Parents: Booster Seats

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  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
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    My kids are tall and are very athletic and strong. Our law says that the magic age is 8...I kept them in the booster until they turned 9 because I told them they are still 8. I am only 5 foot tall and they have seen me adjust seat belts for myself or I have a cushion I use(read booster for grown *kitten* women) in my Dad's car to help the seat belt fit properly so it doesn't annoy my neck.

    Send the booster. There are lots of kids who still use them. Likely no one will notice.
  • korsicash
    korsicash Posts: 770 Member
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    im gonna get flamed, but the minute my kids turned 5 I threw away all booster/car seats/ These laws are ludicrous.

    Apparently when you became a parent no one sent you the crash video of a child who was improperly buckled up being internally decapitated and as a result dying. Yup my child will be properly restrained until he is BIG enough to be properly held in with a seat belt. When I saw the video I cried the idea of loosing my baby not because I can't drive but because someone else could hit us scared the life out of me.



    YUP send the boosters!!!!!!!
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 343 Member
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    Send the seat, and tell him if anybody gives him grief to roll his eyes and say "I know! My mom is SUCH a freak about stuff! Can you believe it?" My parents let me blame them for all sorts of stuff so that I didn't have to take the heat. "Gosh, Mr. Stupid Loser, if it were me I would LOVE to go out with you, but my parents! They are SUCH heels, you know? I totally don't know what their problem is, but I gotta live with 'em. Sorry!"

    Great idea - I did exactly the same with my parents and I'll do the same with my children.

    I have kept them in booster seats until they were legally able to be out of them (12 years old OR 135cm/4'5" in the UK), and the buses my children take in school trips all have seat belts in too. My children's safety is paramount :)

    Edited to add: my son is tall and was out of a booster at around 8 or 9 years old, my daughter is still a couple of inches too short and is still in one at 10!
  • PepeGreggerton
    PepeGreggerton Posts: 986 Member
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    My daughter is 8 and is no longer required by my state's law to ride in a booster. But she's only 48 inches tall and 50lbs. She still rides in a booster when she's with me.
  • jreimund
    jreimund Posts: 64
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    i just rode on a school bus for a field trip. it was NOTHING like the school bus i grew up riding.

    *I* barely was able to see over the top of the seat in front of me. NONE of the kids could at all. and every single seat had a two seat belts for two kids. the driver would not drive til every child was buckled in. these are not lap belts either, they are the shoulder and lap belts.

    the kids were not allowed to stand at all, and there were no bags allowed in the aisle either. it was soooo different!!!!

    I'm in Texas and you don't have to put your kid in a booster seat when they turn 8. Not sure if you have that part of the law where you are.

    Don't you find it funny that kids don't have to be in safety seats on the bus? They don't even have seat belts. Just find it incredibly ironic.

    You must live in a high income school district and/or large city. Our rural school districts in my area do not have these busses!


    As for the OP, I'm with the general consensus, send the seat. I think the law is a little extreme, but I'm only 60" tall, and I hate seat belts, they never lay right, so when it comes to my child, she will be in a booster til she meets the requirement, no matter how ludacris I think the guidelines are, they are there for a reason!
  • DeeDeeLHF
    DeeDeeLHF Posts: 2,301 Member
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    My kids are short and I was mocked but my kids stayed in their car seats/ boosters until they were old enough and big enough to be out of them. For my youngest daughter, she was 11 before she was tall enough. She told friends that she just hated the way the seat belt fit and that she likes to see out the window. Plus hers had wonderful cup holders!:laugh:

    It was awkward to go out with friends or family and see that their younger and smaller kids were simply being buckled in when she had a booster but I didn't care. Went to Disney with some friends and they were actually going to place their sleeping daughter on the floor of my van and not put her in her car seat because they didn't want to wake her up. It was uncomfortable but I was the driver and I asked her to please humor me and do it anyway. (BTW...her daughter did not wake up).

