Child car seats are a bit of a pain in the neck I think we’d all agree, but a vital safety purchase to keep our precious children safe. I recently saw on a friend’s Facebook page that a friend of hers had taken their children out of high-backed boosters (to normal ones) at 5 and 6 years of age. It feels too young. A child smaller than my son, but in his class, is going without even a booster. My son is just a touch under the legal requirement for a car seat.
J aged 9 (just) is in a high-backed booster. It is starting to get a bit small for him as I have the height up to the max, but it still provides some protection and it keeps the seatbelt in the right place. Most high-backed boosters can be used until the top of the seat is below the eye level of the child. At some point in the next few years he will outgrow it, but for now, even if he goes over the legal height requirement, he uses it.
The lady I saw on Facebook was quite determined that her children weren’t going back into high-backed boosters, despite the uncoming change in the law. This surprised me as I kind of assume that all parents will want their children to be safe. I can see that you might have made a decision to take them into boosters in the past, but if things change then wouldn’t you revisit your decision for your child’s safety. Using the change in the law as justification provides the perfect reason to give your child for the move back to a previous seat. I think though before I moved seats I’ve had done a lot of research in the first place. This lady didn’t even seem to be aware that high-backed boosters had side impact protection.