Is Your Child Ready for a Booster Seat?

JenniferW777

Recently I was sent the Combi Kobuk for review and there are many things that I love about this booster seat. In fact as a mom to four I have had my fair share of car seats over the years and I have not liked most of them. There was always something that drove me crazy or a feature that I wished was different. So when I received this one I could have never guessed how much I would like it.

Combi logo

I started trying to think of a unique angle to give to you when I did the carseat review and I started thinking about how I see people moving their children into booster seats far too early all of the time. In fact it is not uncommon in my area to see someone pulling a two or three year old out of the car from a booster seat.

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To be honest I get wanting to move your child into a booster. They are very easy to secure into your car, easier to buckle your child into, and most children do not mind them. However putting your child into a booster seat too early can be dangerous. It is something that you should avoid for a number of reasons but the most important to me are the potential safety hazards.

There are some things that you should know about when your child is ready to be moved into a booster seat. You can check out this video that I made with my soon-to-be five year old, Huxley.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQkPbG52sqg]

Some factors that you should consider with the transitioning from a five point harness to the booster include the following:
**Your child weighs too much for their five point harness. (My almost five year old and six year old are very small so they would still be able to fit in a five point harness. I have just recently moved them both into a booster because they do not fit in their seats for some of the other reasons non this.)
**Your child’s shoulders are higher than the highest harness setting.
**Your child’s ears are the same level as the top of their forward facing carseat.
**Your child is between the age and size requirements that are listed on the carseat. For the Combi Kobuk your child should be at least 3 years old and weigh between 30 and 125 lbs. This is a guideline and some children are not going to outgrow these before they hit the weight.
**You know the laws for your state and the carseat is appropriate for the laws that you have.
**Your child is going to sit like they are supposed to in the seat. Check out this video of Adeline, my two and a half year old, who is not ready to fit in the Combi Kobuk.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P6D1ydckhc]

As you can see from this video, Andrew (my oldest who is eleven) is too big to be sitting in the Combi Kobuk. Andrew weighs around 120 lbs but he is obviously too big to fit into the carseat.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXJg9owPJ7Y?list=UU7WpA-xrvBpBcBSE56vkupQ]

There are five questions that you should ask yourself to know whether or not they are ready to be moved out of the booster seat and into a regular seat.
1. Can you child comfortably sit with their back all the way against the seat of the car?
2. Do your child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the car’s seat?
3. Is the belt fitting in between the neck and arm comfortably?
4. Does the lap belt fit low and touch your thighs?
5. Will your child stay seated in the correct position for the duration of your trip?

So as you can see, the Combi Kobuk is a great choice for a booster seat for your children.