Would you let your 3yr old sit in a booster seat?

[missdduke]

My 3yr old is too big for his childseat (head coming over the top and can't fit in it if he's got his coat on!)

I was thinking of getting him a booster seat with a back on it if you know what I mean but he's only just 3 and not sure if he's too little.

Am going to weight and measure him tomorrow and see what the rules say but just wondered if anyone else has a 3yr old in a booster seat?

We tried dd in one when she was 3.1
she's a cheeky monkey though and enjoyed getting her arms out and just generally messing about
will try again when she's more sensible

no

ah
not a booster - a high backed booster.
yes when closer to four though with ds1 and ds2 and they were fairly big for their ages

My DS is 3 and has been in a high backed boosters for a while. He was getting far too tall and heavy for the child seat. Our main concern was that he didn't wriggly out of it or undo the seat belt, but he has been ok.

We got DD a high backed booster when she was 3.3yo.

2 things we quickly discovered:

1. When DD falls asleep in the car (which is only on long journeys these days) it offers very little support and her head flops right forward and she looks very unconfortable.
2. You need to really trust your DC to sit nicely. It is very easy for them to move out of the seatbelt.

However saying that, DD really didn't fit in her old seat anymore (really hard to do it up between her legs!) as she is quite big for her age, so we didn't have a great deal of choice.

I know some people who have had their child in one since 2.5yo!

Ds breached the maximum weight for his carseat shortly after his third birthday and we had to move him into a high back booster.

My dd who was 3 in Septamber has used one of these for the past couple of months. We went into Mothercare to buy another 5 point harness seat for my ds bu they measured her and said that she was suitable for the next seat up and that we could pass her seat onto ds. She is quite tall for her age and is fine in it and the seatbelt sits properly agianst her chest. We have never had problems with her misbehaving in it and she is quite proud to be in a big girl chair.

No I wouldn't. There are proper car seats that go up to a higher max weight and that are safer for a just 3 year old.

No

I just moved my DD2 (3 next week) into a high backed booster as she no longer fits in her old seat and my 9 month old DS is completely out of his rear facing seat (DH is v tall and so are all my DCs). She fits in it v well and the seat belt goes across her in the right place etc. She has v occasionally gone on short (and slow - i.e. around town not on a motorway) journeys on a standard booster seat in my Mum's car (as that was all my mother had), but I'm not really comfortable with that as the seatbelt is clearly not in the right position across her.

I'm much more uncomfortable about the fact that DD1 (5 next week) now generally sits in the middle in the back with no booster at all as it is practically impossible to squeeze one in (when DS was in baby seat and DD2 in the stage 2 seat i could just about fit a basic booster in too for her but with high backed booster and stage 2 seat her booster now doesn't fit). This is legal, but bothers me. Not quite sure what to do about that, although she is v tall, and the seatbelt does look to be ok on her so maybe I shouldn't worry......

DS moved into a high backed booster seat when he was just over 3. He is very tall for his age and was above the recommended weight for his Group 1.

We got the maxi cosi rodi which feels very secure. Has side bits on the seat and the head and is adjustable as he grows. He can move about in it but has been told in no uncertain terms that he has to sit properly. If he misbehaves we stop the car and refuse to carry on until he sits properly. He's quite good about it most of the time.

He also has a standard booster seat in my sister's car for short journeys (to swimming etc). I think it has a strap which goes up the back to keep the seat belt in the right place.

thanks for all these replies, unsure what to do now, i reckon he's big enough to go in it but he's a very naughty active boy and can't imagine how i'll get him to sit still!

Will keep looking. It's actually only for grandparents car who literally pick him up from nursery in it...maybe MIL could sit in back with him till he gets older and understands to sit nicely.

hmmm....

We got a high backed booster seat with a 5 point harness for DS, as he could not be trusted to sit still. Once he was a bit older the harness could be removed and it was then used as a regular high backed booster. Think it was from Mothercare.

ds1 went into one at 2.9y as he was above the weight limit for our maxi-cosi. at that time I did look but there were no other seats with the integral straps that went upto a higher limit. With rear facing seats etc now there probably is.
I could utterly trust ds1 to sit in it properly and not mess though.

ds2 has just gone into one a few months ago, at about 3.9y. I certainly couldn't have trusted him to sit properly at 2.9y.

yes dd's been in one for ages. she doesn't mess. she knows if we mess in the car and the police see then they will take the car away then we can't go anywhere