Give babysitter high back booster or booster?

[JustMe]

I think I may have finally found an afterschool care provider for the dcs! The plan is she would be picking them up 3 days a week and bring them to my house. She may do some transportation to activities--not sure yet. The school is about 3 miles from my home. My kids are very small for their age. My 6 year old weights 42 lbs and my 9 year old weighs 60lbs. I have them in hbb Graco Turboboosters in my car. I recently purchased them each a regular Turbobooster (not high back). I am willing to buy more hbb if it seems like a good idea.

My question is--would you be okay having her drive them in the regular booster seats or would you want to make sure they were in high back boosters? I am thinking it would be a lot easier for her to take the regular boosters in and out of her car. I'm also not sure how much storage space she has at home.

Thanks!

[essnce629]

For me personally, I would be fine with my 9 year old being driven around by the babysitter in just a backless booster, but I would for sure put my 6 year old in a highback.

Most techs recommend that a child is at least 40lbs before graduating to a highback booster (from a harnessed seat) and your DS is just past that minimum.

[o_mom]

Does she have headrests in the seating positions they will use? Does her car have side curtain airbags in the back?

There have been two relatively large studies on backless vs. highback. The first found a reduction in injuries with highback use for side impacts. The second found no difference and many consider it a superior study. I tend to err on the side of the highback can't hurt, but if the car has adequate head support and side curtain airbags, I'm less concerned with a 6 yo in a backless. Note that if there are no headrests at all, both kids will need a highback booster.

If you go with backless for the 6 yo, make sure that he can get a proper shoulder belt fit in her vehicle without using the adjuster strap. IME, very few people use the adjuster strap correctly and they are better off with a HBB in that situation.

ETA: Good read on the subject: http://carseatblog.com/8243/to-backless-or-not-to-backless-that-is-the-question/

[KDsMommy]

Personally, I would be fine with the 9 year old in a backless booster but would definitely want my 6 year old in a high back booster.

PS...make sure the screws are in the armrests of your turbo boosters!

[JustMe]

Thanks everyone!