Car seat blues



I guess you can say I am one of the many that don’t comply. Per a DMV brochureIf the child is eight years old and is under 4’9″ tall or weighs less than 100 lbs, it is recommended that you continue to use a child restraint system.

OK, so I’m not actually breaking a law, just violating guidelines. I read in the NBC article that 4’9″ is the average height of an 11 year old. Really? An 11 year old shouldn’t need to be in a booster seat. I put the onus on the car manufacturers. It’s not really about weight over the age of 8 so much as proper placement of the seat belt across the shoulder blade (not the neck). Sure, some cars have adjustable height seat belts for the front seat passengers and maybe for the rear seat passengers that sit along the door, but forget the fact if you have 3 kids and one needs to be in the middle seat. That kid gets screwed.

IMO all seatbelts should come out of the lowest point possible to have the seat belt fit properly across the shoulder

Since it's not always possible to have the shoulder belt come out of the car wall at a proper height, auto manufacturers should have a built in guide (like this aftermarket one) to ensure the belts fit properly.


I LOVE everything about my Honda Pilot, except for two things… the gas mileage (a sacrifice I was willing to make) and the seat belts for rear passengers. Even I, at 5’5″, am uncomfortable with the belts in the rear seats. The seat belts along the door adjust and are manageable (for me and the twins in their boosters), but there is no way I can sit in the middle of either the second or third row and not have the seat belt cut into my neck.  I mean, the seat belt comes out of the ceiling, does Honda expect the Jolly Green Giant to be sitting back there?

Austin sits in the middle seat, he should really be in a booster, but I have given up the fight. The tears and tantrums aren’t worth it. At nearly 70 lbs (about 25 %tile for his age mind you), the booster is too narrow for his hips. And who really wants to sit on hard plastic? The worst part is, for my Honda at least, the fix should be and could be cheap. There could be a clip along the seat back that will “anchor” or adjust the seat belt to a reasonable height for back seat passengers. No different than the belt positioner on a  booster. And how much could this part really cost? $5? $10? per car? And this inexpensive part would keep kids and shorter statured adults (yes Aunt Lizzee, I’m looking at you) safe. Cars used to have these. Did they take it out because it “wasn’t cool”?

So my advice to consumers, parents of kids just over the age of 8, and the government…. stop pushing us to buy boosters seats for every car our child may sit in and instead push the car manufacturers to take back some responsibility… add positioners to every car seat (belted position) in the cars so we are all safer.

In my mind, that’s not asking too much.

P.S. If any of my readers have a Twitter, please feel free to pass this around, expecially to @HondaCustSvc. I’d appreciate it.

Categories: Me, Misc.
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Jen Smith

11 Responses

  1. Adrianne says:

    I like the looks of that aftermarket adjuster! My seatbelt adjuster is down as low as it’ll go, but if I don’t have on the proper bra that leaves space … (how ridiculous is this?) but, say, a sports bra … the seatbelt is not placed properly and cuts right into my neck.


  2. ram says:

    I was ridiculously small as a child. And according to height and weight guidelines I should have been in a booster seat until I was almost 15 years old! And thats only because thats when I hit puberty and started to finally grow. Luckily my mom stopped feeling the need to enforce it long before that. Otherwise think of the jokes I would have faced in high school.

  3. Leslie says:

    I am having a problem now with my infant daughter. Our rear facing car seat is up to 22 lbs (a Chicco). My daughter is 9 mo old and weights about 17 lbs. Her toes are about an inch away from being over the end of the car seat.. so am worried that before she is 22 lbs, she will be too tall for the car seat.

    If you look at NYS guidelines for a rear vs front facing seat, they are so confusing. Everyone I talk to says at age 1 she should get a front facing, but what if she is less than 22 lbs? Some websites say 2 years old in rear facing!!??? The poor kid will be smushed!!

    First off, whenever I have doubt, I always call my local police department and ask to speak with the most qualified car seat technician. I think most stations have them. That said, new guidleines are rear-facing until age 2. They (“experts”) understand the kids legs will need to be folded or something and that the child is too long for the seat. They say it’s better to have smushed legs than a broken neck in an accident. I’ll be honest at age 12 months and 1 minute, I turned the seat around. This way the baby could see me and I could have better eye contact with the child. I could also more easily hand back a bottle/cup or a toy as needed. I feel each person needs to do their research and go with their gut as to the best way to follow guidelines (I’m not talking breaking laws). And of course, all this is assuming you have the car seat installed properly and as tight as you can. Have it inspected if you have doubts. For bigger seats, I LOVED the Britax. Easy to install, easy to buckle the kids, easy to dismantle to wash the covers.

