Car seat regs

Here in Minnesota, you have to over 7 years old and be over 55 inches to ride without a booster seat. My twins are getting there. I think Clayton is 55 inches, but Audrey was measured just last week and she is 54-1/4". My brother and his wife has a daughter who is 4.5 months older than my twins and she is a couple inches shorter than Clayton. She doesn't use a booster seat and my mom (dad?) grew up in a time when car seats were just starting to be used and they were not used very often with my brothers. They see her not using it and assume that my kids, who are taller don't need them either.

Are these the same regs all over the U.S.? I tend to be very conservative with safety.

So I guess my question is, how nit-picky are you?

 

PA is 8 or 80 lbs.  Honestly - my kids were using backless boosters anyway and I took them out of the cars on their 8th birthday.  All a backless booster is for is positioning and they do fine because we have adjustable seatbelts in the vehicles.  Most of my friends have their kids in the front seat already which I don't let them do but truthfully (and I realize I don't hold a popular position) most of the "carseat safety" over the age of 5 or 6 is fearmongering IMO.
 
I doubt a cop is going to measure your kids if you take the boosters out.

 

I agree with Amy.  Both of my kids are 7 and 42 and 45 lbs.  They are still in the highback boosters but their feet just about touch the ground in our car and they'll probably be out of them in 2016 and just seatbelted in the seat.  

 

I'm probably pretty strict lol. My 7 1/2 year olds are still in five point harnesses. Anthony is 42 lbs fully clothed. Lol. He is 42 inches. Nicholas just hit 50 lbs and he is just at 48 inches. So unless they gain over 30 lbs in five months....hahaha!

I had asked the pedi about taking out of 5 pt harnesses and he said if they are fine with it-leave be. Now that it is finally warm, dh does need to switch N over into the high back booster. I know many of their friends have nothing.

In dh's car, they do have just the high back booster. I wasn't dishing out $$$ for a rarely used car seat.

As an aside, I had a friend who switched her son into a high back booster. At 2.

 

Well, my kids are on the "freakishly tall" side - they will be 5 in Sept and they are 46.5 inches Vanessa and 47 Inches - Max - we measured them a few weeks ago when we went to Orlando - to see what rides they can do. They are visibly taller than kids older than them. They are about 45 pounds more or less. They are still in 5 point harness and I have no intention of taking them out. Our neighbors across the street have a girl who turned 5 in March -  I think she's 3-4 inches shorter than my kids. My kids are friends with her - and I like this family - but SHE doesn't have any car seat in any of their cars. I am not sure how I feel about that.
 
Last august I had an accident - it was my first accident and it scared me a lot. I was going through a blinking yellow/blinking red intersection. I was on the blinking yellow side. It's my way from work - I went through that intersection thousands of times - I knew I had the right of way - I looked both ways, I didn't see anyone so I slowed down but I went through the intersection. A guy came from the left and he was looking at his GPS - didn't see the blinking red light and he T-boned me at full speed ( about 50). When I saw him coming I was already in the intersection so I stepped on it - but he T-Boned me in the back door, behind the driver seat. If I had a kid in the car - the other car hit me exactly where the kid would have been. If they were in their car seat - that has side impact protection - I don't think they would have been affected too much. But without a car seat - I don't know what it would have done to their head. There was a hole in the door. This accident was no fault of my own - my van was totaled - but I was lucky that I wasn't harmed at all. The other guy lost his bumper and probably his brand new SUV was totaled also - it looked like the frame was bent. I think if my car was a sedan with the other car being an SUV - it could have been much worse.
 
The thing is - accidents happen - and at times, you really can't prevent them. I went through this accident in my head so many times and I realized there wasn't a thing I could have done to prevent it. So I would rather be safe than sorry. I think my kids deserve that.

 

In new york it is either 8 years old, 80 pounds or 4'9  to no longer need a booster seat.   By girls stopped using the booster seat a while after they turned 8.  Dani before Sydney due to the fact that she is all torso and Sydney is all legs.  
 
Different states have different rules.  I know in Florida i think it is 4 or 5 just need the seat belt, but when we visited my FIL when they were 5 and 6 the girls used booster seats. 
 
New Jersey just changed their car seat rules.  I think it is starting in September, kids have to be rear facing till they are 2.

 

My girls are 8 and still in boosters (just recently took the backs off).  One is probably tall enough to have the belt positioned correctly in my van, but my other girl is definitely not tall enough for that yet.  However, for short trips in other people's cars (driving in a friend's car a block or two from school to home), they've both gone without anything.  

