Locking the shoulder belt?

[mperot]

We have our 3yr old son in the Graco Turbo booster and when we were getting our Snugride installed for our second child, the installer suggested that with the Turbo booster we pull the shoulder belt all the way out to lock the belt retractor so it doesn't extend once we get him in the booster.

I don't think the directions said to do this. How do others feel about this?

[2KMOMMA]

What did the instruction manual for your vehicle say? That's what we went with when putting in our car seats (at least for that seatbelt issue) in addition to whatever the instructions that came with the car seat said. We have a 2001 Windstar and it seems like we did pull out the seatbelt like you are saying, b/c that's what the car manual said to do.
K.L.

[Joolsplus2]

I'm pretty sure it's not a problem, and could help keep him from wiggling when he's in his seat. Try looking at www.gracobaby.com if you can't find your manual, they have a good FAQ's section and you can also email them.
He's young, though...how much does he weigh? If he's well under 40 pounds and he squirms out of the shoulderbelt a lot, then he would be considerably safer in a harnessed seat like the Ultra Cargo or Evenflo Chase (well, even if he's close to or over 40 pounds and squirmy, there are just a lot fewer options at that point)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[mperot]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that he's 41 inches and 39 lbs. We tried him in a Britax Marathon but there was less shoulder room (width) than his Roundabout so we returned it. As you mentioned, we didn't see many options at that point so we tried the Turbo Booster and he doesn't seem to squirm around a lot.

Thanks!

mperot (dad to Robbie and a newborn in about a week)