Do you purposely forget the booster seat?

Imagine your child being a little smaller than his friends. He still needs a booster seat, but he is tall enough to go without one. What happens when your son's friends want to carpool? Do you make him carry around a booster seat? A new study says most parents don't. I would guess it's out of convenience. If you are taking a bunch of kids to a sporting event, it's a little cumbersome to carry around a booster seat, but it is safer for your child. Is this a big deal? What do you think?

FROM CNN:

Even though some parents put their little ones in booster seats while in the car, they don't always require them to use one when they are carpooling with other kids– that's according to a new survey published in this week's journal Pediatrics.

The research, conducted by the University of Michigan, found more than 30% of parents do not enforce the rule of booster seats when their kids are with another driver. Investigators also found 45% of parents do not require their little ones to use a booster when they're driving other children who don't have booster seats.

"The majority of parents reported that their children between the ages of four and eight use a safety seat when riding in the family car," says Dr. Michelle Macy, a clinical lecturer of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a pediatrician at U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. "However, it's alarming to know that close to 70% of parents carpool, and when they do, they're often failing to use life-saving booster seats."

Researchers believe car overcrowding and lack of time to coordinate booster seat switch offs are to blame for the lack of safety for kids in carpooling situations. Some parents seem to look the other way. But it's against the law, and many don’t understand that.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Best Booster Seats

FROM CNN: Some highway safety experts are giving their take on the best child booster seats available on the market today. And several manufacturers ended up with seats on both the 'recommended' or 'not recommended' lists.

Studies show four to eight year old children are 45-percent less likely to suffer serious injury in accidents if they're in a booster seat. And if that booster is properly belted. Dr. Kristy Arbogast/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia :"Make sure those belts are in the right place so that the restraint can do its job if the child is in a crash." That's what the Insurance Institute for Highway safety focused on for its latest ratings on booster seats and came up with this list of the best:

Best bets for booster seats
-combi dakota backless/clip
-recaro young sport
-recaro vivo
-maxi-cosi rodi xr
-evenflo big kid amp backless/clip
-eddie bauer auto booster
-cosco juvenile pronto
-britax frontier
-clek oobr

But these eleven booster seats did not fare that well in the Institute's testing:

Booster seats not recommended:
-harmony secure comfort deluxe backless/clip
-combi kobuk
-evenflo express
-eddie bauer deluxe
-safety 1st alpha omega elite
-evenflo sightseer
-alpha omega elite
-eddie bauer deluxe 3-in-1 -safety 1st all-in-one
-alpha omega luxe echelon
-alpha omega

Anne Mccartt/ Insurance Institute for Highway Safety "Parents should avoid buying the 11 boosters on our "not recommended" list. These seats do not provide good belt fit." The Institute's Anne Mccartt was on the today show talking about these eleven and what constitutes improper belting. "...the shoulder belt you can see if falling off the shoulder. It should be fitting snuggly on the center of the shoulder."

Seven of the eleven come from one manufacturer Dorel Juvenile group-that offers the Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st and Alpha Omega brands. Dorel says the Institute's "Test simulates only one size child in one position" And says all of its seats meet or exceed government regulations.

Evenflo said the same thing when contacted. It, too, had seats that tested well, but two fell under "not recommended." Harmony strongly defended its secure comfort deluxe and questioned the Institute's testing procedures. While the makers of the Combi Kobuk are curious because they say its seat has passed previous institute testing. Most safety experts say poorer performing seats still protect children in crashes.

Of course, the booster seat we have isn't on either list. However, when I get a booster for my 3 year-old (when he's big enough) I will go back and check this list. What kind do you have? Are you surprised that some popular brands are on the not-recommended list?

-NewsAnchorMomJen

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When to stop using Booster Seats

Viewer Question:

I noticed on HOI 19 news it said one time that if there was a story we would like to see as parents to email you and so I am doing so now. I am a single mom of 2 children 9.5 and 7yrs. My 7yr old and 9.5 yr old use booster seats. Although it's a big argument between daddy and mommy on whether our 9.5yr old is legally required to be in a booster seat or not. Where the controversy comes in is that some police in our police department say that it goes according to weight and being 8yrs old, others say that its 80lbs. Health Dept officials say it's by age or weight and I no longer KNOW officially and legally which is the legal standard as I don't want to be pulled over and find out my son isn't being protected enough. No matter who I call I get a conflicting story and I'm tired of arguing with daddy and my son cuz he has to use a booster seat with me but he doesn't with daddy.

I only want my son to be safe!!

Hi Nikki,
Here's the advice from the AAP: You are not going to get ticketed for having a nine year old in a car without a booster, but it might not be what's best for your child.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents, "Keep your child in a car safety seat for as long as possible. When your child is big enough, make sure the seat belts in your vehicle fit your child correctly. The shoulder belt should lie across the chest, not the neck or throat. The lap belt must be low and snug across the thighs, not the stomach. In addition, the child should be tall enough to sit against the vehicle seat back with her legs bent at the knees and feet hanging down. Seat belts are made for adults. If the seat belt does not fit your child correctly, she should stay in a booster seat until the adult seat belt fits. This is usually when the child reaches about 4' 9" in height and is between 8 to 12 years of age."

Illinois' new "Booster Law" went into effect January 1st, 2004. In most cases, it is now illegal to transport an unrestrained child in Illinois. The Child Passenger Protection Act requires that all children up to their 8th birthday must be secured in an appropriate child restraint system (a carseat or booster that meets NHTSA safety standards). Children between 8 and 16 years old must be seated in a seatbelt, according to the previous law that went into effect January 1, 2002. As these are primary moving violations, you can be stopped and ticketed if a child is observed to be improperly restrained in your vehicle.

I think it's more about what is the safest scenario for your child as opposed to the "law." I hope this helps settle your argument!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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Booster Seats

I might not want to be in a such a big hurry to graduate my children to their big kid seats.

The Law: Car seat until 4 years old and 40 lbs
Booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs

However, this rule doesn't tell us when to go from a booster with a five point harness to a loose seat and the car's seat belt. Here's a question from a newsanchormom.com reader:

Hi Jen. Thank you for the great website that is loaded with useful information for all of us Moms! I have a question about the safety of booster seats. I am not eager to take our 40 lb 4 year old out and into a booster. I have read about the booster seats not being as safe using the car's seat belt and to keep children in the 5 point harness as long as possible. So, I did find a booster that uses a 5 point harness, but it is pricey. So should we spend the extra money on the 5 point booster?

According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, you should keep your child in a five point harness for as long as he/she fits in into it. The NHTSA says to check the weight limit of your high back booster, but most of them go up to 80 pounds.

However, the NHTSA says many kids get too wide or too tall to use a high back booster by the time they reach 65-70 pounds. The NHTSA says to use a booster seat that has a detachable base at this point because the high back boosters with a five point harness tend to sit up too high for the lap belt in a car.

"Another type of seat for a child who is at least one year old and weighs at least 20-30 pounds, is a forward-facing-only seat with a harness. Most of these seats come with a removable harness and are called combination seats or child seat/boosters. Some manufacturers call these seats high back boosters, which is confusing because the term "booster" is generally used to describe a seat that lifts a child up to improve the fit of vehicle lap and shoulder belts......For best protection, use the built in harness until the child outgrows it. "

If you want to know which safety seat is best for your child, you can find the answer by looking through a list of car seat safety questions.

I have an almost 12 month old and I was surprised to learn the NHTSA recommends keeping him rear facing even if he is 20 pounds. The NHTSA says not to turn the child forward facing until he/she outgrows the weight limit that is printed on the seat. The child could be almost two before this happens.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen