A few days ago, my son Elias reached an important milestone: He turned 8.
In half of the states in America, kids turning 8 celebrate finally “freeing” themselves of the “constraint” of a booster seat. Yet as safety advocates and an increasing number of parents (and kids!) know, age has little to do with being able to ride safely in an adult seatbelt.
My own son has had vehicle safety driven into his head since the time he was born, and he does take it pretty seriously. Lately, though, even he has been longing to ditch his booster. I told him that on his birthday, we would check the fit in the regular seatbelt, just to see.
He’s familiar with the 5-step test kids need to pass before they can safely move into an adult seatbelt alone:
- Child sits all the way back in the seat
- Child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the seat
- The lap belt sits low on the hips, touching the thighs (not on the tummy)
- The shoulder belt crosses the middle of the shoulder (not falling off, and not rubbing the neck)
- Child can sit that way for the entire ride
In my state, it’s actually part of the law that the seatbelt needs to fit properly before graduating from a booster seat, although most people (including lots of police officers) don’t realize that.
Elias is a tall kid: 54″ (90th percentile for 8-year-olds), so I worried a bit that he actually would fit well. But a promise is a promise, so here he is sitting in his usual position in the third row of our 2010 Honda Odyssey.
The lap belt is high, and the shoulder belt is on his neck. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but his knees aren’t anywhere near the edge of the seat.
I’ll admit I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw how horrible the fit was without the booster seat. Then I cringed, thinking of how many kids ride like this anyway.
Please make sure that your children fit properly in a seatbelt regardless of age, weight, or height, and remember that the fit might vary based on the vehicle and seating position. Needless to say, Elias is back in his booster and will remain there for quite some time.
Jennie, like you, I’ve learned to see seatbelts as clothing…if it fits, it fits, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. And as happy as I am that my 12 year old is turning into a beautiful, responsible young lady (she was in a blog years ago, showing how SHE doesn’t fit in a seatbelt without a booster at 8, too, lol), I sort of want to cry and run from the Juniors section where she wears size 5 jeans. I want my little girl to be a little girl and still fit in size 12 slim kids. It’s not a matter of holding her back, just the little bittersweet twinge of feeling every time a kid passes a big milestone.
My comments about worrying he would fit/being relieved when he didn’t were intended to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. Yes, I’m sad that he’s growing up, but I’m not trying to hold him back. The fact of the matter is that very few 8-year-olds fit properly without a booster. It’s not until age 10 that (statistically) even half of kids do. It’s not that I don’t want him to grow up, it would just be a shock if he were already.
He is the tallest of his same-age friends, none of whom passes the 5-step-test, and all of whom (to my knowledge) still use boosters, so it’s definitely not a matter of peer pressure.
I found the post above very informative as regards what one needs to look for when ditching the booster, but as a non-carseat person, I’m disturbed by the comments about being happy that your child isn’t physically ready to move beyond it. If a child is physically ready, there is nothing wrong with migrating them to a normal seatbelt and this feels a bit like wanting to hold your child back. If they don’t fit, they don’t fit, and they belong in a booster, but I wouldn’t wish that on a kid who is getting older and whose friends have all surpassed the booster, and who is ready himself physically to move on. It’s important to balance Absolute Safety with the realities of living and the importance of normalcy to children.
The shoulder belt rubbing on the neck isn’t a safety issue in itself, but because it’s very uncomfortable, kids will often stick the belt behind their back or under their arm. Adults (usually) have the self-control to avoid that, but kids often don’t. As a short adult, I do hate it though!
Re: knees bending, that also isn’t, in itself, a safety concern. The problem, again, is that it tends to be uncomfortable. To get their knees to bed “right,” kids will often slouch down, causing the lap belt to ride higher onto the tummy, which is a huge safety concern.
First, Thank you for all of your tips and dedication to children’s/car safety! A lot of parents either don’t know or care to know the importance of car seat safety, so it’s great to get the word out.
I am having a little bit of an issue though, the knees being able to bend at the edge is almost impossible in most cars. MY knees don’t always bend at the edge of the seat and I’m an adult. Don’t get me wrong, my daughter was in a booster until around her 9th birthday. She met all criteria at 8, except for weight so I chose to keep her in it.
I just don’t want people to feel like they’re making a bad desicion if their legs aren’t perfectly aligned.
Thanks again 🙂
Hi April- You’re right. The requirements for kids are not necessarily required of adults in regards to the 5-step test. That’s because even if an adult is too short or has the seatbelt otherwise poorly positioned, they can be responsible for their own safety and keep using the lap/shoulder belt even if it is uncomfortable. For kids, they often aren’t concerned at all about their well-being for threats that are not immediate. The tend to put an uncomfortable belt behind their shoulder or back, slouch or otherwise cause the belt to be incorrectly positioned and unsafe. As they are not yet to the age of reason in many cases, adults must take responsibility for their safety.
What about adults that don’t fit the seatbelts?! I’m 5’5″, 120lbs so well over the requirements even if you ignore the age requirement (which I’m obviously over as well), but in some cars I can’t still cannot use the belt properly. The one that comes to mind is my moms 2002 Chevy astro van. The belt would ride up so high on my neck it would leave a red mark, even as an adult!! Vehicle manufacturers need to do some work on their end to make sure the belts can fit most adults too because we can’t use boosters to get a good fit!