Parents move kids out of booster seats too early

Research reveals that people transition children's car seats too soon

People often want children not to grow up so fast and stay little and cute longer. The cute stage and the toddler age are not going to last long. The part where children need their parents always ends, and many adults dread this part of growing children.

However, trying to keep them little for as long as possible is not going to work. People try to keep children incapable of caring for themselves out of convenience because doing things for them takes less time than allowing children to try.

But there is another part—trying to speed up the growing up. That might show up as making children more responsible and independent when they are not at that point yet. It also might include physical things like transitioning children from one car seat to another.

With the new school year, issues with children's security during travel to and from school became more public. Experts are aware that there are some flaws and problems with knowledge. Research now shows that many parents put their children in dangerous situations when they transition them out of their car booster seats too soon^[1].

According to a new report from Safe Kids Worldwide, Booster Seat Use in the USA: Breakthroughs and Barriers (published on Sept. 16), four out of five parents are moving their child out of a booster seat before the child is big enough.

Even more surprising, three in four parents didn’t realize that kids should stay in a booster seat until they reach at least 4'9" tall. Background research shows that booster seats reduce the risk of serious injury by 45% compared to just using a seatbelt^[2].

Parents do not know how to ensure safety of their children

It seems that when it comes to children, they are our prized possessions, and we take care of them exceptionally. However, these researches show that not every parent knows how to keep children safe and care for them when traveling by car.

These are scary numbers because parents themselves might put children in danger without even realizing what is wrong or not done correctly. The survey also showed that many parents aren’t ensuring their child meets the right size requirements before transitioning out of a booster seat. And when it comes to carpooling, the risk is even higher:

• 30% of caregivers admitted they don’t always follow safety rules when carpooling, sometimes letting kids ride without proper restraints.
• 80% of caregivers noticed that other drivers don’t follow safety rules while carpooling kids either.

Convenience over safety

Many parents also take unsafe shortcuts to make school drop-offs and pick-ups more convenient.

In a Safe Kids news release, Julie Mansfield, a research associate professor at Ohio State University’s Injury Biomechanics Research Center, said: “Our goal is for every child to be properly secured for every ride. To achieve this, we need to understand how families make decisions and find better ways to encourage safe habits. Research like this helps us identify where we’re falling short and how we can improve.”

Experts recommend doing a safety belt fit test to check if your child is ready to stop using a booster seat: their knees should bend comfortably at the seat’s edge when their back and bottom are against the seat; the lap belt should fit snugly across their hips or upper thighs; the shoulder belt should rest on the shoulder and chest, not touch the face or neck^[3].

“Booster seats save lives and prevent serious injuries, but only if we use them correctly,” said Torine Creppy, president of Safe Kids Worldwide. “Here’s a simple step: once your child is big enough to use a booster seat, keep using it until they’re ready to use a seat belt alone safely. It’s the best way to keep your child protected.”

The study was based on an online survey of more than 3,000 parents and caregivers of children aged 4 to 10 conducted by researchers from Ohio State University.