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VINASOL
11-05-2012, 06:03 PM
Mindee (5) who I have posted about numerous times who is treated like a princess by parents who allow her to get away with everything.......annnyway. I don't normally see mum drive off but I know that this 5 yr old ALWAYS sits in the front (older sister the back) or there's a massive tantrum...however, this evening mum has this 5 year old in the front seat of the car sitting on a BOOSTER seat. The seatbelt itself is 'miles' away from her and if there was an accident I doubt that this seat belt would actually stop her from hitting the dashboard at all.

Child is just under a metre (weighs about 2 stone) and is not much taller than my 2 1/2 year old mindee; elder sibling is only about 1.2 metres (under 3 stone) who was sat in a proper child seat in the back.

It LOOKED so dangerous; child's head was lower than that of the dashboard.

Would you say/do anything?

~Grasshopper~
11-05-2012, 06:14 PM
nope i wouldnt. my 4 year old sits on a booster cushion in the front if i have too many little toddlers in the highback seats.

x

rickysmiths
11-05-2012, 06:26 PM
I would be happy but it is hard to do much.

I think I would do a Road and Car Safety theme one week and get some leaflets or download some up to date safety info for parents and hint that now the children are getting older and taller it wouldn't do any harm to get their seats checked somewhere like Halfords to see of they are still fit.

VINASOL
11-05-2012, 06:27 PM
nope i wouldnt. my 4 year old sits on a booster cushion in the front if i have too many little toddlers in the highback seats.

x

I'm sorry I have to say that I'm rather shocked. Obviously what you do is your own business of course and that in itself has to be respected, but what happens if a car hits you from behind? What protection does your lo have if the seatbelt becomes useless?

BUT, I guess I asked the question so no, you wouldn't say anything to the parent or report it. Thanks for responding.

rickysmiths
11-05-2012, 06:32 PM
nope i wouldnt. my 4 year old sits on a booster cushion in the front if i have too many little toddlers in the highback seats.

x

I always use high backed boosters now. Especially in the front. I have one similar to this one from Kiddicare cheap and easy to use.:

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_65_10751_-1_14571_125579_10001_14568

I find it very versatile because you can use it with the 5 point harness or you can remove it and use it with a seat belt. It is light to lift in and out of the car and keeps the child very safe. I always feel as if the booster cushions will slide out from under the child in an impact. i know they probably won't but I know there was talk of making them illegal to use.

blue bear
11-05-2012, 06:36 PM
Yes I have said something to parents in the past, it's up to them if they heed my advice but I feel it my duty to raise any concerns about a child's safety.

~Grasshopper~
11-05-2012, 07:12 PM
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3986798/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CNursery%7C14417537/c_2/2%7C14417537%7CCar+and+booster+seats%7C14417572/c_3/3%7Ccat_14417572%7CCar+booster+seats%7C14417575.ht m

this is my booster seat, my son is 5 in july and is above the min weight for it so why is it shocking?????? he has a highback booster in the back but when i have a toddler in the high back booster he sits on the booster cushion. he is perfectly safe and secure and legal.

VINASOL
11-05-2012, 07:38 PM
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3986798/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CNursery%7C14417537/c_2/2%7C14417537%7CCar+and+booster+seats%7C14417572/c_3/3%7Ccat_14417572%7CCar+booster+seats%7C14417575.ht m

this is my booster seat, my son is 5 in july and is above the min weight for it so why is it shocking?????? he has a highback booster in the back but when i have a toddler in the high back booster he sits on the booster cushion. he is perfectly safe and secure and legal.


As I said it's your decision as parent adn I didn't mean to critiscise. I thought that booster seats had to do with height and weight and more so if they are sitting in the front seat. Certainly at Halfords I spent some time with someone recently who checked where the seatbelt was in connection to my child's neck/head when I wanted to check whether she was tall enough to move into a booster seat. She is 5 years old but very tall for her age (same as a 7yr old).

Ali56
11-05-2012, 08:39 PM
I have stopped putting mindees in the front as of this week. I did used to put an 8 yr old on a booster in the front but my son had a car crash on saturday-thankfully he wasn't to seriously injured BUT he had a broken nose + massive bleed, broken finger, and broken wrist (other arm) also burns up both arms, cut/black eye (quite bad) ALL of these are injuries, except the wrist,are just from the airbag deploying. The windscreen did not shatter and the inpact-head on- was about 40mph. It scared me silly of course-some idiot cut in front of him from the other side of the road to turn (racing another car) and he had nowhere to go.
I wouldn't like to think what the injuries to a small child would be-DS is tall and was a long way from the airbag as it was.
As well as the weight being correct for a booster, ideally the height recommendation is 101cm tall. 15kg for a high back and 18 for a normal booster. I would probably have to say something, maybe just in passing. Even if she wound the seat back slightly forward so the child met the safety belt it would be an improvement. Sometimes there is just no telling parents, I have a mindee, 3yrs, who rides in a 5pt harness still, but its so loose he can take his arms out:eek:

rickysmiths
11-05-2012, 09:14 PM
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3986798/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CNursery%7C14417537/c_2/2%7C14417537%7CCar+and+booster+seats%7C14417572/c_3/3%7Ccat_14417572%7CCar+booster+seats%7C14417575.ht m

this is my booster seat, my son is 5 in july and is above the min weight for it so why is it shocking?????? he has a highback booster in the back but when i have a toddler in the high back booster he sits on the booster cushion. he is perfectly safe and secure and legal.

I don't think I said shocking and I didn't mean to offend. I was just showing what I prefer to use not telling you what you should use.

I personally wouldn't feel comfortable anymore using the cushion style boosters for my children or mindees. Just because something is legal does always make it the best choice for everyone.


I am able to isolate the front air bag in my car if I put a small child in the front. My manufacturer also recommends the seat back is put in the most upright position and the seat is pushed as far back as possible. I can also adjust the height of the front seat belts.