My son is over the weight limit for the 5 point harness on his carseat.?

You can only make his car seat into a booster seat if it has been designed to be used as a booster. Do you know which child seat model you have?

Since he is over the weight limit, you need to convert his car seat to booster mode or get a new car seat asap. It is not safe for him to ride now that he is over the weight limit. Also, chances are that he may have outgrown his seat by height already. Many parents are unaware that the harness straps need to be coming from at or above his shoulders for a forward facing child. If the straps were coming from below his shoulders, his spine will compress in a crash resulting in severe spinal cord injuries.

A booster seat is designed to lift a child up so that the adult seat belt is positioned over his hips and across his collar bone. A child can only be protected in this seat if they sit straight up and back. Children who still sleeps in the car or who plays with the seat belt will not be protected in this type of seat. A child needs to be mature enough to sit still. Most kids (without any special needs) are ready for a booster seat at around age 5 to 6.

Not all booster seats are doing their job. Some booster seats position the lap belt dangerously on the child's abdomen. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates how well booster seats position the seat belt on the average 6 year old child in a variety of seat belt configurations. A booster seat rated as a "best bet" is most likely to position the adult seat belt correctly and accurately. Here are their ratings: http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/defau...

If you do not know your model, you can always search by brand and look at the image.

A backless booster is appropriate if the child has a headrest that can go up to at least the tips of their ears (for whiplash protection). A child should only use a backless booster only if the shoulder belt is positioned naturally on the child's shoulder. I would look into the backless Harmony available at Walmart- $15, If your son is tall and needs the shoulder belt closer to his neck, look into the Cosco Topside. The Cosco Topside has the lap belt under the armrests, but has the shoulder belt routed OVER the armrest on the side that is closet to the buckle. This puts the shoulder belt higher on children with a taller torso.

The Diono Monterey is a high-back booster for bigger and heavier children. It provides leg support for kids with longer legs. It also has a 120 lb weight limit.

Most boosters have both the lap/shoulder seat belt underneath the armrest closet to the buckle.

If you want to continue using a harnessed car seat, I would look into the Britax Frontier 85. It has about 20 inch top harness strap slots and an 85 lb weight limit with the harness. It makes the tallest high back booster on the market, so it will be a good investment. If you have any younger kids, you can always pass down this seat.

The Britax Frontier 90 goes up to 90 lbs with the harness. It also has a feature that makes seat belt installations very easy. Britax says that it gives an extra 1/2 inch of torso room to grow in than the previous Frontier 85 model. It makes a shorter booster than the 85, but I would still look into it.

Although most states requires children to use a booster until they are 8 years old, a majority of children need to use a booster seat until they are 10 to 12 years old. The law is a minimum safety guideline. This video describes when children are ready to be out of a booster seat: http://www.boosttil8.org/

Car crashes are the leading cause of both disability and death for children under age 12 in the United States. The children who die or who become disabled were either not using a car seat or were using one incorrectly. This is why it is important to follow both your vehicle and child seat manual.

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Looking at your other questions he's 5 years old, right? If so, yes he's ready for a booster. You must remove the harness and start using the seat in booster mode. The harness will no longer protect him in a crash as he's over the tested weight limit.

They do. My daughter is 4 a million/2 and about a similar weight. She is in a Graco Nautilus which matches as a lot as sixty 5 lbs as a vehicle seat with 5 factor harness. it may also be used as a severe back booster from 30 lbs and a backless booster from 40 lbs. So your son might want to apply a booster with the vehicle seat belt; although, they are better secure in a 5 factor harness. My daughter complains consistently when you consider that maximum of her friends are in boosters, yet I tell her i'd particularly have her secure and unhappy than satisfied and injured (or worse) in an twist of destiny!

depends on his age. at 65+lbs my guess would be that he's at least 6 years old (my big 6 year old is almost 50lbs). if he's around that age, a high back booster should be a good fit for him :)

if he's 5 or younger, i'd consider getting a different car seat with a higher weight limit.

your probably ready for the high back booster, which all kids need to be in one until they are 8 years old.

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