Please tell me the truth about car seats…

[PrincessFionaCharming]

…for kids aged 8+

I have a nearly-10 year old. She’s fairly average height in her class. She still uses a high backed booster for long car journeys on the motorway etc, and she has a booster cushion thing in our second car which we literally use for the 5 minute school run when it’s raining and that’s it.

My understanding is that this is the law. But Literally NONE of her friends appear to use a car seat these days. Booster cushion or otherwise. They just leap into the front seat when they are picked up and off they go.

I have always been super strict about car seats. My daughter has never really complained about her car seat, she just gets on with it and that’s the way it is. She has recently asked a few times however why she’s not allowed to sit in the front (or back) with no seat when her friends are. I just say that’s up to their parents but I don’t think
it’s the safest option.

But honestly, what is the truth here? Are most 9-10 year olds still using car seats?? Is that the reality? I genuinely assumed they were, If it’s the law, but now I’m not sure!

What others do is irrelevant.

Around 150cm is when a child is actually safe to sit in an adult seat using an adult seatbelt. It's got nothing to do with age. The seatbelt could cause serious damage to their neck/chest and stomach if they are too small.

Within 5k from home all our roads are 20min speed limits which are far less likely to cause serious injury in crashes.

My DS is 10, most of the kids in his class still use high back boosters, despite being 135cm plus tall.

I'd say by the time they get to 12, most of the kids aren't using them any more.

Currently DS isn't quite tall enough to go without a booster (higher limit where we are), which he's complaining about but it's the law, so he gets no choice in the matter - it is just a seat booster though, not high backed, as the shoulder bits wouldn't go up high enough for him any more (he's short legs/long body)

Of course, reading mary's image above, I should be in a booster seat myself (the seatbelt across the lap/shoulders particularly) - but then I wouldn't be able to reach the pedals!

I'm in Ireland and the was just checking online there for the laws and it says in the UK the child should be 135cm in height or 12 years old. In Ireland it's 150cm in height or if they weigh 36kg or until 12 years of age there is no law here against children sitting in the front seat of the car once the appropriate seats are provided

Well hopefully your bones are stronger than a child's so you should be ok.

Bones are stronger, but the soft tissue isn't! I have a little clip (that I'm not convinced wouldnt' also cause damage) that holds the seatbelt down on my shoulder, but getting it onto my lap is all but impossible as I have to have the seat far enough forward to reach the pedals.

Cars are not designed for women at the shorter end of the height scale.

Improper use of this type of seat belt can also lead to soft tissue injuries and even small bowel perforation and rupture of solid organs (8, 9). While all of these injuries are caused by higher fastening of the safety belts, even with the proper use of seat belts crossing over neck can happen.

No law in UK about sitting in front either, other than babies rear facing must have the air bags switched off.

Lots of people have daft ideas about laws that they think exist but don't actually exist including children in not being allowed in front seats and being able to use interior rear view mirrors!

Your car seats job is to keep your child as safe as possible in the event of a crash. So choose the safest possible option. Lots of parents don't. But if you have a crash and your child is seriously injured, but would have been less so if they'd been in a better seat then how are you going to feel?

DS is just 3, outgrew his last cat seat so I put him in a front facing high back booster but it didn't feel safe enough so I've spent 250 quid on an extended rear facing one, takes up most of the footwell for the front passenger. And it may never do its job. But if we crashed, I know I've done the best I can to keep him safe. He will be in the erf until he outgrows it in 3-4 years, then a hbb until he outgrows that, then a booster until there's nothing else I can do to make him any safer.

So the answer is simple "it's safer" if people choose convenience over safety that's on them.

It’s a myth that European countries are stricter and safer about car seats. Some maybe but I’ve hired cars in France and Switzerland and never persuaded them to give us a car seat for my 140cm 9year old. They all say he’s too old. And my French family agree. I take our own booster now.

I'm 5'6" and I've never yet sat in a car where the seat belt goes across my thighs like the picture.

They always cut across my neck too, unless it's a belt that is anchored to the shoulder of the seat rather than the pillar.

I always thought the lap belt is actually supposed to go across your hip bones, holding your pelvis into the seat rather than across thigs.

Althought its advised that pregnant 🤰 women put it across thigs under the bump to avoid it going across the bump.

My daughter is 9 and 141cm tall. She is tall for her age. My SD is 11 and is 134cm tall!

So in our household my 9 year old doesn't have a car seat but my 11 year old does!

We had a isofix booster seat from DS being about 8 so he didn't look out of place amongst his friends. He was tall enough without by age 9 at the latest. I think it also depends what your drive (all round cameras self breaking SUV with full curtain airbags) vs a super mini C1 that can't even take a minor bump.

Realistically you aren't going to get done for a short ten year old not in a car seat. So it doesn't matter unless you crash. A crash is unlikely. Therefore it depends on your attitude to risk. Lots of people prioritise convenience, saving money or their child's preference over the small risk of crashing. In most cases their child will be fine.

128cm sounds short for 10. My 7 year old (was only 7 3 months ago) DS is 132cm, i can easily see how he may not be required by law to be in a hbb by age 8.

It's not just arbitrary height guidelines that should matter, you should be looking at where the seat belt sits on the child's frame.

The trouble with this is loads of adult women find the seatbelt sits at their neck!! Cars are designed for taller men.

A booster cushion would make literally no difference in a crash. Utterly pointless. Only high back boosters actually help in a crash so you might as well go without.

What another poster said about online safety. You're all for car safety, but have put his face all over a huge forum for what reason exactly?!

Yep. Another plug for all women to read this book if we haven’t done already.

My DC are still in car seats at 11 and 9. DD1 in a booster cushion and DD2 in a HBB.

150cm is better.

The 5 point check is best. https://thecarseatlady.com/car-seats/5steptest/

We're in Germany and the law is they need to be at least 150cm or 12 years old. DS is 6 and in a HBB. He's nearly 140cm by now (yes, tall for his age but I find 128cm at age 10 really small) but will stay in his seat for a while, yet. We've got a Cybex and he doesn't look squashed in it. Some of his friends get to sit in the front (in a car seat) but I refuse to have him there. We don't have isofix points in the front seat so I'm not putting his seat there.

My daughter has just turned 10 and she’s at around 135cm, probably nearer 140 now it but haven’t measured her.

I still make her sit in the seat most of the time. She’s not sat in it when her friends are there as none of them use one anymore. She sat in the front without a seat and she just looked so small.

My ds is 10, he's a bit tall compared to his classmates but not a lot. He's 153cm tall so been out of a high back booster for about 18 months.

We are having this discussion at the moment. My 8 year old is 131 so still needs a HBB legally but is moaning since she’s noticed that her friends (some of whom are shorter) aren’t using them. I originally thought she’d be safe in a normal seat once she reaches 135 but I’m apprehensive as the U.K. law seems to be more lax than other European countries.

I Prefer to be cautious when it comes to my children’s safety whereas my ex is the complete opposite. It’s been a struggle to get him to use car seats at all let alone properly as he just wants to do what ever is easiest so he doesn’t support her being in a HBB anymore.