Lap belts

[codswallop]

Our Zafira has a lap belt in the centre which is a pain in the arse..

How safe are they for a boy on a booster - dh reckons not.

Not according to the Britax website. I'd check with your child seat manufaturer

Everyone advised me they are not safe at all. Boosters should be used with a 3 point belt. We've had the same problem (3 kids in the back) and have had to go for a maxi cosi (or a britax) for the middle child as these can be fitted safelty with the lap belt leaving the 2 side belts for the baby seat and the booster. Heck of a squash though and tricky getting the belt to fasten on booster (see my other thread).

How old is the child you put in the middle? I am loathe to buy a seat for a 5 year old...

Ps (Iam called Katherine too!)

Following on from the discussions about this I have weighed my ds and found that he is 20kg. Should he now use just the booster seat part and should I take the back rest off (it is designed to do this if the child is over 15kg). It would make my life a lot easier if he is just on the booster seat (with an adjuster to make sure the seat belt in correctly attached across his shoulder), but I don't want to do this if it will add to his risk. Any ideas?

Just a thought - the newer models of the Zafira now have a lap and diagonal in the centre seat - are you due to change/trade in soon??

Hi - quick one as am actually supposed to be working late - in event of crash lapbelt would put all of impact across your DDs middle (spleen, liver (think that there too) and all other organs down there) Harnesses are designed the way they are to keep child in one place and spread the force of the impact - lapbelts are not good at all!!

Britax have a 'thing' which is meant to be used when there's only a lap belt to distribute the force of the belt and so protect the child's innards. Have a look at Britax . To be honest, though, I saw this think in the catalogue when we bought ds's seat a year or two ago, so I don't know whether it's still available. When I asked them the booster with/without back question, they said that it was safer with a back if it's designed to have one IFYSWIM.

britax do a range of car seats that can be used with just aq lap belt, for kids upto 4 years old. i think the ones are the club class extra, eclipse and freeway.

Oh I know butterfly mum- it really annoys us...we hadnt thought ahead to 3 kids...AND the fornt air bag cant be disabled independently...

cant afford to change at the mo