Booster seats - is the law changing?

[KBear]

Apologies if this has been discussed but I'm sure I read somewhere that the law is to change next year to make it illegal for a child under 11 to travel in a car without a booster seat.

Is that right?

It will come as a shock to the mothers of children at my DD's school who think that now their children are 6 they no longer need a car seat.

DD went to a party yesterday where the mother of the birthday girl was taking them to the cinema. I dropped DD off and handed over her seat - as they all got in the other car I realised that DD was the only one on a booster seat.

What does everyone think (and I'm not looking for a row here but do you think that 6 is too young not to have a booster seat? I felt a bit over-protective briefly but I think the seatbelt could do a lot of damage if it's not in the correct place so I changed my mind!

Whadyareckon?

DD1, who is 7, but v tall for her age (wears age 10 clothes) has a "safe clip' thing instead of a booster. Her bum is just too big for a booster and it's uncomfortable for her!

No idea on UK law, am in Belgium, where you often see unrestrained kids sitting on Mum's lap on the front seat, or baby on Dad's back in a baby bjorn carrier while he cycled to work!

yup , I posted an article in today's Sunday Times which outlines a few of the proposals. Think it will come as a shock to many, my IL's included, and wonder how effectively it will be implemented.

Phew! I thought for a moment the world had gone bonkers. My ds1 will be taller than me by the time he is 11, and he's certainly not comfortable in a booster seat now. (He's 8).

But The article actually says "From May next year a European directive is expected to come into force making it illegal to take children in cars without an appropriate child restraint until they reach 12 years old or are taller than 4ft 5in "

4ft 5in is 132cm, which is the height of an average 9 yr-old boy.

DD is 6.9 and still sits in a booster seat. She is very small for her age, the same size as her 3 year old brother who is big for his age, so I can see her using it for a lot longer.

I'd rather come across as over-protective but know my child is safe tbh

Phew as well! My 8 year old is already taller than that.

Had this discussion recently when trying to buy one for DD. We were warned of law change and although it is not set yet advised it may require use of a high backed seat (which was what we were looking to buy anyway)

i am 5ft 2" tall. most seat belts even when lowered rub against my neck. last year we were in a pretty low key crash (a 32 tonne lorry went over the front of the car when we were travelling at approx 7mph as we were leaving a leisure centre), which shoved the car back several metres. even the force of a small crash meant the seat belt cut my neck yp as the seat belt was too high. it was very painful for a few weeks, and looked very bad.

The taller than 4ft 5 bit worries me as the current regulaions talk about the child needs to be taller than 150 cm. At 5ft 2 Misdee is about 157 cm and still had damage from the belt, does that mean that whilst insisting that smaller children have to use a seat slightly taller children are going to be put at more risk?

I think if you can find a clip or similar that will position the belt away from an older childs neck, or somepadding on the belt, then it may help reduce the rubbing and burns/lacerations i got. if i had thought to take some photos at the time, then i would post them up, so you could see how bad it was, but unfortunatly i dont.

my parents have some padded velcro 'sleeves' on their belts, which i am going to look out for for my own car.

something like these

There is 3.3 years between DS (4.7) and DD (1.4) - so my plan has been to keep DS in his high back boosters until DD is of the age/weight for them and then to buy booster cushions for DS. Sounds like I will be OK? I would imagine DD will be about 3 and a half and DS 6 and 3/4.

Bozza , depends on the size of your kids. We
thought the same but ds is 7 and 20kg, dd aged 4 is 12kg, so I'm still going to have a long wait !

DS is on the average to heavy side. About 42 lbs now I think, and DD I would say is average - about 25 - 26 lbs. So I think I should be OK - must weigh them in metric!

LIZS - I found your thread with that article after I posted. Interesting read.

My DD used to plead with me not to have to sit on the booster but I told her about my cousin in the states who's DS is the same age as her. They had a head-on with a truck - his neck was cut really badly by the seatbelt because he was too low in the seat. She doesn't question it now!

does this mean we're ok with just a booster, or does it have to be a booster with a back?

Think the recommendation is min 48lbs/22kg ish for a booster cushion without a back but whether that will actually be law I'm not sure - it is only a draft atm.

ta!