"Pinning" child into booster seat with seatbelt

[becca34]

I have two Recaro Young Sports, one for each car. My daughter is tall and skinny, 41.5 inches, 35 pounds, and almost 3.5 years old.

Right now, she is harnessed in them, and fits fine. But, I am nervous that she will hit 40 pounds (Recaro's max for harnessing) before she is mature enough to convert them to boosters.

However, I spent a pretty penny on them last year (she was a lightweight then, didn't realize she'd weigh so much by this age), so I am hesitant to spend still more on two other seats -- Regents? -- at this point.

I'm thinking/hoping the kiddo will be 4, or almost 4, before hitting 40 pounds, as she's barely gained 2 pounds in the last 6 months.

My questions are these -- first, is the 40-pound-max rule for harnessing an absolute, or can it be fudged, if she still fits within the height requirements? In other words, if we keep her harnessed until 42 pounds, is she less safe in the event of a crash than if we convert the seat to a booster, and she's not sitting perfectly in the seatbelt? Or, is that impossible to answer?

Secondly, I know it's possible to pull the seatbelt all the way out, and then feed it back in, essentially "pinning" the child in the seat. Is this a reasonable and/or safe thing to do? Could it be the answer if we only have a few months between the time she outgrows the harness, and the time when she's really ready for a booster?

Thanks!

[momtoB]

My ds just turned four and I'd say in the last year he's only gained 2 lbs (but he also has oral aversion eating issues so that plays into it as well). Still he's maintaining his growth curve and I think it's normal at this age for the weight gain to slow down quite a bit. You might be surprised that she doesn't hit 40lbs before age four. 5lbs in 6mos seems like a lot to me but my viewpoint might be skewed because my ds is such a string bean (lol).

It's NEVER ok to go past the weight limit on a car seat. I just wouldn't do it. You would essentially be using your dd as a crash test dummy - and I'm sure that's not what you want. You CAN "lock" the seatbelt when using it as a bpb though. I've seen this recommended numerous times by CPST's to help with the squirmy child issue. The RYS makes an awesome booster and while I have no personal experience with it just looking at the design I would think it would do a fairly good job of keeping a child seated properly. Now NO bpb is going to do as good a job at that as a 5-pt harness but if you have to choose between going over the harness limit or using it as a bpb w/a younger child, then I'd go the BPB route and lock the seatbelt.

Another thing to keep in mind is the height limit - the harness is outgrown once the shoulders go past the top harness slots OR once the weight limit is reached. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that. The RYS has 18" top slots though so she should be good height wise for quite a while unless she's really long torso'd.

hth!!

C&B, 4/03 currently riding in a Britax Blvd and Evenflo Bolero (w/5-pt) (MIL's car)

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, the weight limit is absolute. Yeah, you can retract the seatbelt on her when you are using it as a booster to keep her in place :). Hopefully she'll take like another year to gain that last 5 pounds, and you can decide just how restrained you think she needs to be (ie, Regent or just pinning her in place).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[becca34]

Thanks so much, you guys! I will just re-evaluate when she hits 40 pounds, then. Glad to know that locking her in with the belt is a safe option, if she's at least somewhat mature.

We also have twins on the way, and good heavens, the carseat situation can get expensive!

[Joolsplus2]

LOL, shop around for a Safeguard seat and two Orbit systems... ah, doesn't that make a recaro and some safeseats look good? just kidding!!!!

Seriously, DO shop around for 2 safeseat 1's for the twins, they can be as low as 89$ and they can last smaller kids up to age 2 (not that you have to use them as carriers that long, they are just really nice seats, VERY easy to use and install, and fit on a double snap n go).

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[becca34]

I am so torn on the seats-for-twins issue!

I have two perfectly good Fisher Price Stay-in-Views that we used with my DD. They won't expire for some time. Problem is, they have 3-point harnesses, and no padding or special foam at all. But, I still LOVED them, because they were so light and easy to use.

Another problem is that they don't fit in a double Snap n' Go. (I used the Kolcraft Universal Carrier with DD, but it doesn't come in a double.)

So, although I hate throwing out perfectly good seats that were so convenient, it's probably wise to do so, since there are much safer options on the market now...

I also have two Britax Roundabouts from DD, and I am debating going straight to those. I think they'll be safe, although I have some reservations if the twins are especially small...also, I won't have the convenience of carrying seats -- although, the babies will arrive in summer, and we live in a warm climate in general, so I'm not too worried about that.

Or, I can just suck it up and buy two new infant seats, like the Safeseat you mentioned. Financially it's not really *that* big a deal, but I just want to make the most cost-effective decision...

Sigh. What to do...? (Sorry, just thinking out loud!)

[Joolsplus2]

SIV's that still have some 'life' in them (they don't expire for 8 years) are worth a few bucks... or just use them, they really aren't unsafe (that base is anti-rebound, that's a good thing)... at any rate, keep them, maybe, since they can be so desparately handy sometimes (I had one out of my 6 infant seats and LOVED it for 'baby display' days... I could keep the kiddo close to me and everyone could goo and gah over her, lol). The Snap N go is SO adjustable, I'm sure you could 'make it work'...I fiddled and futzed with a SNG for my friend's FPSE-Infant seat and it wasn't supposed to work, but I made it. I don't think you can live without infant seats with twins... you will be so much better off being able to buckle them in in the house and just plop them in the car so you can buckle your dd only when you are out there...

Just thinking out loud with you, lol. :)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[emschwar]

If you do decide to sell the SIV, this person on ebay is looking for one:
http://wantitnow.ebay.com/fisher-price-stay-in-view-infant-car-seat-carrier_W0QQadidZ140119446896

[Melanie]

>Secondly, I know it's possible to pull the seatbelt all the
>way out, and then feed it back in, essentially "pinning" the
>child in the seat. Is this a reasonable and/or safe thing to
>do? Could it be the answer if we only have a few months
>between the time she outgrows the harness, and the time when
>she's really ready for a booster?
>

I don't think my son was 40 lbs, but we went with the height requirements of the seat we bought him at the time. He's "pinned" everytime. THe car seat techs recommended it and I'm grateful b/c I hadn't even thought of it! He's mostly in the marathon, though at least for a smidge longer, so he's used to the lack of mobility.