    Now that I help to transport teens to functions for school and church I am amazed at how many hop in the car and do not buckle up. They quickly learn that Mrs. Franco will NOT put the car into drive until everyone is buckled.

    Hopefully nothing will ever happen, but could you live with yourself if it did???

    D
  • CarolinaGirlinVA
    CarolinaGirlinVA Posts: 1,512 Member
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    Ok, this had me curious so I looked up Virginia Laws for child seat belts.

    Virginia Law:
    "Child restraint devices are required for children through the age of seven (until 8th birthday). Safety seats must be properly used and approved by Department of Transportation standards. There is no height or weight requirement associated with this law. The Virginia law is based solely on age." (per www.vahealth.org)

    According to the website www.dmv.virginia.gov:

    "To be able to fit in an adult seat belt the child must: be tall enough to sit without slouching, keep his/her back against the vehicle seat back, keep his/her knees completely bent over the edge of the seat, keep his/her feet flat on the floor, and be able to stay comfortably seated this way. Further, the lap belt must fit low and tight across the upper thighs, and the shoulder belt should rest over the center of the shoulder through the center of the chest."

    For us it depends on the car we are using, in our 2 door Accord my 9yo 3rd grader does not need a booster seat. In the SUV Pilot (which has bigger seats) he should be using a booster seat.

    When I was a preschool teacher we used parents to transport the children to and from field trips. Teachers were not allowed to drive any students. We were required to ride with another parent. Each parent driving had to show proof of a valid drivers license and proof of current insurance and registration. Now that my kids are in elementary school they use a school bus for field trips.

    My advice is to send the booster and make sure your child's name is on it along with your emergency number in case (God forbid) there was an accident and the driver and/or child is unable to identify the children in the car.

    Good luck!
    Sherry
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
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    My son was in a booster (seat only, no back) until he was in the 4th or 5th grade. I don't care who thinks its crazy, including him!! His safety is top priority.
    I say speak to the school about your concerns. If they are not amicable then it is very possible that the booster won't be used, even if sent. I'd consider keeping him home if you can't bring him yourself.

    ^^THIS - the school should be paying attention here. That said...buses don't even have seatbelts.
  • TinkrBelz
    TinkrBelz Posts: 888 Member
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    I would not make him sit in the booster. Yes, safety is important but so is your son's pride. Kids can be viscous no matter how many "anti-bully" classes we give. Just find out what car he will be in and make sure that parent is a responsible parent. I have been the driver on several school field trips (no kid had to sit in a booster) and I drive extra careful because I do have other people's children in my car.

    But, you have to do what you think is best.
  • Marla64
    Marla64 Posts: 23,120 Member
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    im gonna get flamed, but the minute my kids turned 5 I threw away all booster/car seats/ These laws are ludicrous.

    so sick of these laws. They take all parental common sense away.

    Totally with you.

    Flame away.
  • r1ghtpath
    r1ghtpath Posts: 701 Member
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    i live in a town of 6000. the towns around me are even smaller! i'm guessing we have buses like that because my town has the ONLY two high schools for the entire western part of my county. so, some kids are on the bus for up to an hour in the mornings and afternoons. there are lots of back two lane unmarked roads and even more unpaved dirt and gravel roads where i live.
    You must live in a high income school district and/or large city. Our rural school districts in my area do not have these busses!


    As for the OP, I'm with the general consensus, send the seat. I think the law is a little extreme, but I'm only 60" tall, and I hate seat belts, they never lay right, so when it comes to my child, she will be in a booster til she meets the requirement, no matter how ludacris I think the guidelines are, they are there for a reason!
  • chachita7
    chachita7 Posts: 996 Member
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    My question is how do you handle the fact that in school buses they won't have either the booster nor the seatbelts?
  • modernmom70
    modernmom70 Posts: 373 Member
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    Our laws here too (B.C.) are 4'9" which I am fine with no big hassle to have the seat in the car, plus not very comfortable for the kid with the shoulder belt across their face. What I find really ridiculous is that this is the law yet there are no seatbelts in school buses!

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