Sunshine Kids Booster Seat

By Elisabeth

My oldest child is six years old and legally does not have to be in a booster in the state of California.

"Currently, 30 states have more strict age requirements than California, with 24 of those states requiring a child be 8 years old before he/she can move to just a seat belt. Twenty-one states currently have height requirements for moving a child out of a booster." -ehow.com

Um, hello. EXCUSE ME?

It baffles me he doesn't have to be in any sort of seat already.  My boy is not the tallest kid in his class by ANY means, but for the taller kids, I can't even imagine them without some sort of booster seat in the car. I think the age is not as much of an issue as height and as long as the seat strap hits near the neck, it's just not safe to ride in a car as a child.

We currently have a plethora of car seats in our car. The two older boys, ages 6 and 3, are in Sunshine Kids Radian-80 5-point harness booster seats and my 5 month old is still in his infant seat. (He, technically, is at the length limit for his seat at 26 inches already. GAH.)

Once we switch him over to the Britax Marathon, (our last and final seat) we will be one seat short for my husband's car. (He will be taking the 3 yr old to preschool most mornings.)

I thought about just buying another 5-point harness booster and even considered the less expensive 65 lb option, BUT it made much more sense to move up in seats for our family.

On that note, I decided to get him a regular booster seat, by Sunshine Kids.

For a mom who's worried for her first born getting out of a 5-point harness, I am extremely pleased with its safety features which includes the LATCH system and 11-position headrest.

 

What are your thoughts on the legal age/height on booster seats? Do you think the limits are right in your state or way off base?

 

{photo credit: amazon.com}

Comments

[Brenna]

I think my state (AZ) is even worse. I'm pretty sure kids are only required to be in a car seat of some kind until they're five. No weight or height limits. No booster required.

[Mama Bub]

I like a five point harness. Once we needed the Marathon for my baby, I bought the Britax frontier for my almost 50lb. four year old which stays as a five point harness until 80 pounds, then a booster until 110.

[Kate]

The thing about age requirements is that it's so much more about the size of the kid. Our son is off the charts for height (about 37 in at 28 months) so we bought the radian since it has one of the highest seat backs. I still find myself anxiously checking to see where his head hits almost every time I put him in his seat because he's already so close to being too tall to rear face. On the other hand my sister's kids are so tiny that she jokes that they'll be going to prom in a booster seat!

The guidelines from the NTSB are a good start but the car seat lady does a great explanation of how to tell when your kid is ready to move out of a booster (it has to do with the length of their legs on the seat as well as where the seat belt hits them on their chest).