 

Virginia is 8 years old, and I'm not sure of the weight, honestly.  My kids are 50lbs and 60lbs and also tall for their age (in size 6-7 pants at not even 5.5).  We JUST took them out of the 5 point harness because their seats said the weight limit for the harness was 60 lbs.  Now they have high back boosters in one car and regular boosters in the other.  I will keep them in boosters until they're 8.  I don't know that it really makes that much difference the last year or two, but I plan to follow the law.

 

I've been in loaner cars for the past month because the dealership cannot seem to figure out what is wrong with my car.  I have driven my van for 1.5 weeks in the last 5 weeks.  Seriously!  I do generally only pull the booster seat out for Evan, especially when I had the Buick sedan.  I put Audrey in the middle of the back where there is a little rise.  They have been driven by others who don't have car seats.  This week I'm in a van similar to mine, so I grabbed Audrey's high back booster and a booster for Evan.  I always err on the side of caution.  I remember when I drove two kids home from a playdate back in first grade.  They complained when I made them buckle into the 5-pt harness.  Oh well..

 

I am very conservative. My two rear faced for over four years. They are over 6 years and still in five point harnesses. I have a car seat that goes pretty high for the harness although it will not last much longer sadly. I didn't wear a seat belt as a child. The fact is that implementation of car seat laws has saved lives. Still car accidents are a leading cause of child death. Of those many were not in car seats or car seats were not used correctly. And some did not even use seat belts. And it isn't just death it is serious injuries that are prevented.

You can't control other people's actions such as cell phone use while driving but you can control how your kids are restrained in the car. They may still die in a high speed serious accident but the risk is reduced.

 

I'm meh about car seats. Honestly I spent the money on seats so they get use out of them. I don't think you can say all kids need to be doing this at this age. My daughter ff before 2 because of a health issue. So saying "she must rf until two" isn't really fair cause said health issue could have killed her

 

I'm fairly strict about the rules. Ohio is 4yr AND 40lb to sit in booster with belt (high back or not) and you must be 4' 8" not sure if there is a weight to be without any car seat at all. Mine were all in harnesses (boys until over 5, Hannah until over 4).

One thing to keep in mind with extended harness (with tether) use is not just the weight of the child but also the weight of car seat. There are numerous reports out now that recommend the COMBINED weight not exceed 65lbs if tethering

 

Yes Kim-that's why I need to switch. Probably now both boys.

 

Our twins were in 5 point harnesses until 5 1/2. Still in boosters at 7 1/2. They just went to the doctor, and she said at least another year. They are both fairly average for height and weight and not even close to 4'8". (We are in Ohio too.). The boosters are so easy, I really don't see the rush to switch them.

That said, my youngest is still rear facing at 21 months, and we are definitely turning her at 23 1/2 months at the latest because we are driving to Vermont. She's very tall and big for her age (like 90+ percentile across the board), and getting her in and out of a latch installed rear facing seat is getting increasingly difficult.

 

The front seat is a different issue entirely. Unless you can turn the airbag off, that is really dangerous.

 

 Vermont? You driving through Mass?

 

I don't know our route yet, but I'd guess?

ETA: Actually, probably not unless we plan a detour. I think upstate NY is the most direct. We are going to Stowe.

 

Well phooey!

 

A&R are in backless boosters, and even though they'll turn 8 in a few months, I don't see us getting rid of the boosters any time soon. 

 

Our state says car seat until 4 yrs, then booster or car seat until 8 yrs.  My two were rear facing until past their 2nd birthdays as they did not reach 22 lbs until then.  They were in 5 point harnesses until they were past their 8th birthdays, then in high back boosters until almost 10 yrs.  

 

I'm a switcher.
 
A is 3 & FF; S&O got high backs at 5.
 
In my area I'm actually pretty strict- many of the cars at kindergarten pick up have NO carseats for all but the babies/toddlers. 

 

I don't think SC has strict laws at all.   I've kept/will keep all my kids rear facing until at least 2 years old.  Baby #3 stayed rear facing until right before #4 was born, simply because I can't fit two rear facing seats in my car at the same time.  He was a few months past 2 then but he went over the weight limit not too long after that anyway.   The twins are 10 and haven't sat in boosters for a couple years now. 

 

My girlies will be 11 in less than a week - they are still in highback boosters. They stayed in 5 point restraints until they were 9 1/2 & reached the end of the recommended height/weight for the seat. I like the side & head protection, the girls are comfortable, none of us care what others think about it....we'll stay in the seats until they max out in height or weight. I follow or exceed the IIHS guidelines regarding carseats since i have the most trust in their crash testing. In FL the law is 80 lbs or 8 years.

 

 
 
Did that change?  I know that i was shocked that Florida only required booster seats to age 4.  

 

Having a car is such a headache. People are usually suffering from buying insurance because the quotes are not beneficial at all. But the true pain is child car safety seats resources. There is a real problem and you will spend much time to solve it

 

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