    Funny story, a few months back we had friends visiting. Their youngest is still in a car seat. Wanting to all take one vehicle Jeff moved the seat over to our Pilot. He was so excited that he installed it and it was rock solid, no movement whatsoever. Not that we will ever need that skill again! ~~Jen

  4. Lisa C. says:

    I could not agree more! My 13 year old son, is 4’8″ tall and weighs, maybe if he’s soaking wet, 75 pounds. Can you imagine putting your teen in a booster?

    How do you manage the seat belt for him? ~~Jen

  5. lizzee says:

    Hey,if we did all obey those guidelines,yeah- Aunt Lizzie would not even be driving! I totally agree with the darn beltstrap cutting into the neck too. Having been forced to ride in the third row seats of a few cars lately,the seatbelts are not placed for comfort and therefore cannot be that safe because I was contorting them around so that I wasn’t strangled before we left the driveway. Who the heck cares about all the frills and ‘extras’when the majority of family drivers just want a more comfortable and safer car restraint. BTW- Izze was in a booster seat until 4th grade for her weight and lack of…

  6. Lisa C. says:

    Jen…Our current car has those nice clips integrated into the car. Prior to that, we used a Safety First seat belt contraption that kind of snapped onto to the lap belt and the shoulder harness.

    I’ve tried the safety First harness and Austin hates it because it makes buckling the belt by himself difficult. ~~Jen

  7. meghan says:

    I do have to say that my 2 year old was still rear facing when I was involved in a horrid accident. The oncoming driver was elderly and took a left hand turn on a red light. The fire department and EMS both were floored at my 2 year old. He had not a single bump, scratch, or red mark! So I do have to advocate for using rear facing for as long as you can. He is a bit older now and is still in a 5pt harness booster.

    Also Clifton Park Halfmoon EMS station has Car Seat checks coming up. I passed a sign for it today!

    So glad your LO came out unscathed. If you see the sign again for the car seat clinic, can you send me the info and I will post it. ~~Jen

  8. Andrea says:

    I have to look into one of those seat belt adjusters…we are keeping our son in a high back booster mainly because of the loop on the seat for the belt to go through. But I can see the seat width being a problem soon (the bottom only ones are slightly wider.)
    Both of my kids will need boosters until 8…heck I am barely out of one. I agree that the autos should factor this in; aren’t children the most common back seat passenger?

    Austin will be 10 in a few weeks, and by height and weight, he should still be in one. The twins are 8 and I haven’t taken them out of them yet. And they question me about it constantly. ~~Jen

  9. shannon says:

    I’m all for manufactures making cars safer for everyone. But even if they all began adding adjusters to their cars today, you would still have millions of cars out there without them. So I think educating parents is important. Plus those adjusters only help fix the problem of where the belt falls on the shoulder. It’s also very important that the “lap belt” is across the top of the thighs, not only their bellies.

    I have an 11 year-old in a backless booster. He’s around 55-56 inches, over 70 pounds. He sits in a turbobooster without any complaint. The shoulder belt fits okay in most cars, but the lap belt is usually too high. If you’re looking for a wider booster and don’t want to spend a lot, the Harmony booster goes for under $15.

    As far as rear facing goes, the bare minimum is 12 months but is the bare minimum the best for ours kids? I would personally wait until at least 24 months before turning them around. Most car seats now rear face until 35 pounds, some as high as 45 pounds. A rear facing seat is outgrown when they’re either over the weight limit, or the top of the seat is less than 1 inch from the top of their head.

  10. Elda says:

    I had similar problems as those above. I’m 4’11″ and weigh about 115 lbs, I’m 23. At 16/17 I was definitely under the 100 lb mark. Could you imagine going to take your drivers’ test in a booster seat? I don’t think so…

  11. Lu says:

    Forget children.
    I’m 5’4” and have to use a “booster seat”…while driving.
    Cars are simply not designed for women of average height.