Lap Belt Extension

[stacydille]

It is almost impossible to buckle my son's belt-positioning booster (Graco Turbobooster) because it is jammed so close to another car seat in my car. (I have 3 child safety seats in my back seat.) We just can't reach down between the seats to get the buckle!

If I can find a lap belt extender for my car, would that be safe, or would it compromise the integrity of the booster seat? It would be a 12" strip of seatbelt buckled into the car buckle, with another buckle on the end. This would allow the new buckle to reach under the booster's armrest where we can reach it to buckle it. The booster would still be used in the way it was designed, so I don't see a problem with it, but I'm no expert.

I tried finding a belt-positioning booster with open loops, extra-low sides and no arm rests, but can't find one.

If I get desparate, I'll have to buy a booster with a 5-point harness that is specified for older kids. I hate to do that because my son is almost 5 and I was hoping to allow him to be more self-sufficient by letting him use a belt-positioning booster.

Thanks for any advice you can provide!

[mom2kandj]

Not an expert by any means, but I do understand your pain(and have the scraped knuckles to prove it!). I don't think that an extension at 12" would work as it would be too long and throw off the positioning of belt at the hip(putting the buckle between the hip and belly button). Even if the extension was a possibility, the longest I'd go would be about 6" or just enough to get the new buckle right below the arm rest of the TB.

Is it possible to move the TB so that it is in a position next no other buckles? I know this sounds like a PITA, but everytime you get out of the car, you could move the TB to the side a couple inches so that he could buckle up and then when you check his belt you could shove the seat back into position. I know it is not much, but HTH just a little!


Rose
mom 2 Katie 12/02/00
& Jack 04/16/02

[Joolsplus2]

My almost 5 yo is in a Britax Marathon and is perfectly self-sufficient...she can buckle and unbuckle and tighten herself easily (Ok, I'll admit, there was no way in heck my older DS could have done this at that age, and I got sick of buckling his booster, even, so I got him another harnessed seat, both because it's safer for him, and to make my life easier, lol).
You could try the Evenflo Big Kid, as it has flip up armrests, or the Graco MyCargo (it has closed belt loops, but honestly, they are not necessary for most kids, and the seat has no armrests).
But if you have it in the budget and it fits in your car, then I'd go with the Marathon or Wizard...you can hand it down to your other kids and get a full six years of use out of it, and it's easier for you to deal with, and safer for him (every step UP in seats is a step DOWN in safety...5-pts of protection are safer than three, particularly in side impact crashes).
But, if your budget is tight, try the Big Kid or Cargo, both at walmart for under $40, and returnable if they don't fit any better than the Turbo.
As for the belt extender, no, it's probably not ok...you'd have to call the dealer (and work your way up the chain of command, likely) and graco, to see if they are approved.
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx