booster car seats regulations

car seat regulations in Michigan?

my son is 3yrs. old and weighs 32lbs. is it ok for him to be in a booster seat? one that has a back to it and uses the car’s seat belt? or does he still need to be in a car seat with it’s own straps? (with the car’s seat belt strapped behind it?)
the booster seat that i have now says 30 to 100 lbs. on it. it’s an evenflo.

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By law? Michigan’s car seat laws stink! They have so many exceptions, and they don’t ever mention getting a ticket or a fine like the other states say in their codes. It does say that any child under 4 years of age must me in an age appropriate safety restraint, but that’s a rather weak law anyways. Nothing specific about rear facing or forward facing, or boosters. Two thumbs down for Michigan! UGH!

In this case the law is not in the best interests of a child and regardless of what it says, every child no matter the age should be properly restrained.

At 3 years old, he should NOT be in a booster! The bare minimum is 4 years AND 40lbs. though most 4 year olds aren’t ready yet to be in booster seats. Sitting correctly in a booster seat requires the child to sit upright for the duration of the trip without a lot of moving around, and the seatbelt must be on their shoulder not behind their back. Children should stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible, its safer. We try to limit head excursion (how far the head and upper body fling forward in an accident) as much as possible, and a 5 point harness is massively better at this than a seat belt. It could quite literally mean the difference between your child walking away from an accident unharmed, and not walking away at all b/c of a broken neck.

The reason the booster seats have pretty low weight minimums is straight out b/c they want to sell seats. However, the other reason is that it is possible (however unlikely) that a 4 or 5 year old child might only weight 30lbs or so, and that it would technically be ok to put them in a booster seat. For safety sake, your son should be in a harnessed seat still. Most at Walmart only go to 40lbs. But there are several seats out there that go further. On the less expensive end is the Safety1st Apex65, it will harness to 65lbs and then turn into a booster seat. Also goes by the name Signature Biltmore. $129.99 at Albee Baby online. Catch: your vehicle seats MUST have adjustable headrests, or tall headrests to use this seat. There’s no support in the seat itself so it depends upon the support of your vehicle’s headrests. The seat tends to have a short crotch strap – contact Safety1st and they’ll send you a longer one.
Britax Marathon is another awesome option, and is definitely better – it harnesses to 65lbs as well and is SOOOOO easy to install. $269 online, some models clearanced out at Albee Baby (free shipping) for $209. Britax Regent is the seat you would get the most use out of – it harnesses to 80lbs! Lasts most kids till they are 8-10 years old. $269 and worth every penny. An Evenflo Triumph Advance is a good option -$129 at Walmart/Target, harnesses to 50lbs, easy to install, infinitely adjustable harness (so its always a perfect fit!~) and you never have to take the seat out of the car to adjust the harness height its all done up front. Awesome seat for the price especially.

Keep him harnessed – he’s safer that way. Technically in the Evenflo Triumph Advance, he could STILL be rear facing – it goes to 35lbs rear facing. AAP and NHTSA and other safety experts say to leave children rear facing as long as possible. Turning them forward at 20lbs/12months is outdated advice, they are safest rear facing and should stay that way until they reach the weight max for their convertible seat rear facing.

A few other seats that will work well – Fisher Price Safe Voyage Deluxe – front faces to 55lbs. Its a Britax seat at less than half the price! $129 online. Recaro Como has the features of the Britax Marathon, only it lasts even longer b/c it goes to 70lbs forward facing and has 18-19inch top slots.

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