When did you start using seat belt instead of 5 pt harness?

atwood345

Is my 4 1/2 year old the only one in a harness still? Is one better than the other at this age?

mrs.marie.g

about a year ago belle didn't fit into our 5 point harness anymore. so she's in a highback booster seat. im probally in the minority

NJ905wife

I believe 5 pt is the safest. I have a 5 yr old still in hers. She's 35 lbs...won't be going to a booster til she's 40lbs

MrsRossIsMe

I just switched Ethan over to a booster in Doug's car a month or so ago.

He is still in a 5 point harness when he goes out in my car (which is most of the time).

I feel more comfortable with him in a 5 point, and he doesn't complain.

UsedToBeGoldie

5-pt harness is safest.  I'll have my boys in them until they outgrow their seats - we have Radian 80's which go up to 80lbs... though, they might outgrow the height limit first.... so we'll see. Griffin is about 50lbs now so he's got plenty of time in his Radian.  he's going to be 5 in march.

MrsDB

my 4.5 year old is stil in it. she mentioned wanting to use the seat belt once and we thought about it, but she never brought it up again so we didn't either. i think they're both equal... if your kid will sit still and in the right position. my daughter is pretty good- but she's also a goofball. she also sleeps in the car sometimes and relies on the harness to stay upright, i think she'd probably lean out of it if she weren't centered by the harness. 

laurenpetro

i went right to a booster with a seatbelt.  grace never had the 5 pt harness.  i guess she was 3.5?  4?  i think it was 3.5.

jennmichael

5.5 year still in his britax frointer 5pt car seat and goes up to 85 pounds, 65 inches.  he will be in it until he outgrows it. 

oct11bride03

Our neighbors switched their daughter to the high-back booster seat using the regular seat belt around 4 1/2.

AmyRob04

He was about 5. He had grown out of the 5 pt seat, so he went to a booster with a back, and a seatbelt. He was over the minimum requirements in weight.

~LisaD~

Ryan turned 5 yesterday.  He is in a 5 pt harness (Marathon) in my car, which he is in 95% of the time.  We have a high back booster with the seatbelt in MH's car.  He is rarely in there.  I am thinking of switching him since the seat is getting old I guess, but he is very light (38lb) so I am going to stay with it for a while longer.

Lori7/3/03

we just switched this past year...so DS was at least 5...maybe even 5 1/2! Granted he is small for his age (will be 7 in May and is only about 43 pounds) but still!

mrs.marie.g

laurenpetro:

i went right to a booster with a seatbelt.  grace never had the 5 pt harness.  i guess she was 3.5?  4?  i think it was 3.5.

this we went from a booster to the highback booster seat thingy

HarrietNJMommy

My 6 year old is still in a 5-pt harness.......

Pixiestx

Just last week I switched Teagan from the marathon in my car to a frontier, 5-pt high back booster.  She is just 40 lbs.  With Cora now in the back seat as a distraction I feel better with the harness keeping her in her seat.  She'll stay in there for as long as I can keep her.

mike&nicole05

Paige is still in the 5pt harness. The only time she is not is when she is in my husband's car.  Out seats go up to 80lbs so she will be in it till she out grows it.  She is 41lbs now so she has awhile.

 

NJOdoyle

Lucy is 4.5 and in a 5pt harness. Our graco nautilus is good to 65lbs. She is nowhere near the weight or height max so we will keep her in it as long as we can.

molldoll71

Billy moved at 4.5 because we needed his seat for Sammie and wasn't worth buying another.

Kristen81603

Kieran is 5.5 and in my car he is in the nautilus with 5pt harness and in Mike's the marathon car seat- but if we get another nice day soon- he will go to a high back in Mike's car with seat belt and I will switch out the harness in the nautilus too- He is about 43 lbs

BeachBaby07

I just bought a 5 pt Booster (britax frontier) for my 4 1/2 yr old and 3 yr old. My oldest is 35 pounds but tall so her can be in the 5 pt for awhile I feel it's so much safer, ge doesn't know any different and is comfortable. I can imagine just putting him in a seatbelt right now

kellyann1972

5.5 for Ryan, 4.5 for Reilly. Its very heard to keep them in after they are in school and realize not all the kids have them and they don't want to be "babies" anymore. They hit the weight, and height (maybe Reilly was below it by an inch I think) requirements and were done. 

 

HarrietNJMommy

kellyann1972:

5.5 for Ryan, 4.5 for Reilly. Its very heard to keep them in after they are in school and realize not all the kids have them and they don't want to be "babies" anymore. They hit the weight, and height (maybe Reilly was below it by an inch I think) requirements and were done. 

 

This is true. I'm still holding my ground with this though. B isn't fighting me on the issue though. I let her pick out a pink seat and she actually doesn't mind it. She'll be in it until she's out of a carseat since the new Frontier goes to 120lbs. And B is only 42lbs right now. 

penguingrrl

Julia went right at 4. I would have kept her harnessed longer but she outgrew the radian for heights (she's very tall  and long torsoed). We looked at the nautilus and frontier, but a nautilus would only have gained maybe 6 months of torso height and a frontier didn't fit in our car, so we didn't have much choice. A properly used booster is no less safe than a 5 point harness, but many kids are older before they are mature enough to use a booster correctly. Had Julia not used the booster correctly I'm not sure what we would have done with her since the only option didn't fit in our car, but she sits correctly without a problem so I don't worry about it at all now.

linda98ny

My kids are still in their britax marathons. I don't plan on changing them anytime soon.  They're both in school but really have no idea what kids of seats other kids ride in.