11 yo needs a booster, too, but the backless raises her so high the belt is off the side of her arm. So it’s just reminder after reminder to sit up. Sigh. Why can’t they invent a flat ‘booster’ to hold the lapbelt lower on big kids and adults? Maybe she’ll get an uninflated bubblebum to sit on someday soon, lol.