Many of us go from car seat to booster seat with no problem. We think nothing of losing the bulky back of car seats. However, a recent campaign out of the UK could make you think twice about what type of booster seat you buy next.
This video from Britax shows the difference between a high back child seat and a basic booster seat in an accident. Britax is urging parents to “Bin the Booster” this summer.
The basic idea for a booster seat is to make the seat belt fit properly over a child. There is no back or head support. According to Consumer Reports, high-back booster seats are the safest option. “A booster seat’s most important job is to properly position a vehicle seat belt across a child’s best, shoulder, and hips…while boosters without backs “do a decent job of positioning the lap belt on a child’s hips…many vehicles have upper belt anchors don’t fall exactly in line with the child’s shoulder, backless boosters are less likely to provide a good fit.”
Here is the Consumer Reports “Five Step Test for Car Seats”
When you can answer ‘yes’ to all of the following questions, your child is ready to safely sit on a vehicle seat without a booster:
- Does your child sit all the way back against the vehicle seat?
- Do your child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the vehicle seat?
- Does the vehicle belt cross your child’s shoulder evenly between the neck and arm?
- Is the lap belt as low on the abdomen as possible, near the top of the thighs?
- Can your child stay comfortably seated like this for the whole trip?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, then a booster is still the safest, and more than likely the most comfortable, way for your child to travel.
