How to Install a Booster Car Seat

Did you know only one out of ten 8-year-olds are tall enough to not need a booster seat?

We tapped the expertise of John Stubbs, a car seat safety expert who actually trains police officers, social workers and hospital employees how to check car seats professionally. Stubbs also teaches a class at elementary schools in conjunction with “Boosters Are for Big Kids,” which deals with important safety issues and how they conflict with social pressure parents receive when their bigger kids still need the safety of a booster seat.

John helped some Autobytel.com folks and their kids understand the importance of weight limits listed in both the booster seat manual and the car manual. In the video, Stubbs does demonstration of a removable back seat and speaks to the importance of checking if the car seat manual shows two different weight limits – one for the seat with the back on it, and one for the seat without the back.

Installing a booster in the middle back seat with a seat belt requires a shoulder belt and a lap belt. Lap belts on their own are not enough to secure a child in a booster seat.

Stubbs also demonstrates how even a “big kid” needs a booster seat to safely fit into a seat belt and shoulder strap. He likens a booster seat to a “crash-tested phone book,” making kids just a little bit taller so the seatbelts fit them just like they fit adults.