How safe is a 3yr old in a HBB?

[4yoniD]

DD2 is 3.5yrs but very nearly 18kg (she is also close to the average height of a 5 year old). It seems incredible but she won't fit her group 1 for much longer. Does anyone know of any evidence as to how safe/dangerous a high back booster would be for a three year old? I didn't let DD1 have one until she was 6.

I think if she is 18 kg or more, and / or her eyes are above the top of the toddler seat you have no choice. Make sure you get a very supportive hbb with deep sides. I think there are some group 1/2 seats that come with a 5 point harness which can be used until 25 kg which might suit you.

The Britax two-way elite would give me 5 point harness to 25kg but is expensive and I would have one heck of a drive to get to Milton Keynes to have it fitted :(
Just wish I had some idea of how risky it is putting them in HBBs so young.

The mton Keynes centre posted our two way elite out to us and helped us fit it over the phone. It is fab and considering how long it will last, is pretty good value. We've had ours since dd1 was 18 months and expect her to be in it until about 6.

Ds (91st centile height) was too tall (eyes over top of headrest) for his Grp1 and 19 kg at 2.11. He went into a hbb then with no problems. Dd is 2.11, 17 kg and almost too tall for her Grp1.?

DS now 6, 125 cm and I am considering just and ordinary booster.

I did loads of research before buying one for our 3 year-old and this one has very very good safety ratings:
cybex-online.com/en/carseats/solutionq2fix.html
It's one of the few that has isofix as well as the seatbelt fix.

Bikerunski please read this before you use a backless booster www.which.co.uk/news/2010/06/backless-booster-seats-a-safety-risk-which-says-217572/

I understand the UK government has come under pressure to make backless boosters illegal, from various places.

Thanks SolomanDaisy - that car seat does look good (although I would still be happier with a 6 year old in it, not a 3 year old!)

Thank you, I did say considering.

no problem, we are helping you with the considering

Sat DD2 on her sisters Maxi Cosi Rodifix 2/3, and her knees don't bend (legs too short). I have definitely read somewhere that that is a no-no - have emailed Britax. While on Britax's website I read about the Advansafix - sounds good, but don't know if I will manage to get one from my local britax reseller, who don't offer the full range

Here is some info about moving a child into a high backed booster

www.facebook.com/RearFacingToddlers/photos/pb.282362311907625.-2207520000.1411330209./416416351835553/?type=3&theater

The seat on the one we bought is adjustable too, so you can make it the right size for the legs. DS was actually too tall for the smallest setting. I might have gone for rear facing, but we realised he was over the weight limit a few days before a long journey and we would have had to import a rear facing one, which wouldn't have come in time, So in your position I might do that, but I am happy that very tall DS is as safe as he can be in the cybex.

Oh gawd, not sure whether to thank AliceMum09 or not! That's thrown the cat among the pigeons. So no-one is really sure whether it is safer to forward face 5 point harness or use a booster seat. The 5 point harness may put MORE stress on the neck, but in a booster seat they may submarine, causing internal injuries, and/or may fall asleep or lean out the seat rendering it almost useless. Starting to consider never leaving the house again....

I tend to go for if TUV (German safety people) say it's safe, that's good enough for me!

I'm really confused. Today I was told that Isofix wasn't a good thing for high back boosters as the weight of chair and child should combine to get a good reaction from the seat belt, with just the child's weight the reaction isn't as quick.

There was a report a couple of years ago which said that after the age of 3, type of car seat made absolutely no difference at all. I can't remember what it was called now or I'd find it for you OP.

The one absolute would be that she will be much safer than in a seatbelt without any seat at all.

We have the Britax Adventure, and although that particular seat seems to be getting a pasting today, the good thing about it is that the head protector wings are arranged in a V type shape, meaning that the child's head stays within the protected part and they stay upright if they fall asleep.

I think the seat plus child weight combining thing sounds like utter rubbish. HBBs aren't that heavy.

I would buy a HBB and then keep weighing her - she may well be closer to 4 by the time she hits 18kg. DS was alternating between an impact shield seat (which was supposed to be the super duper safest thing after RF when I bought it 5 years ago) and a booster depending on whose car he was in at your DD's age. The seatbelt fit very well on him and he always looked secure in it.

In some ways I think that a seatbelt can be better, because as the child moves around in the seat, the seatbelt springs back into place and stays tight. But solid straps have to be pulled tight to begin with, and can't be flush with the body as that's uncomfortable, they can slouch in the seat and have one shoulder strap tighter than the other, they can get their arms out easily, with an impact shield seat (I didn't think of this when I bought it) they can wriggle and push it slowly outwards, loosening it, but the belt is held too tightly to slip back into position. A tall child will be less safe with impact shield, too.

Yes they can move about more with a booster, but the belt will move with them. And they tend to be more comfortable because they can reach out for a stretch/to reach something/etc.