06/23/2022
What a great post with some really important info! A child must meet all 5 to safely ride without a booster. Not sure your kid is ready? Reach out and I can help!
Your child will likely be using a car seat safety device until they are between the ages of 10-12. Yes, you read that correctly. Let your kid know that now. Tell your partner. Alert your mother-in-law. And then own that SH$%. You are doing the absolute safest thing you can to protect your child from their greatest risk when you wait to move them to the next stage of car seat safety until they are ready.
When your child is itching to ditch their booster seat, they will surely be old enough to take themselves through the 5-step test. If they can say yes to ALL of the steps in the image above, then and only then, can they ditch the booster IN THAT CAR and IN THAT SEATING POSITION. You need to do this test in all the cars/seating positions they are in when first transitioning to this stage because every vehicle is different and while they may pass in one vehicle they may not in another.
Reminder, they don’t graduate to the front seat until they are 13 even if out of a booster!
If they failed, then let your child know that you will be happy to revisit this with them again in 6 months. You may need to say that to your significant other, or grandma, or your friend too. 😉
There’s no award for progressing through the car seat safety stages the fastest. Be. The. Turtle. 🐢
