4 Advantages of Always Using the Back of Your Booster Seat

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children won’t be ready to use the car’s seat belt independently until they are around 11 years old. It is true regardless of how often the child asks about it. Booster car seats are the answer for children after they have outgrown their forward-facing strapped seat before they are old enough to utilize the seat belt in the vehicle. Boosters elevate the kid so that the seat belt properly fits their body, with the lap and shoulder belts positioned to offer the most safety while limiting the risk of injury. High-back booster seats are recommended over backless models because the shoulder belt fit is typically better on high-back boosters and because the head wings provide additional comfort for kids, especially if they fall asleep while riding in a booster car seat. Backless booster car seats also tend to be less expensive.

Shoulder Belt Fit

In the backless booster car seat mode, there is neither a shoulder belt guide nor a belt placement clip, which may make it more difficult for you to ensure that your kid has an appropriate fit for their shoulder belt. Because there is no guidance, the shoulder belt may not sit appropriately across the child’s chest and shoulder in the middle of their back. Additionally, youngsters are wriggly and active, which may cause the shoulder belt position to shift as they move about. When a kid moves about, the belt clips on backless booster car seats typically fail to keep the shoulder belt in the correct position.

The side wings provide protection and comfort from side impacts

The side wings attached to the high-back booster may serve several purposes. Booster side wings offer a barrier between the kid’s head and the possible vehicle interior contact surfaces; nonetheless, there is no existing regulation for side-impact protection for child car seats. The side wings may also give a pleasant area for a kid as a place to lay their heads while sleeping, keeping them under the safety of these wings.

Lap Belt Fit

If the booster seatback is not linked to the booster cushion, the kid will have to sit farther back against the seatback of the car, which will cause the lap belt to be in a different position. When people do fit-to-vehicle tests, people often find that the belt for the lap is positioned extremely forward on the kid’s thighs instead of the their pelvis when the seat is in the backless mode and does not have a back. Consequently, the fit of the lap belt on booster car seats in which the back has been removed is sometimes inferior to the fit of the lap belt on child seats that are exclusively intended to be used as backless boosters.

Relaxed and At-Ease Position

It is more probable that the kid’s knees will not bend over the edge of the booster cushion if there is no booster back on the booster cushion. The child can sit farther back on the booster cushion without it. Because of this, the kid may feel the need to slump for comfort. It poses a danger of sliding the lap belt into the delicate tissue of the child’s belly, making it more susceptible to damage.

Take your time while moving your kid to the next seat, regardless of the kind of child seat you have. In addition, the fit of the seatbelt in booster seats may be affected by your child’s constantly evolving height and the shape of the seats and seatbelts in your car. Take a booster car seat quiz to discover whether or not your kid is ready to use the car seatbelt alone or whether or not the booster car seat they are currently using provides a satisfactory fit.